This Is (Not) The Most Important Story Of The Year Plus 4 More Stories

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Daily Briefing A look at the day's top stories News This Is (Not) The Most Important Story Of The Year Stories that titillate, amuse or arouse flash-in-the-pan outrage may be more widely read and shared than solid information. Celebrity and scandals have always attracted media attention, but in the Internet age the balance is shifting more toward entertainment. Read this story Centuries Before China's 'Great Wall,' There Was Another Archaeologists are now mapping a wall in eastern China that is as much as 15 feet tall in some places, and predates the more famous barrier by 300 years. Hundreds of miles long, it was likely erected to keep neighboring Chinese dynasties from invading each other, historians say. Read this story Closing The 'Word Gap' Between Rich And Poor Children in low-income families hear dramatically fewer words, which often sets them back in school and later life. The gap was officially documented in the 1990s, but has persisted. Now an entire city is trying to close the divide. Read this story To Save The Black Rhino, Hunting Club Bids On Killing One Fewer than 5,000 black rhinos are thought to exist in the wild, but the Dallas Safari Club is auctioning off a permit to hunt one down. It says the controversial fundraiser is a conservation effort. Read this story The Internet Hoaxes That Had Us All Clicking For More Fake stories on the Internet are not new, but their nature is changing. They seem to be more calculated, more elaborate and have a deeper intent to elicit a swell of emotion. Grantland writer Tess Lynch explains why she thinks 2013 was the year of the hoax — and which story even fooled her. Read this story more news stories

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