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Time Person of the Year 2013
- darkxanthos 13y agoDid they finally just throw out the poll data and go with whoever they wanted? I remember originally Snowden was winning by a landslide.
- calvin_c 13y agoThey always do that. The polls have never been to determine who the POTY will be, but just to see who people vote for. Time picks whoever they want regardless of the polls.
- smackfu 13y agoYeah, the poll is essentially just to generate another story about "who the people want".
- JonnieCache 13y agoThese days it just seems to provide something to keep 4chan occupied for a week.
- inafield 13y agoThe last data I had seen (when I'd voted), had Miley Cyrus ahead by millions of votes. When did Snowden jump ahead? Was that 4chan "to the rescue"?
- mrmondo 13y agoIs this a joke or a payoff?!
- boredprogrammer 13y agoIndeed. Miley Cyrus was robbed.
- beloch 13y agoHe shows promise but, like awarding Obama the Nobel peace prize, this is just too soon.
- huherto 13y agoThis unlike the nobel price is given for influencing the events of the year, not so much for being good or great. Even Hitler and Stalin were selected.
- bowlofpetunias 13y agoHe doesn't even show promise. Obama promised change, this pope only promises slightly less fanatical bigotry.
- timje1 13y agoWell, this Pope has been remarkably liberal and transformational. He's only remarkable in the context of the last few popes, who were insanely conservative. Francis is merely extremely conservative...
- deleted 13y ago[deleted]
- josu 13y ago>Well, this Pope has been remarkably liberal and transformational Has he? I know that he has been saying a lot of stuff, but has he actually changed anything? I get the feeling that either he is full of shit, or that he doesn't actually have the power to carry out all the reforms that he says he will.
- chrisdroukas 13y ago>Francis is merely extremely conservative... I think it was sarcasm.
- bcks 13y agoWith their bold investigative reporting and willingness to speak truth to power, I just can't understand why weekly news magazines are having such a hard time in the U.S.
- revscat 13y agoWell, that was certainly the safer choice. Francis is an interesting figure so far, but he hasn't caused -- yet, anyway -- worldwide changes in the political dialogue like Snowden has. Time, though, went with a choice that doesn't annoy the powerful Western democracies.
- rdl 13y agoSomehow I wouldn't be surprised if Snowden has just as much impact on 2014 as he did on 2013.
- deleted 13y ago[deleted]
- 001sky 13y agoTime awarding Snowden POY would them look out of the loop. That seems to be the logiical PR explanation. Vatican is really a diminished institution, while the NSA is ascendent. This just impugns the relevance of Time mag's editorial, in a way...which is not flattering.
- headgasket 13y agoInteresting comparison. The NSA will never need the Inquisition to assert its power though, they already know. Knowledge is power.
- deleted 13y ago[deleted]
- inafield 13y agoWhat do you mean by "never need the Inquisition"? The CIA/DIA/NSA Inquisition has been happening 24x7 for years now; we just haven't been privy to it.
- samelliot 13y agoThey have well and truly learnt that they get more clicks by naming someone completely undeserving than the answer everyone expects.
- r0h1n 13y agoFor crying out loud! What difference has the Pope made to the world (and do remember, the world does include non-Christian countries...or roughly 5 billion out of 7 billion people...and I'm not even getting into Catholics vs. non-Catholics here). Colour me cynical, but any publication that declares anyone other than Edward Snowden as the Person of the Year in 2013 has to have some pretty BIG reasons for doing so. And the Pope's just don't cut it.
- kayoone 13y agoObama has been person of the year twice in the last 5 years and there seem to be other countries than the USA last time i checked.
- huherto 13y agoroughly 6.7 billion out of 7 billion people are not in the USA.
- parasight 13y agoRight now there are high hopes that the Pope will make a difference. Obama got the Nobel Peace Prize nine months after his election. For what reason if not high hopes? To a huge number of people on this planet the problems around the NSA are rather insignificant. EDIT: Typo
- StavrosK 13y ago"Person of the year 2013" isn't "person we're hoping will make a difference in 2014", it's "person who has made a difference". The pope can pretty much do nothing that will affect me, but the bullshit the NSA pulls affect me every day.
- k-mcgrady 13y ago>> "The pope can pretty much do nothing that will affect me, but the bullshit the NSA pulls affect me every day." So Time should have checked with you first? I don't really care who they voted as person of the year (it really doesn't matter) but being annoyed they picked someone who doesn't effect you (but can effect millions of others) is pretty dumb and selfish reasoning.
- bsenftner 13y agoWell, we all know Time, Time/Warner and the media in general in the US is owned in the worst definitive way. So, of course Snowden can't be Person of the Year.
- dshibarshin 13y agoWhy are these "Person of the Year" stories still relevant?
