Gawker: person+of+the+year

'Time' Pretending Obama Won't Be Person of the Year

Pareene — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 10:33:53 EDT

Assuming Barack Obama pulls this thing off next week, we imagine we're due for a deluge of media gushing over our First Black President. No, seriously, it'll make the last two years look like a dress rehearsal. And it will all lead to a glorious crescendo of treacly nonsense by January, when Obama, secret socialist muslim god willing, is sworn in. So. That really makes it all the more ridiculous that Time editor Richard Stengel has taken to the YouTubes to ask "you" who should be named the Time Person of the Year. Every sitting President has received the dubious honor, with Bush II, Reagan, Carter, Clinton, and others all getting it the years of their elections. And they were all old white guys. So go ahead and email "NOBAMA" to Stengel and see how far it gets you if Barack wins Colorado and Nevada next week. A scant two years after naming YOU Person of the Year, Time is now just jerking YOUR chain.

Russian Prez Putin Is 'Time' Person Of The Year

Maggie — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 13:00:04 EST

Time magazine's 'Person of the Year' is Russian president Vladimir Putin! Congrats Vlad! The guy has restored relative economic stability to one of the most fascinating countries of our time and his loose interpretation of term limits and free speech make him a political lightning rod. Over the last several decades, we've come to rely on 'Time' to put someone admirable and fairly easy to digest on the last cover of the year—the Pope, American women, the computer! The last time the magazine chose a less than popular figure, it was Ayatollah Khomeini in 1979; readers were so outraged that many canceled their subscriptions.

Hey, Time, were we feeling a little sheepish after last year's softie copout? Ooh, let's kick Brian William's suggestion of Mamasita Earth to the curb and get back to putting someone serious and newsy on the cover! How about a former KGB agent! Serious. Boring! But newsy.

The rest of Time's 2007 list feels a little more familiar: J.K. Rowling, Don Imus, The Jena 6, Radiohead, Britney Spears—Hannah Montana, for God's sakes. And of course, let's not forget Al Gore, who'll probably put on at least ten pounds this month just dealing with the fact that once again, he's runner-up. Always a bridesmaid, Albert, never the bride.

Time: Person Of The Year
Earlier: 'Time' Person Of The Year: Might Be Less Sucky Than Last Year?

Drudge is linking this morning to Time's...

Maggie — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 11:00:36 EST

Drudge is linking this morning to Time's 'Person of the Year' prelude, in which Brian Williams, Aretha Franklin and Stephen King put forth their noms. His headline, for a column that appeared five days ago, about a month-old story, reads "NBC News Anchor Brian Williams Picks 'Mother Earth' For Time 'Person Of Year.'" Matt, this is not like you, come come now. Perhaps you have simply worn yourself out silly on all the crazy-ass weather we've been having lately? Previously: 'Time' Person Of The Year: Might Be Less Sucky Than Last Year?

Live from Time's "Person of the Year" panel...

Maggie — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 13:40:58 EST

Live from Time's "Person of the Year" panel discussion going on right now at the Time and Life building: "Brian Williams' mic just cut out. 'I'll be at Chuckles on Route 3,' he says. Big laugh. Then he goes on to nominate frigging Mother Earth. Sigh."

New Gawker T-Shirt Designed by You

skidder — Tue, 09 Jan 2007 12:20:54 EST

Given all the accolades You have won over the past year, isn't it time we started harnessing Your enormous potential? What better use of Your talents could there be, other than designing the next Gawker t-shirt? We're not talking some namby-pamby email slogan submission this time, neither. We're getting all up in Your social media. Slogans can be entered and voted on LIVE, right in front of Your face, with Digg-style up-down votes on every candidate. After the jump, submit as many slogans as You want (though You're limited to one submission every 30 minutes). You'll be taken directly to the voting page after adding your slogan to the mix, or You can skip the sloganeering and go right to the voting. Thrill us with Your t-shirt designing acumen.

UPDATE: We will, of course, delete slogans that are too stupid to live. Even in this arena, there are standards. Don't make us waste our afternoon break.

