Another year has gone by and soon Time magazine will be picking one individual as the most newsworthy person of the year. Of course, they’ve often copped out and picked a movement or a group or even a planet, but this year there seems to be a plethora of possibilities, so I doubt they’ll got that route. Among the obvious choices that I would list:
[ul]
[li]Someone from the Republic Presidential field. An obvious contender because they’ve been in the news so much. On the other hand, no one was able to hold a lead in the polls for more than a few weeks. Perhaps the four joke candidates (Palin, Trump, Bachmann, and Cain) could be featured for their efforts in erasing the last dividing lines between politics and entertainment.[/li][li]Someone related to the Arab Spring. Another obvious contender, but on the downside America has stopped paying attention in the past few months. The only individual I can think of is the guy from Tunisia who set himself on fire. (What was his name again?)[/li][li]John Boehner, for creating and more or less winning two budget showdowns with the President.[/li][li]Someone or something relating to Occupy Wall Street.[/li][li]Steve Jobs. He got a done of press. On the other hand, people related to business or tech have won for two years in a row, so I’m doubtful that Time will go that route.[/li][li]Somebody involved with the whole European debt disaster.[/li][/ul]
#1 choice: The Arab Spring guy. The guy who burned himself to death and started the whole thing. He actually died last year, but his legacy came to fruition this year.
#2 choice: Steve Jobs. iPhone, iPad and the next level of connectivity.
It’s not going to be any of the Republicans or any of the Occupiers. None has done anything substantial.
But the most significant thing he did this year was die. Yes there was lots of news about him but if he was going to be man of the year it should have been when his legacy was being built, not when it was being discussed.
I’d suggest that Norquist might be a possibility given that his pledge basically brought the government to near default.
I’m not against cynicism about the media, but Time Magazine has frequently picked out-of-left-field “Persons of the Year” that have no mass appeal. I definitely think the Arab Spring guy could be it.
We’ll see. Lady Gaga would not get my vote but I could write a defensible case for naming her person of the year based on her anti-bullying work.
Time hasn’t picked anyone really out of left field since 1996 and 1997, when they chose David Ho and Andrew Grove (well, except for that whole “You” incident.) Even the Whistleblowers Year had people who were in the news that year, unlike Grove.
Here’s the list, btw:
In 1998 they picked Bill Clinton AND Ken Starr. In 200 AND 2004 they picked George Bush. In 2003 they picked “The American Soldier”. Last year, they picked the guy played by Jesse Eisenberg in that hugely popular movie. The Man of the Year choice has been a commercial choice for years now.
There is no question it has to be Bouazizi. He’s changing the face of the world, and it’s something that’s going to ripple into China and Russia. It’s already bounced off the US a bit.