CNN host Chris Wallace on Saturday suggested that Time magazine's selection of singer-songwriter Taylor Swift as Person of the Year was a "pure marketing play," saying that Chinese leader Xi Jinping would have been a better choice.
Time has named a Person of the Year every year since 1927, describing the accolade as going to someone who "for better or for worse...has done the most to influence the events of the year." While the title is traditionally associated with individuals who do good, it has also gone to figures with more divisive impacts, including Elon Musk in 2021, or to outright historical villains, such as Adolf Hitler in 1938.
The announcement of Swift as Person of the Year for 2023 comes at the tail-end of a landmark year for the musician, which saw several hit album re-releases and the launch of the record-breaking Eras Tour, which was credited with noticeably driving economic activity in every city it passed through. The year was also marked by extensive conversation about Swift's political impacts, with her public statements in support of women's rights, LGBTQ+ rights, and abortion protections regularly making headlines. She has also been credited with driving political participation, with the New York Times attributing a post from her encouraging fans to check their status with leading to a 65,000-person surge in voter registration ahead of the 2020 election.
Newsweek reached out to Time magazine and Swift's representatives via email for comment.
On CNN, however, host Wallace took issue with Time's choice, calling it more of a ploy to cash in on Swift's immense fanbase and snag an interview with the traditionally press-shy musician, while noting that he considers himself a fan of her earlier work.
"I understand she has a huge cultural and economic force," Wallace said. "But when Time magazine this week named her its Person of the Year, I thought, 'oh, please.' First of all, hasn't Taylor received enough well-deserved coverage this year? And how about some of the other finalists like Xi Jinping or Sam Altman of Open AI?"
He continued: "But then Time wouldn't have gotten the Taylor cover and it wouldn't have gotten the interview with Taylor, who doesn't do interviews. To me, it sure looks like a pure marketing play for a magazine that used to have a circulation of more than four million and is now down to a little more than one million."
In explaining the choice in the pages of the magazine, editor-in-chief Sam Jacobs described Swift as someone who has managed to "transcend borders and be a source of light" amid culturally and politically divisive times. Some fans of the musician have also urged that Swift's award be given to Palestinian journalists covering the Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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Thomas Kika is a Newsweek weekend reporter based in upstate New York. His focus is reporting on crime and national ... Read more