If you see this message, your browser is not compatible with iFrames, so you can't vote. Sorry! Try upgrading your browser.

Can't see the submission or voting pages? Too bad, your browser sucks or something. Don't ask us for help; it's not like we understand this stuff either.

Vote on Slogans [Gawker]

Gawker Shop

Congrats, YOU Are Also the Ad Agency of the Year!

Doree Shafrir — Mon, 08 Jan 2007 17:15:09 EST

In a stunning upset, YOU—"the consumer"—have been named Ad Agency of the Year by AdAge magazine. Since YOU have already garnered recognition for your work as the Time Person of the Year, the Spin Artist of the Year , and probably countless other accolades we're as of yet unfamiliar with, we're sure this award comes as little surprise. Still, it's a nice one to add to the collection, seeing as it could portend the demise of the ad agency and Madison Ave. as we know it. Congratulations again. YOU have really done it this time.

Ad Age Agency of the Year: The Consumer [AdAge via Adrants]
Earlier: Not "You" Too, Spin!

Not "You" Too, Spin!

Chris Mohney — Wed, 27 Dec 2006 15:30:32 EST

From Spin's January issue. YouTube, MySpace, and blogs all name-checked on first big-type page. Don't take this personally, but we're really, really starting to hate You.

Earlier: You: Copout Meme of the Year, 'Time' Person of the Year: You Can't Be Serious

You: Copout Meme of the Year

Chris Mohney — Wed, 27 Dec 2006 09:10:38 EST

The apparent legacy of Time magazine choosing "You" as their 2006 "Person of the Year" seems to be a growing list of other outlets also choosing You for their "X of the Year." The latest is Fox Sports' Kevin Hench, who names You as Fan of the Year, however vaguely tongue-in-cheek (ETP points out there's no mention of Time in his article itself, just a brief note regarding same on the foxsports.com home page). Hench's piece is really just a laundry list of bad sporting from the past year, tacking You on to the front of each bullet point as examples of what 2006 fandom has endured. Let's all just calmly step away from this joke, please? Haven't You done enough?

The fan of the year in 2006 is ... [Fox Sports via Eat the Press]

Ghetto Pass Person of the Year: You, Caucasians

pevans — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 12:10:01 EST

The Assimilated Negro is the issuing authority for your own personal Ghetto Pass, helping you safely navigate among the people and places of browner territories.

In the spirit and tradition of Time Magazine, Ghetto Pass features an annual (this being the first) profile on the man, woman, couple, group, idea, place, or machine that "for better or worse, has most influenced ghetto events in the preceding year." In paraphrasing the philosopher Thomas Carlyle, a great contributing blogger once wrote that, "the history of the ghetto is but the biography of great negroes." He believed it was the Negroes, the Hispanics, and the Asians who shaped the collective destiny of the 'hood. But in recent years this theory has taken a hit. Indeed as we comb through hundreds of comments and e-mails in response to the curriculum thus far, we've been forced to take a look at the reflection in the Mylar mirror and see that You, Caucasians also help mold the urban netherregions we all know and love. And so this week's Ghetto Pass salutes, You, Caucasians, for playing your part.

Gentrification 2.0 - To be sure, there are many horrible and disturbing things that Caucasians bring to the ghetto: rising rents, the ubiquitous proliferation of "Crack-Rap"(Caucasians/Crackers rapping poorly, whether inadvertent or purposeful), and The Gap come to mind. But a look at the ghetto through a different lens reveals a different vision, one that isn't about painfully awkward rhythm, excessive ghetto lingo-ism, and compromising the reputations of quality emcees via generic mainstream brands. In fact when you look at the welcome spate of iPods, The North Face coats, and outlets for fresh, quality produce, the restless natives of the ghetto have clearly come to realize that Gentrification 2.0 isn't all bad.

