2011 was a year that featured big developments across the world. From Tunisia, protests erupted across the middle east. The suggestion of one consumer advocacy magazine launched protests across the United States with young activists voicing dissatisfaction with the priorities of the nation’s leaders.

2012 promises to be full of important decisions. Here at home, PNS is reaching 24 million people a week. To put this in comparison, top online sites are getting 24 million views a month. Before we get too wrapped up in the new year, we would like to take a look back at all of the work we accomplished in the last year.

We assembled this list to highlight some of the great changes that took place in 2011 and the good work our team has done in covering the events as they have unfolded.

10. Workers: Does Strike at Verizon Have Darker Horizon?

It was a turbulent year in the telecomm industry. Workers for major communications carriers fought hard to preserve jobs and we covered the struggle between middle class workers and corporate executives.

9. Supreme Court Considers Walmart Class Action Lawsuit

Walmart was also in the crosshairs of workers seeking better compensation. We followed the case brought against Walmart for failing to promote women at the same pace as men in the organization. This, despite the Arkansas behemoth ranking among the Top 50 companies for executive women.

8. “Occupy Ohio Homes:” Homeowners, Activists Observe Nat’l Day of Action

What started on the south side of Manhattan became a global movement. Cities large and small saw protesters encamped in parks and public spaces demanding a change to business-as-usual and our broad network of reporters enabled us to cover many local movements. This story covers Occupy protesters from Dayton, Ohio demanding better solutions to the housing crisis and better protection from predatory lending.

7. Wisconsin Protests: Biggest Capitol Crowd Ever

Wisconsinites swarmed the state capitol when Gov. Walker moved to strip workers of collective bargaining rights and make huge cuts to the state budget. We were on the scene speaking with local advocates about their disagreement with the Governor and the fears they had about his plans’ effects on Wisconsin.

6. ID Proposal for Prepaid Phones Raises “Privacy, Access and Safety” Concerns

Our New York producers were quick to catch this Suffolk County attempt to violate the privacy of pre-paid cell phone users. The boogeymen of “drug dealers” and “terrorists” was dismissed as an unwarranted attempt to prevent a non-existent threat by incurring upon individuals’ civil liberties.

5. Tax Scam: The Florida Real Estate Connection

< We were excited to begin using spot.us to allow individuals to help support our reporting. This is the first story we produced with the help of the spot.us community. The community-funding model allowed our reporter to dig deep into the data and uncover some alarming trends in the Florida housing market.

4. Rescued Research Beagles Get a New “Leash” on Life

The economy may have dominated the discussion, but we continued to keep track of a wide range of issues. This was one of the most popular stories we did on animal welfare last year. We are always looking to keep the breadth of coverage as broad as possible and with our new individual membership drive and the help of networks like spot.us, we are increasing the variety of our coverage.

3. Bill to Redefine Rape a Congressional “Bait and Switch?”

We were happy to follow Ms. Magazine ‘s very successful campaign, which saw results within a year. In the first week of 2012, the Obama Administration announced that they would follow Ms.’ directive and update the definition of rape.

2. From Kansas to Colorado: Koch Brothers Influence Environmental Policy

2011 was a big year for collaboration for us. We also joined forces with the American Independent News Network to track the influence of the Koch Brothers on Colorado politics. While their role in the Wisconsin political process was made well known, we continued to follow the trail and highlight their undue influence in Colorado.

1. Groups: Consumers Win When AT&T Drops Merger Plan

With all of the protests and strikes going on, we want to wrap up our review of 2011 on a positive note. A story we followed from the beginning came to a happy ending in the form of a failed merger and the preservation of many American jobs.