Time (or TIME) is a weekly American
newsmagazine, similar to Newsweek and U.S. News
& World Report. A European edition (Time Europe, formerly known as Time Atlantic) is published from
London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and (since 2003) Latin America. An Asian edition (Time Asia) is based in Hong Kong. A Canadian edition (Time Canada) is based in Toronto.
History
The first issue of TIME was published on March 3, 1923, featuring on its cover Joseph G. Cannon,
Speaker of the United States House of Representatives. Preceding both
of its major competitors, Time was virtually the first weekly news magazine in the United States. It was co-founded in 1923 by Briton
Hadden and Henry Luce. Both had worked together previously at Yale, with
Hadden and Luce serving as chairman and managing editor, respectively, of the Yale Daily News. Hadden died in 1929, and Luce became the dominant man at Time and a major figure in
the history of 20th century media. Hadden was a rather carefree figure, who
liked to tease Luce and saw Time as something important but also fun. That accounts for its tone, which many people still
criticize as too light for serious news and more suited to its heavy coverage of celebrities (including politicians), the
entertainment industry, and pop culture.
Style
Time has always had its own writing style, parodied most famously in 1938 by Wolcott Gibbs in a New Yorker article:
"Backward ran sentences until reeled the mind … Where it all will end, knows God." The
early days of incessantly inverted sentences and "beady-eyed tycoons" and "great and good friends," however, have long since
vanished.
Formerly conservative, the editorial line has since shifted.
Time is also known for its signature red border, which only changed once in the magazine's eighty year
history—the issue released shortly after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, which featured a black border to show mourning.
Mergers
Time became part of Time Warner in 1989 when Warner Communications and Time, Inc. merged. Since 2000, the magazine
has been part of AOL Time Warner, which subsequently reverted to the name Time Warner in 2003.
Man of the Year
The magazine's most famous feature over its 80 years has been the annual Man of the Year designation—recently renamed Person of the Year—in which Time
recognizes the individual or group of individuals who have had the biggest effect on the year's news. Despite the title, the
recipient is not necessarily a human. In the past, even ideas and machines have received the recognition.
Albert Einstein was Time's person of the century in its
last edition of 1999.
Controversy has occasionally arisen due to the designation of hated figures as "Persons of the Year." The distinction is
supposed to go to the person who, for good or ill, has most affected the course of the year; it is therefore not an honour or
reward. In the past, such figures as Adolf Hitler or Joseph Stalin have been Persons of the Year. The magazine backed down from this
policy for its Person of the Year in 2001: the feeling was that the person who had most affected the course of the year was
Osama Bin Ladin, but the editorial board weighed the policy against
the risk of inciting outrage, and named Rudolph Giuliani
instead.
External links
- Time online (http://www.time.com/)
- Time Archive (http://www.time.com/time/magazine/archives) - Archive of all magazines and covers from 1923
through present
- Time Europe (http://www.timeeurope.com/)
- Time Asia (http://www.timeasia.com/)
- Time Canada (http://www.timecanada.com/)
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