The 5 Caucasians You Meet in the Ghetto - We haven't the space to itemize all Caucasians, but here are five types commonly found in the ghetto:

The Black Caucasian - This is the Caucasian that is so adamant and vigilant about their pro-black opinions that you'd think they MUST be black if you had not already seen their pastier-than-paste person in the flesh. Someday they will all rejoice as black folk export them back-to-Africa on 100% genuine mahogany slave ships.

The "Less Cauc More Asian" Caucasian - This is the Caucasian who studied Chinese in college, or heaven forbid, actually did a semester abroad in Hong Kong. They don't do anything without chopsticks, including eating, using the remote control, and sex.

The Hipsturd - The hipster nerd, who only warrants comment on if you plan to defecate on their character. Sans character defacation, they are "Hipsterds."

The Plain Jane & Joe - Fairly self-explanatory: Presumably they make up the morass of caucasians who watch sitcoms on CBS and make "Elfing Yourself" a viral phenomenon.

The Off-White - This caucasian is a little too cooky. Probably a drug addict, in fact, hopefully a drug addict; Off-Whites are quite obviously living in the ghetto to hide from something or someone. Keep an eye on them, they make news happen.

Nine Circles of Gentrifranchise Hell - These are the nine primary franchises that signal the Gentrevolution of your ghetto:

• McDonalds - Always the first to plant the flag. Many have suggested they change the "Golden M" to a "Blackened N," thus far to no avail.
• KFC - Once Mickey D's is in, the chicken chain is not far behind to provide variety.
• Domino's - Once the fast-food chains have their depots set, here comes the pizza delivery.
• Starbucks - The first great threshold of gentrification, a true line of demarcation. Once Starbucks comes, there's no turning back.
• The Gap - Builds on Starbucks. Once there's a coffee shop Caucasians need mock turtlenecks and tepid sweaters to drink them in.
• The Body Shop - And with mock turtlennecks and tepid sweaters you need specialized soaps and oils to rub on and smell good.
• The Multiplex - Caucasian women must have access to the movies. Especially if they can smell good via specialized soaps and oils.
• American Apparel - A dash of faux-trendiness comes after all the mainstream land is paved. Here come the Hipsturds .
• Bed Bath & Beyond - The Final Hurdle. Once you have the BB&B, the Plain Jane & Joes can feel maximum comfort. The transition is complete.

Fun Facts

• Did you know that, like roaches, if you see one Caucasian in your Ghetto Chinese Spot, there are probably 10-20 more calling for delivery? Caucasians may spotted individually but typically enter neighborhoods in flocks.
• Did you know at the announcement of a forthcoming BB&B Caucasians have been known to gather around the site to "pour a little latte" out for The Black Caucasians who got shipped out to Africa and couldn't make it?
• Did you know that black males often protest the Gentrifranchise evolution, at least until the Victoria's Secret arrives. Then it's all good, baby.

GTA - Ironically enough, it would seem minorities spatting amongst themselves have given the false impression that harm can come to Caucasians. But rarely is a Caucasian truly threatened. The lack of "clout points" and possible dealings with police mean there's very little upside to beating up whitey.

Slang Check - For all the outdated "fo-shizzles" and "[purposefully non-ghetto statement], yos" Caucasians, gentriwarts and all, have made themselves an endearing component of the ghetto. So here's to you, yo.

Earlier: The Long Tail of Street Entrepreneurs

Person of the Year: Behold Your Inner Turmoils

Chris Mohney — Tue, 19 Dec 2006 10:10:55 EST

Still hunting in vain for a single positive reaction to Time magazine naming "You" as their 2006 "Person of the Year"? You won't find that positivism in the corpus of ubersnob George Will, who sneers, "So much of what is done on the web is people getting on there and writing their diaries as though everyone ought to care about everyone's inner turmoils." Hear hear! But even more disappointing is that the whole "You" thing (and even the whole mirror-cover thing) may have first issued forth from the hallowed pages of McCalls. Gray eminence Robert Stein writes:

Thirty five years ago, McCalls Magazine ran a cover with a Mylar mirror and the line, "The Woman of the Year is You."
We had a hell of a time finding enough of the stuff for millions of copies and making sure it stayed on the covers. Some readers complained about how it made them look.

