Monday, December 12, 2016

Time Magazine Trumps All With Person Of The Year Choice


It is no surprise to see, Donald Trump splashed across the cover of this week’s issue, honored as its Person of the Year.  The caption reads: “President of the Divided States of America.”

Win or lose he had to be selected.  He was the biggest news story of the year by a landslide from beginning to end, this year’s long news cycle revolved around Trump – can he win, what if he wins, he won, what’s next.  His candidacy and campaign is one that will be studied for decades.  The majority of Americans dislike him.  The majority of those who voted did not vote for him.  Whether we love or loathe, fear or cheer, he is an amazing subject that could easily win again next time around.  He will drive the nation and dominate the news in a way that really has not been seen before.

Clinton finished No. 2 on the short list by Time.  I would say she should be further down the list.

I would choose, as a group, Wikileaks and the hack society.  These rogues greatly influenced the election, disturb the government, disrupt businesses, and challenge the law.

No 5 for Time was collectively scientists, who are working to show how gene-editing technology can revolutionize medicine. Maybe the only one that could have come close to Trump is the disenfranchised electorate – the fickle voter that allowed for Trump to get nominated and then swept into office.  Then again, the voters are hard to honor when they seem so divided, frustrated, and angry.

Another choice could have been pollsters.  They did an awful job of calling the election.

Lastly, the news media could be people of the year.  The media also failed us.  It failed to bring down Trump -- no matter how much it tried. It and also failed to understand how Trump could get elected.  It would be critical of Trump but it would shed too much attention on everything he said or did and not enough on the actual issues.

Time has had many unpopular choices before, including Hitler for Man of the Year, but it’s understandable.  Time honors the person or entity that is the biggest newsmaker and makes the largest impact on society – whether good or bad.

Trump’s first Time cover was in 1989, highlighting his real estate empire and bold business acumen.  Interestingly, there, was a quote 27 years ago saying he may run someday for the presidency.  We know how that story ends.

Time’s online poll was drastically different than how its editorial board judged things. 19% of these who took a time.com survey on who should be Person of the Year chose India’s prime minister. 7% said President Obama, 7% Wikileaks co-founder Julian Assange, 4% Clinton, and 2% FB CEO Mark Zuckerberg.  Trump didn’t register much with those who participated in the poll, as only 7% favored him for selection.

Few selections of Time magazine have pleased all, but I must admit Trump is really the most worthy pick here.  Sure he stands for many things many of us disagree with, but somehow he managed to rise out of bankruptcy (his company), rebuild his image with The Apprentice and best-selling books, and then, with no political or military experience, win the White House while saying things other candidates would be destroyed by.

My very first blog entry – some 2261 posts ago – was about the great marketer and shameless promoter Trump is.  We can all learn from him and how he got to where he is.  Time has recognized him appropriately, but others will scoff at him getting such an honor. He certainly will sell a lot of copies at the newsstand.

What might he do for an encore in 2017?  

I am sure the media will endlessly speculate and analyze everything he says, does or doesn’t say or do. That is the true mark of a real newsmaker,

All-New 2017 Book Marketing & PR Toolkit 

Brian Feinblum’s views, opinions, and ideas expressed in this blog are his alone and not that of his employer. You can follow him on Twitter @theprexpert and email him at brianfeinblum@gmail.com. He feels more important when discussed in the third-person. This is copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog 2016 ©.
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