The New York Times: "Taylor Swift Is Time’s Person of the Year"

La competizione è stata dura, ma alla fine la cantante americana Taylor Swift è stata scelta come "Persona dell'anno" dalla rivista "Time". Diamo un'occhiata a cosa le ha permesso di farlo e a chi sono le persone più scioccanti mai scelte da questa pubblicazione.

Claire Moses

Aggiornato il giorno

KUQN5M3L6FSH5HQLEOX4UO7DSU
Stampare

Time magazine on Wednesday named Taylor Swift as its person of the year.

“Picking one person who represents the 8 billion people on the planet is no easy task. We picked a choice that represents joy. Someone who’s bringing light to the world,” said Sam Jacobs, the magazine’s editor-in-chief, on NBC’s “Today” program on Wednesday morning. “She was like weather, she was everywhere.”

Swift beat out eight other finalists who were announced on “Today” this week, including King Charles III and Barbie.

“Swift’s accomplishments as an artist — culturally, critically, and commercially — are so legion that to recount them seems almost beside the point,” the magazine wrote.

Swift grabbed many headlines in 2023, in part spurred by her immensely popular Eras Tour that proved too much for Ticketmaster to handle, the release of the re-recording of her 2014 album “1989” that broke sales records and her relationship with Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce.

Swift has also become the subject of academic and (even more) journalistic interest: Harvard University will offer a “Taylor Swift and Her World” class, and Gannett, the largest newspaper chain in the United States, appointed a special reporter to cover nothing but Swift.

 

Timeawards the title to “the individual, group, or concept that has had the most influence on the world throughout the previous 12 months.” Launched as a marketing gimmick in the 1920s, the award has continued to drive fanfare as weekly print magazines struggle to remain relevant.

The past few years

Last year, when Russia invaded Ukraine, the magazine awarded the distinction to Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukraine’s president, and the “spirit of Ukraine.”

The magazine named Elon Musk person of the year in 2021. “With a flick of his finger, the stock market soars or swoons,” the magazine wrote at the time.

In 2020, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris — then the president-elect and vice president-elect — were on the cover, and in 2019 it was climate activist Greta Thunberg.

In 2018, the title went to Jamal Khashoggi, who was killed inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, and other journalists. The previous year, the title went to “the silence breakers,” women who stepped forward to accuse powerful men of sexual harassment and assault. And in 2016 it was President-elect Donald Trump, whom the magazine called the “president of the divided states of America.”

Historical choices

The persons of the year have not always been without controversy. In 1938, Time chose Adolf Hitler, and the magazine gave the dubious honor to Josef Stalin twice, in 1939 and in 1942.

In 1972, the magazine chose the “improbable partnership” of President Richard Nixon and his national security adviser, Henry Kissinger.

Other times, the magazine chose regular citizens. In 1969, Time gave the distinction to “The Middle Americans,” celebrating them for continuing to pray in public schools in defiance of the U.S. Supreme Court.

Nearly 40 years later, the magazine plastered a mirror on the cover of the magazine and named “You” its person of the year for 2006.

And in other instances, it wasn’t a person at all. In 1982, there was a “machine of the year”: the computer.

Published in The New York Times on December 6, 2023. Reprinted with permission.

 

Ireland’s Delicate Balance: A Divided Country
PA Images

Culture

Ireland’s Delicate Balance: A Divided Country

Il libro del giornalista Patrick Radden Keefe, vincitore del premio Orwell nel 2019, sembra un thriller. Ambientato in Irlanda del Nord, racconta la storia di due donne e del loro complesso rapporto durante il complesso conflitto che costò la vita a migliaia di persone.

Alex Phillips

L. Ron Hubbard: Founder of the Church of Scientology
Shutterstock

People

L. Ron Hubbard: Founder of the Church of Scientology

Eroe di guerra o truffatore? Santo o sadico? Ronald Hubbard fu il fondatore di Scientology, un’azienda multimilionaria che si basa su una serie di idee e di pratiche che, come lui stesso affermava, eliminano la negatività dalla mente e salvano l’umanità.

Alex Phillips

More in Explore

Le 13 frasi più celebri di Martin Luther King
Wikimedia Commons

World

Le 13 frasi più celebri di Martin Luther King

Il 28 agosto 1963, Martin Luther King pronunciò uno dei discorsi più famosi della storia. La frase "I have a dream" è passata alla storia come simbolo della lotta per i diritti civili, così come le 13 citazioni che ricordiamo qui.

Julia Nigmatullina

TODAY’S TOP STORIES

Ireland’s Delicate Balance: A Divided Country
PA Images

Culture

Ireland’s Delicate Balance: A Divided Country

Il libro del giornalista Patrick Radden Keefe, vincitore del premio Orwell nel 2019, sembra un thriller. Ambientato in Irlanda del Nord, racconta la storia di due donne e del loro complesso rapporto durante il complesso conflitto che costò la vita a migliaia di persone.

Alex Phillips

Parole in inglese che iniziano con la "j"
iStock

Grammar

Parole in inglese che iniziano con la "j"

La pronuncia della "J" in inglese è diversa da quella in spagnolo. Per non dimenticarlo, impara queste 12 parole inglesi che iniziano con la "J", dalle più usate alle più strane, e il loro significato.

Natalia Cristiano