Friday, December 12, 2014

WEEK 3

Title of Resource: The Choice

link here

 Citation of Source:
Gibbs, N. (2014, December 10). The Choice. Retrieved December 8, 2014, from http://time.com/time-person-of-the-year-ebola-fighters-choice/

   Summary: Time Magazine is notable for announcing a "person of the year" each year. This year's winner was "Ebola fighters." The person of the year doesn't have to necessarily one person, or even a good person. The person of the year is the person, people, machine/thing, or concept that has shaped the world the most in the last 12 months. This year's choice was made because the workers who risked their lives to fight Ebola are being considered heroes. Part of the choice was made by issuing an online poll (results can be seen below). 

Important quotes: "But 2014 is the year an outbreak turned into an epidemic, powered by the very progress that has paved roads and raised cities and lifted millions out of poverty"

 "There was little to stop the disease from spreading further. Governments weren’t equipped to respond; the World Health Organization was in denial and snarled in red tape.
But the people in the field, the special forces of Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), the Christian medical-relief workers of Samaritan’s Purse and many others from all over the world fought side by side with local doctors and nurses, ambulance drivers and burial teams."

"For tireless acts of courage and mercy, for buying the world time to boost its defenses, for risking, for persisting, for sacrificing and saving, the Ebola fighters are TIME’s 2014 Person of the Year."

 

REFLECTION: This title used to be called "Man of the Year" and was a way for writers of the magazine to keep their audience's interest. After the first one in 1945, this tradition was bound to be a success. Time Magazine's person of the year represents the influence of a person, people, machine/thing, or concept, and it also represents the progress or lack of, that the world has made that year. Some magazine picks were controversial. Hitler was named Man of the Year in 1938, and Stalin was given the title twice. Wallis Simpson, a WOMAN, was given the title of "Man of the Year" in 1936. Martin Luther King, the computer, Earth, and "you" (the numerous amount of people who contributed to the user-generated content online) have also won the award. In 1999 the title was changed to "Person of the Year". TIME Magazine held its first online poll to allow users to contribute to the selection in 1998, however they stress that the choice is made independently of users votes. However, this interaction between the magazine and its' consumers is a great strategy, the audience becomes more involved. It is also a clever marketing strategy, this tease of the possible winners makes audiences more anxious to know the results, and more likely to purchase the issue with the winner. I think this title raises awareness about world issues/current events and gets people more involved in the world. It's a clever thing to do, everyone wants to know what's going on so they can be in the loop. I think this years' winner was a fair choice, although my choice would've been Malala Yousafzai.

 

 EXTRAS: POLL+VIDEO

Poll of this year's considerations for Person of the Year

VIDEO FROM TIME MAGAZINE

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