When the editors of Time are finished with their self-congratulating specials on CNN, they might want to reflect on Harry Truman's aphorism* at the top of this page.

Looks like a rough holiday season for You.

George Will on Bloggers: Busy 'Writing Their Diaries As Though Everyone Ought to Care' [Think Progress]
Time for Reflection [Connecting.the.Dots]

* "The only thing new in the world is the history you don't know."

Person of the Year: Is You or Isn't You?

Chris Mohney — Mon, 18 Dec 2006 11:50:16 EST

In other news from Time's Person of the Year selection of "You," a small coda related to automaker Chrysler forking over millions to be the sole POTY sponsor. As Daniel Radosh points out, several of their genius ads began with the tagline "You Might Not Be Time Person of the Year." But then again, You might, and in fact, You are! Give Yourself a hand, and buy a Chevrolet while You're at it.

Chrysler might not be tearing up holiday bonuses as you read this [Radosh]

Earlier: 'Time' Person of the Year: You Can't Be Serious

'Time' Person of the Year: You Can't Be Serious

Chris Mohney — Mon, 18 Dec 2006 08:10:05 EST

As if anything could preclude our right to mock. Time's annual hype machine finally reached its crescendo this weekend, announcing the choice for the 2006 "Person of the Year": You. That's right — You, over there, with the face. Even if you're a fan of the abstract POTY selections (as opposed to a single person or group of people), this has to rank as the most squishy, opportunistic pick ever. See, this way they get to roll in YouTube, MySpace, Wikipedia, even Web 2.0 — anything with a hint of buzz, warranted or not. And since a bunch of Yous use a lot of these tools, we're all meant to be flattered and intrigued by our collective appearance on the cover. And we were worried it might end up as "Blogs" or something silly like that. Oh well. Sorry, Stephen Colbert, it 's not you, it's You.

Person of the Year: You [Time]

Earlier: 'Time' Person of the Year: Not Stephen Colbert

'Time' Person of the Year: Not Stephen Colbert

Chris Mohney — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 14:40:46 EST

Fans of Stephen Colbert succeeded in making our own "Person of the Year" poll just slightly more irrelevant than the actual Person of the Year proceedings at Time magazine. Their readers are going for Hugo Chavez as of this writing, who seems about as likely as Colbert to score the Time cover. Enjoy our final results below; the actually Time POTY will be announced December 16.

[Photo: Getty]

'Time' Person of the Year: The Runoff

Chris Mohney — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 13:30:31 EST

Scant days remain before Time magazine reveals their choice for the 2006 Person of the Year, and the excitement is palpable! Go ahead, palpate that excitement. You know you want to. In the meantime, you can submit any photo for a pretend Time POTY cover that may display above the rubes mobbing Times Square. (Send us your photos of anything interesting that pops up on that billboard, by the way.) Time is also running a reader poll, which currently puts Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the lead; Ahmadinejad is also a favorite among online bettors. However, he got scraped out of our own reader poll, narrowly missing the top-six placing required to make the runoff. After the jump, make your final POTY prediction, noting that first-round favorite Stephen Colbert already has one POTY (of a sort) under his belt.

'Time' Person of the Year: Everybody Drink

Chris Mohney — Wed, 29 Nov 2006 12:10:52 EST

In the phlegmatic "race" for Time's "Person of the Year," there are multiple conflicting agendas and predictions. In particular, it's instructive to observe odds versus betting behavior on Sportsbook.com, which puts Google CEO Eric Schmidt as a 7-1 favorite. However, Schmidt has so far drawn less than 1% of votes in our own reader poll, which currently has Stephen Colbert as the favorite (insert indulgent eye-roll here). Bettors aren't interested in the sure thing though, as where's the fun (or big payoff) in that? Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has drawn the most bets, taking in almost a third of total wagers so far (he's at 4% in our poll). Kim Jong-Il, at 10-1 against, has drawn 17.8% of wagers (he's at 1.5% hereabouts). For its part, Chrysler is wagering millions to be the POTY's sole corporate sponsor, a bet with long odds and little obvious payoff.

