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MAIN
Society
TIME Person of the Year

TIME's top
pick in 2008.
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Formerly
knwon as "Man of the Year", TIME Magazine's choice
of "Person of the Year" is regarded by many readers
as the definitive word on the planet's most influential people.
TIME has
been choosing their Man or Person of the Year since the Depression
era when a slow news week forced editors to boost circulation.
The formula
was squarely set when the magazine featured hero and true
blue American Charles
Lindbergh on the first Man of the Year cover in 1927.
Since
then, the special end-of-year issue has annually become an
instant bestseller featuring world statesmen, political leaders
and prominent people in the news.
Person
of the Year 2009?
In 2009, the most frequently named people have included
President-elect Barack
Obama, (for the second year running) as well as Iran's
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, airline pilot and US hero Captain Sullenberger
or an abstract choice such as The World Economy, or
The American Taxpayer. However, the pick ultimately hinges
on what headlines shape the world in the interim. Watch for
the TIME Person of the Year issue to hit newsstands in mid-December
2009.
The
March of TIME
Throughout
the years, obvious popular picks have included such names
as Martin
Luther King, Jr., George
W. Bush, Bill
Clinton, Pope
John Paul II, and even a royal nod to Queen
Elizabeth II as "Man of the Year" following
her coronation in 1952.
Not that
the TIME cover has ever been without controversy.
TIME's long-held policy of choosing movers and shakers resulted
in Man of the Year honors being bestowed on Adolf Hitler in
1938, Joseph Stalin (twice, in 1939 and 1942), and Iran's
Ayatullah Khomeini in 1979.
Today,
TIME's readership still holds the popular notion that the
Person of the Year should only honor the world's best and
brightest. Perhaps bowing to public pressure, the magazine
named "The Younger Generation" and "The Endangered
Planet" as feel-good picks in the recent past.
Perhaps
the most parodied of all TIME covers focused on "YOU",
as the Person of the Year in 2006. The pick was widely considered
to be the magazine's safest choice (and, at worst, mere pandering)
when a metallic cover reflected a readers own face
said to symbolize the growing force of Internet users worldwide.
More
about TIME's Person of the Year around the Web:
Around
the Web, discover more about the annual pick that profiles
a man, woman, couple, group or idea that, as TIME states,"...for
better or for worse has done the most to influence the events
of the year."
TIME's
Person of the Year 1927 - 2008 -
Special magazine Web supplement allowing visitors to view
historic covers arranged by category or browseable by year.
Time
Person of the Year - Wikipedia - Good overview featuring
historical background, photos, complete list of honorees from
1927 to the present, with related references & resources.
TIME's
Man of the Year List - Complete hyperlinked winner
list from 1927 to the present with releated trivia and fun
facts.
Time
Magazine's Person of the Year
- Photoshop parody of their honored picks, from SomethingAwful.com.
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