Even as the year of 2020 draws to an end, the analysis of events carries on. It is based on the happenings that the fate of the fresh year will be analysed. Newly elected President Joe Biden and Vice-President-elect Kamala Harris of America have been selected as the ‘Person of the Year’ and are still waiting for January 20, 2020, to take an oath of office.
‘Person of the Year’ is an annual issue of the United States news magazine and website — Time — that features and profiles a person, group, an idea or an object that “for better or for worse, has done the most to influence the events of the year.” Does this not portend a refined variety of advertisement? From ‘Man of the Year’, it is now ‘Person of the Year’. There remains no set standard for choosing a name. It is a way to give more focus on one particular personality or more.
If Time Magazine has popularised this trend, there is no dearth of publications toeing the same line. It certainly gives a boost to the business of the periodical in a given period. Political persons get effortless publicity if their names happen to find a place with scholarly editorial inputs. Trump once said, “Seriously. And I think even if a woman was named, it was the ‘Man of the Year,’ so it’s a little bit shaky.”
Time Magazine has declared ‘Woman of the Year’ three times: Wallis Simpson, the Duchess of Windsor, in 1936, Queen Elizabeth II in 1952 and Philippine President Corazon Aquino in 1986. Time Magazine changed its style to ‘Person of the Year’ in 1999, the same year Amazon founder Jeff Bezos was recognised. However, Donald Trump suggested that the label was emblematic of a deeper problem, with the magazine publishing: “That could be why the magazine business isn’t so great. I don’t know.”