After the jump, our full poll continues, so take a moment and exercise your democratic prerogative. Next week, we'll narrow it down to a runoff among the top vote-getters, ultimately revealing how well you've chosen when the POTY is announced in mid-December.

Earlier: 'Time' Person of the Year: Voters Vote for Voter

'Time' Person of the Year: Voters Vote for Voter

Chris Mohney — Wed, 22 Nov 2006 13:40:50 EST

Our efforts to handicap Time's "Person of the Year" continue apace, and voting in the reader poll remains brisk. Elsewhere, this first wave of publicity has crested and rolled back, leaving only a Time-sponsored speculative nubbin (though we think it's neat that astronaut James Lovell picks Kim Jong-Il). Right now, you seem to think "The American Voter" the most likely choice, but there's plenty of space for other candidates to catch up. Poor Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani only has one vote! We'll let this race run through next week; then in anticipation of the official announcement in mid-December, we'll narrow the field to the top vote-getters for a runoff. If you haven't voted yet, do so (and inspect current results) after the jump.

Earlier: 'Time' Person of the Year: Let Us Reason Together

'Time' Person of the Year: Let Us Reason Together

Chris Mohney — Mon, 20 Nov 2006 15:55:00 EST

You'll recall our learned discussion about Time's "Person of the Year," and speculation on same. To recap, the "Person of the Year" is traditionally assigned to the person, persons, or thing that "for better or worse, has most influenced events in the preceding year." That gives Time a lot of room to maneuver, but note that the two big questions revolve around type (one person? a group? a thing? an abstract concept?) and quality (a "good" person versus a "bad" person?). There hasn't been a "bad" person since 1979 (Ayatollah Khomeini), and when a single person can't be picked out of the crowd, groups of a few particular persons (such as Bono and Bill and Melinda Gates, as "The Philanthropists" last year) have been recently preferred to choosing things or abstracts.

So given all of that, we asked for your own choices as to who Time would pick for this year's POTY. After the jump, a little more background handicapping, current odds, and a big-azz poll to predict the unseen future.

Last week, Ad Age ran a piece exploring the minds behind this year's POTY process; advisory panelists include former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, NBC's Brian Williams, blog diva Arianna Huffington, and Newark mayor Cory Booker. Time ME Richard Stengel also went on record stating his preference for the POTY to be an actual person, so keep that in mind. MarketWatch's erstwhile dunderhead Jon Friedman is none too happy about DeLay's inclusion, just as he was displeased by last year's POTY choice (he was rooting for Hurricane Katrina). Sportsbook.com — the same online oddsmaker that had to cancel betting last year due to suspicious bets around a possible leak of the POTY choice — this year predicts that the winner will be Google Chairman/CEO Eric Schmidt, a 7-1 favorite. We have a tradition of following this race as well, thought not with much success at predicting the real POTY. ("Mother Nature"? Stupid hippies.)

But this year is your/our year! We feel it in our prognosticatory bones. Below is a poll cobbled together from all reader-submitted or publicized possibilities, plus a "None of the above" escape hatch if you're, like, a total pussy. Only nominees with a real chance of getting picked are presented (sorry, Borat). Choose the nominee you think most likely to be chosen as Time's 2006 Person of the Year (not the one you'd personally prefer was chosen). We'll track the race until the actual POTY is announced, and if we're collectively correct, we'll treat you/us to a big ol' self-congratulatory pat on the back. Maybe Time Inc. will even send us a holiday popcorn barrel for joining in on this annual publicity circle jerk. Offer void where prohibited.

Earlier: 'Time' Person of the Year: Who Needs People?

'Time' Person of the Year: Who Needs People?

