The A to Z of media matters in 2013

A is for Associated Press: Hackers posted bogus news of White House explosions from its Twitter account, sending stock markets into a five-minute panic.

B is for BT: It's so hard to know how to feel about BT, responsible as it is for both sports rights inflation and taking Craig Doyle off RTÉ screens.

C is for Candy Crush Saga: The game was the year’s top-grossing App Store download. Save yourselves.

D is for Ding-Dong! The Witch is Dead: BBC censorship was at its most awkward following Margaret Thatcher’s death, as the Munchkins made it to number one but BBC Radio 1 declined to play the song in full.

E is for Everyday Beef Burger: The Tesco product, found to contain 29 per cent horse, was photoshopped to include the words "now with added Shergar".

F is for #FBRape: Hashtag-using campaigners scored a victory against Facebook, forcing it to toughen its guidelines on images promoting violence against women.

G is for Ground Control to Major Tom: Take your protein pills, put your helmet on and cover David Bowie's Space Oddity from the International Space Station, just like inspirational communicator Chris Hadfield.

H is for His Master’s Voice: That noise you hear in HMV’s remaining stores is the sound of someone twerking to the death knell for physical entertainment products.

I is for Initial Public Offering: Twitter took its turn to pass go and collect a whole load of cash from investors who want shares in sharing.

J is for Journalists: A total of 71 journalists were killed and 87 were kidnapped this year in the line of duty, according to Reporters Without Borders.

K is for Katz, Ian: The new editor of Newsnight is revolutionising current affairs television one gimmick at a time.

L is for Latin: Aural comprehension skills in Latin helped Giovanna Chirri, journalist for Italian news agency Ansa, scoop everyone on the news that Pope Benedict was retiring to the Vatican gardens.

M is for Maths Men: Advertising supremo Martin Sorrell enjoyed upsetting a few creatives when he said the future of the industry belongs to "Maths Men, not Mad Men".

N is for Newstalk: The Denis O’Brien-owned station lured Pat “not about the money” Kenny out of the Montrose coalmines to the luxury of the commercial sector.

O is for Orange is the New Black: Netflix subscribers rocketed past 40 million as it dump-released whole seasons of its own dramas, such as House of Cards and women's prison comedy-drama Orange is the New Black.

P is for Paywalls: They're "not off the agenda", says Independent News & Media boss Vincent Crowley – and yet they're not quite on it anymore either.

Q is for Quadrennial event: None of the good ones, as far as advertising revenues are concerned, took place this year. Happily, 2014 will bring us the late-night football extravaganza of the Brazil World Cup.

R is for Rusbridger, Alan: The Guardian editor is now more or less an enemy of the state, according to certain rival newspapers.

S is for Share a Coke: The Coca-Cola campaign, which used the 150 most popular names in various countries on its packaging, was an award-winning triumph.

T is for Thomas Crosbie Holdings: A boom-time acquisition spree came back to haunt the family media group as it went into receivership in March.

U is for UTV Ireland: The planned new channel has snatched the soaps off TV3, but claims not to be interested in poaching any big (read: expensive) names for its nightly news hour.

V is for Vine: The new Twitter service loops videos every six seconds, but will have you questioning the meaning of life roughly every three.

W is for Woman Has Baby: The headline on the front cover of Private Eye in the wake of Great Kate Wait media-frenzy. "Inside some other stuff," it promised.

X is for The X Factor: This year's winner was Bruce Forsyth. Actually, it was a woman the tabloids are desperately calling "Screwbo".

Y is for You Can Still Dunk in the Dark: Cookie brand Oreo won the Superbowl marketing-fest after a stadium blackout, pushing out a social media ad with this tagline.

Z is for Zuckerberg, Randi: Unlike little brother Mark, netiquette author Randi has taken to lamenting the dangers of oversharing. “It’s a sexy headline to say ‘Zuckerberg siblings at war’,” she sighed.