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Time magazine’s “millennials” cover: A history of “millennials” in the media

Thu, 09 May 2013 15:32:00 +0000

Time magazine has gotten the Internet's attention once more with a grabby cover image: In the footsteps of the breast-feeding mom and "Don't Hate [Sheryl Sandberg] Because She's Successful" comes a cover image of a young woman posing for an iPhone self-portrait. She's nicely dressed, in pastel jeans and ballet flats, and she's described this way: "The Me Me Me Generation: Millennials are lazy, entitled narcissists who still live with their parents. Why they'll save us all."

This double-axel troll -- millennials are the worst! All they do is play on their smartphones! But, actually, they are great! Columnist Joel Stein tells you why! -- is admirably executed. (A video at Time's website indicates that the full story, not yet online, is unlikely to be positive: Stein, the writer, "lives like a millennial" by compulsively documenting himself, a trope that felt a little clichéd when describing the Gen-X'ers of "Reality Bites.")

Jimmy Kimmel delivers amusing, tipsy speech at Time 100 dinner

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 17:04:00 +0000

As an attendee of the Time 100 dinner, honoring Time's most influential people in the world, Jimmy Kimmel toasted to Lena Dunham, who "taught me not to be afraid of my breasts," to Bassem Youssef, a man "who risks his life to bring laughter to his country -- and I would say I would just move," Jimmy Fallon, "who is getting me very, very drunk" and the ultimate comedian, Joe Biden:

The Green Movement isn’t fringe!

Tue, 05 Mar 2013 17:20:00 +0000

Environmentalists on Thursday were electrified by an essay by TIME national correspondent Michael Grunwald offering his support for the campaign against the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline. After suffering a week’s worth of slights from armchair quarterbacks dissing the Keystone opposition as wooly headed and un-strategic here, finally, was a member of the establishment commentariat saying the recent protests in Washington were spot-on.

In an essay titled, “I’m with the tree huggers,” Grunwald wrote:

Kathryn Bigelow is modifying her tune

Thu, 24 Jan 2013 19:21:00 +0000

Kathryn Bigelow can't stop breaking her silence.

The director of "Zero Dark Thirty" has had a not-entirely-jocular interview on "The Colbert Report," written an Op-Ed for the Los Angeles Times, and now appears on the cover of Time. (The venerable magazine notes that this is only the 12th appearance by a director on the cover, as Bigelow joins the likes of Steven Spielberg, Woody Allen, and David Lean.)

It represents a gradual shift away from the presentation of "Zero Dark Thirty" as a sort of documentary or "reported film" and toward portraying it as just a movie. The Time interview goes into detail about Bigelow's artistic and aesthetic impulses, and allows her to walk back some of the claims about her film's extraordinary, extra-cinematic nature, a task she also undertook with Charlie Rose today when she called her film "a movie, not a documentary."

Obama pretends to be caught in Spider-Man’s web

Wed, 19 Dec 2012 18:04:00 +0000

President Barack Obama maintained his Internet-cool image when his team released this official White House photo, also featured in the online Time Magazine spread that named Obama Person of the Year:

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The photo was taken in the Outer Oval Office on Oct. 26, 2012. In this case, Spider-Man is a White House staffer's son.

Time names Barack Obama as Person of the Year

Wed, 19 Dec 2012 13:45:00 +0000

Time Magazine has named President Barack Obama as the Person of the Year for 2012. Managing editor Rick Stengel, who made the announcement on the Today Show this morning, explained that Obama is more than a political icon--he has ushered in a cultural change at a crucial turning point in America.

Although Obama is just beginning his second term, Time notes that his re-election itself affirms America's transformation. Stengel penned the introduction in the magazine's upcoming issue, in which he which he writes:

"In many ways, Barack Obama is the 21st century version of this new American. But he’s more than just a political figure; he’s a cultural one. He is the first President to embrace gay marriage and to offer work permits to many young undocumented immigrants. There has been much talk of the coalition of the ascendant — young people, minorities, Hispanics, college-educated women — and in winning re-election, Obama showed that these fast-growing groups are not only the future but also the present. About 40% of millennials — the largest generational cohort in U.S. history, bigger even than the baby boomers — are nonwhite. If his win in 2008 was extraordinary, then 2012 is confirmation that demographic change is here to stay."

"Obama is the first Democratic President since FDR to win more than 50% of the vote in consecutive elections and the first President since 1940 to win re-election with an unemployment rate north of 7.5%."

Obama named Time’s person of the year

Wed, 19 Dec 2012 13:12:00 +0000

President Barack Obama has been named Time's "Person of the Year" for 2012.

The selection was announced Wednesday on NBC's "Today" show.

The short list for the honor included Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani teenager who was shot in the head for advocating for girls' education.

It also included Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi and Bill and Hillary Clinton.

Obama also received the honor in 2008, when he was President-elect.

Last year, "The Protester" got the honor.

Time's "Person of the Year" is the person or thing that has most influenced the culture and the news during the past year for good or for ill. In 2010, Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg received the honor.

Other previous winners have included Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, Bono and President George W. Bush.

Kim Jong Un will not be Time’s Person of the Year

Tue, 18 Dec 2012 17:32:00 +0000

4chan pranksters may have been able to hack the Time Magazine reader's poll to declare North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un the top candidate for "Person of the Year," but editors at Time have ignored the joke. Time released its short list today, which does not include the supreme leader. Instead, potential candidates include the likes of Marissa Mayer, CEO of Yahoo; Mohammed Morsi, president of Egypt; and Malala Yousafazi, the Pakistani teen activist who survived an attack by the Taliban (visit Time for the full list).

Can football change?

Thu, 06 Dec 2012 19:45:00 +0000

For an organization facing at least one existential crisis, the NFL is thriving.

Time magazine’s cover story (Subscription required) looks at NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell’s mission to maintain the game’s popularity and wild profitability despite evidence that for many players its lasting impact is immense suffering and early death. The latest freak tragedy came last weekend when Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher killed his girlfriend before committing suicide. Though Belcher’s death has not been convincingly tied to the NFL’s greater problem of tackle-related concussions, it’s not a becoming association for a sport desperate to rehabilitate its image. Belcher was the fourth player or former player to commit suicide in eight months.

Football has always been a dangerous assault but after decades the status quo is under assault. Time:

The NFL is being sued by some 4,000 ex-players, plus nearly 1,500 of their spouses and children, who allege that the league “deliberately ignored and actively concealed” information about concussions for decades.