- salient 13y agoI figured they wouldn't give it to Snowden. They're too scared/docile to do such a thing. They gave it to Zuckerberg - in 2011 (why that year?!) - instead of Assange, too, so whatever. To me Time POY is useless.
- drill_sarge 13y agoYes please, make this choice least interesting/controversial as possible to make it even more irrelevant. The interesting question is: would it be someone else if Time wasn't US media?
- nealabq 13y agoHere's some info about the poll. It reports a few (too few) numbers. I suppose the editors didn't want to overwhelm us. http://poy.time.com/2013/12/05/egypts-sisi-wins-readers-poll-for-time-person-of-the-year/ http://poy.time.com/2013/12/05/egypts-sisi-wins-readers-poll...
- leephillips 13y agoI'm continually amazed at the frequent and detailed coverage, by every major news organization, expended on every snore and snuffle emitted by this one weird cult. I'm almost as amazed by my own persistent naivete: I went to Time fully expecting to see Snowden.
- michaelsbradley 13y ago"And in the same fashion, while we can if we choose see the Church amid a mob of Mithraic or Manichean superstitions squabbling and killing each other at the end of the Empire, while we can if we choose imagine the Church killed in the struggle and some other chance cult taking its place, we shall be the more surprised (and possibly puzzled) if we meet it two thousand years afterwards rushing through the ages as the winged thunderbolt of thought and everlasting enthusiasm; a thing without rival or resemblance; and still as new as it is old." – G.K. Chesterton, The Everlasting Man, 1925 http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks01/0100311.txt http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks01/0100311.txt
- ernestipark 13y agoI'm not saying Snowden or the Pope should or shouldn't be the POTY... but the narrow mindedness here is pretty silly (yet predictable). Maybe it's hard for atheist technologists living in the tech bubble to fathom, but the Pope is unbelievably influential to not just the millions (or even billions) of Catholics around the world, but even those who are not Catholic/Christian. I'm not sure whether Pope Francis will/has inspired policy change, moved political waves, etc, but when one person can potentially inspire perspective change in billions of people in the way they treat others and view many of the hot button issues in the world today, that seems worthy enough for POTY candidacy.
- dragonwriter 13y ago> I'm not sure whether Pope Francis will/has inspired policy change, moved political waves, etc There's some indications that it may have, if not spurring political change, at least reduced a barrier to it with some immediate effect [1]. [1] http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/USA-Update/2013/1106/As-Illinois-House-approves-gay-marriage-speaker-cites-Pope-Francis-video http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/USA-Update/2013/1106/As-Illinoi...
- nalsh 13y agoI think that some of you guys are missing the point by being a bit too America-centric. The new Pope is a gamechanger for a ton of people and has effected more lives directly than Snowden has (at least in those peoples' perspective).
- TheRealBabibi 13y agoHow? He cant even stop his own priests from fucking kids.
- Xdes 13y agoMan the public education system is broken. They can't even keep their own teachers from fucking kids.
- jheriko 13y agoshameful. although he has certainly had an impact, what a revolting choice. to pick such a wicked and corrupt individual, especially one who is deluded into thinking of themselves as righteous... gah!!! still... at least it wasn't Snowden.
- knowitall 13y agoSo lame...
- macspoofing 13y agoThis is as big a cop-out as choosing Giuliani over Osama bin Laden as Time Person of the Year 2001.
- jagermo 13y agomeh, I am not impressed by the pope. If he wanted, he could to something, e.g. propagating the use of condoms in developing countries. But so far all he did were some propaganda stunts. Especially the "capitalism = bad" letter he published (written in the Vatican, surrounded by gold and amassed wealth) is not worth the paper he printed it on. I have recently visited South Africa and I have seen the problems caused by non existent (or rather: not allowed by the church) family planning. However, lots of people (mostly Catholics) just want see some change, and Franzicus is feeding their hopes. Not a hard job after Ratzinger (remember, he was head of the current-time inquisition), but as long as he doesn't tackle any of the real world problems that are within his reach, he is nothing more than a prop.
- deleted 13y ago[deleted]
- bowlofpetunias 13y agoI'm sorry, why the fuck is dead tree publication praising a religious bigot a top story on HN?
- GnwbZHiU 13y agoWhy do people angry? It's Time person of the year, they have their own criteria, they can choose anyone they want, they don't need to justify it. If you want, you can also publish your own person of the year.
- croisillon 13y agoMaybe that's my trope as much as Snowden looks like a trope to some other commenters here but 2013 was the perfect timing[0] for a POY "LGBT Recognition" or so. Anyway, I'm betting on a science-related POY in 2014, remember to check if I was right ;) [0] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Same-sex_marriage#Timeline http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Same-sex_marriage#Timeline