Explainer: Find out how 'TIME' selects Person of the Year
At the end of each year, the same question finds a permanent spot on everyone's minds—who will be crowned TIME's Person of the Year? Annually, the title generates immense buzz and sometimes even heated global debate—who is really worthy of this title and did the publication take the correct call? Wondering what goes behind choosing the winner? Let's find out below.
How did everything start? Go back in time
Per its website, the TIME editors choose "the person (or people) who wielded the most influence in the previous 12 months." The tradition was started in 1927 to combat "slow-News" periods, with American aviator Charles Augustus Lindbergh being announced the first "Man of the Year." Socialite Wallis Simpson became the first "Woman of the Year" in 1936 and the term became gender-neutral post-1999.
You don't need to be a 'hero' to make it
Former Managing Editor Walter Isaacson put it as, "[The title goes to] the person or persons who most affected the news and our lives, for good or ill, and embodied what was important about the year, for better or for worse." The honor is not only given to incredibly inspiring people but also notorious ones; past winners include Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin.
What's with the secrecy?
As you can imagine, everything is decided by TIME's editors in hushed tones, and even the majority of the staff is not privy to whose name is in the final envelope. Per TIME, the staff gets to know only before the magazine issue goes to the press; this is done to maintain a top-tier level of security and ensure nothing ever gets leaked out.
Readers' role in the selection of the title-holder
Now, in this era soaked in the internet, readers can also chime in with their opinions through the online poll by TIME. Even when the internet didn't exist, utmost importance was given to people's thoughts, and buyers sent their votes via mail! Interestingly, in 1982, computers were heralded as the "Machine of the Year" to mark the commencement of a new age for humankind.
Mostly, men have been given the honor
TIME says, "The person chosen has typically been a ruler over traditional domains of power. He—and yes, usually it has been a 'he'—is very often a politician or a titan of industry. Fourteen US Presidents, five leaders of Russia or the Soviet Union, and three Popes have all been recognized." Posthumous honorees have also been chosen, such as Martin Luther King Jr.
This year, Taylor Swift is the winner; here's why
To nobody's surprise, this year, the phenomenal history-maker Taylor Swift has been chosen the Person of the Year. Reflecting upon her selection, TIME wrote, "Taylor Swift found a way to transcend borders and be a source of light. No one else on the planet today can move so many people so well. She becomes the first POTY to be recognized for her [artistic success]."
Swift brought art and commerce closer this year
In its praise of the Blank Space singer, TIME added that the songstress has fused art and commerce together this year. "She did it by embracing what she does better than anyone, entertaining and writing songs that connect with people. Swift is also a symbol of generational change: she is only the fourth solo Person of the Year born in the past half-century."
Looking at other past female winners
Apart from Swift, some other prominent female winners of POTY include environment activist Greta Thunberg, former German Chancellor Angela Merkel, The Silence Breakers (women who spoke up against their harassers and started the #MeToo movement globally), and American Vice President Kamala Harris, among a few others. Swift, thus, has become one of the few female winners of TIME's Person of the Year.
