Edward Snowden, The Pope Top List Of Biggest Stories

Tom Ashbrook and Jorge Ramos' 2013 Newsmakers

• Edward Snowden: "The revelations of Edward Snowden have changed the way we understand intelligence gathering and intelligence operations in this country, and they have changed the way the world thinks about the United States." — Tom Ashbrook

• The Pope: "This Pope is changing the conversation within in the Catholic Church but inevitably even beyond it as well."-- Tom Ashbrook
• Immigration Reform: "The problem with President Barack Obama is that even though he is for immigration reform — and that's great — he has deported almost 2 million immigrants since he's been in power." — Jorge Ramos
• The Dysfunctional Congress: "It has to do with the triumph of the politics of confrontation. I think both parties realize that if you insist on the extremes, that it pays off: they can get re-elected, there are no political consequences for not moving." — Jorge Ramos

2013's Most Overlooked Stories

• International cooperation over Iran's nuclear program: "President Barack Obama has been proposing foriegn policy, that diplomacy is better than war...from his point of view, diplomacy is working." — Jorge Ramos
• On going turmoil in Iraq: "In this last year, it has spiraled almost silently in the American press into turmoil ... We're seeing suicide attacks and dozens killed per day." — Tom Ashbrook
• Syria: "We've had coverage, but hardly news coverage at a scale equivalent to the human tragedy there." -- Tom Ashbrook

Stories That Have Changed The Way You See The World

• Uruguay and its experience legalizing marijuana: "If you have a country, the United States, in which a president, a former president and millions of Americans are using drugs, and thousands and thousands of Latin Americans — people in Mexico, in Colombia, in Central America — are dying because of the War on Drugs, something has to be done. And therefore Uruguay is willing to do that." — Jorge Ramos

• China's Nationalism: "China has been rising as an economic power for years, but in the last few months, you've seen a change here, a more nationalist surge in policy, in outlook, in what they are doing." — Tom Ashbrook
• The Selfie: "Just a few months ago, you would go to someone and say, 'Do you want me to take a picture of you?' And they'd say, 'Yes, sure.' Nowadays no one wants that. They'll say, 'No, thanks so much. I'll just take a selfie.' That's new. That's completely new." — Jorge Ramos

Guests

• Tom Ashbrook, host of NPR's On Point. He tweets @tomashbrooknpr.
• Jorge Ramos, host of America with Jorge Ramos on Fusion and news programs on Univision. He tweets @jorgeramosnews.