Chris Mohney — Thu, 16 Nov 2006 10:50:11 EST

Last week, one of your esteemed editors was asked to blab on a CNN panel of bloggers for the purpose of speculating who Time magazine might choose as the 2006 "Person of the Year." It probably would have been much better to mention this beforehand, in order to come to the chat forearmed with a read on the current sentiment on the Gawker street. Nevertheless, the actual choices tossed around — Nancy Pelosi, George Bush, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Donald Rumsfeld, Britney Spears — are less interesting than the process itself. Supposedly, POTY is given to whoever influenced world events the most during the past year. Trouble is, though various personalities had spikes of impact, it's hard to say any one person consistently drove events (or the news) throughout 2006. This sets up the first of two conflicts of POTY choice that Time editors and their advisory panels muddle with every year.

The first decision is figuring out, in the absence of a single big human candidate, whether or not to declare a nonhuman, a group, or an abstraction as the POTY. Examples of this in the past include "The American Fighting-Man" (1950), which became "The American Soldier" (2003); "The Middle Americans" (1969); and "The Computer" (1982). Many people dislike abstract picks just on principle, preferring that the POTY be an actual person. While we're hoping very, very strongly that this year they don't pick something like "The Blog" or "YouTube," we also have trouble picking a particular person who really drove events all year long. And if we did, it would probably be a villain. Which brings up the second POTY conflict.

Ever since 1979's Ayatollah Khomeini choice resulted in a shitstorm of bad publicity, Time has been notoriously unwilling to choose a "bad guy," even though they repeatedly point out that POTY is not supposed to be an honor, strictly speaking. This despite selections like Adolf Hitler (1938) and Joseph Stalin (1939 and 1942) in the past. They punked out in 2001, choosing Rudolph Giuliani over Osama bin Laden, which means it's highly unlikely that this year they'll choose, say, Kim Jong-Il. Despite all this, we're curious about who they'll eventually choose just because we're curious about the rationale for the choice. So, let's test the wisdom of crowds thing. Make your picks — not who you want to be POTY or who you think should be POTY, but who you guess will be POTY — in the comments below, or send them to gawkpoty@gmail.com. Defend and explain your choice if you can; and note that Tom DeLay is on the advisory board, for what that's worth. We'll collect the most perspicacious picks in a later roundup, and if you're really on your best behavior, we'll have a pre-game vote.

'Time Person of the Year' Likely to Be, Well, a Person [Ad Age]
Person of the Year [Wikipedia]

Media Bubble: With Brownridge Going, Wenner Seeks Someone New to Bully

Jesse — Fri, 23 Dec 2005 11:00:03 EST

• Megalomaniacal Jann Wenner is now picking on Us editor Janice Min, which doesn't seem like a smart thing to do. [WWD]
• Now The Washington Post has a staff blogger, too. [Washingtonian]
• Jon Friedman visits an EW focus group and finds that subscribers really, really love the magazine. Freakishly so, to be honest. [MW]
• Daily News readers overwhelming think Bob Schieffer should stay on permanently as the CBS Evening News anchor, according to Richard Huff's "highly unscientific" poll. [NYDN]
• If you look really closely, you can find Warren Buffett's hand in Time's Person of the Year issue. No, it's not holding cash. [NYP]

Media Bubble: Frustrations and Grievances Abound!

DAULERIO — Wed, 21 Dec 2005 14:30:29 EST

• Jon Friedman gets feisty and calls "Bullshit!" on Time and Newsweek's Person of the Year shtick. [MW]
• Jann Wenner channels Joe Francis at the company holiday party, asking a female employee to show her tits for some shiny beads. Wenner reps deny reports, but who cares?. [Lowdown]
• Former Condé Nast editorial director James Truman is feeling out New York editors to helm a soon-to-be-launched travel/culture publication for Louise McBain. Condé Nast Traveler braces for an inevitable fleecing. [WWD]
• Time Warner appoints Jeff Bewkes as new president and chief operating officer of television and movies. We still don't know who to call when our wifi craps itself. [NYT]
• OK! magazine assures everybody that their recent addition of tabloid editors are not signs of desperation for a struggling publication. Things are okay at OK!, okay? So stop asking. [NY Post]
• And then there's that half-wit, pseudo-McCarthyism involved in the White House trying to stop the publishing of the New York Times' wiretapping story. [NYO]