A few days ago the annual issue of Time magazine’s one hundred most influential people arrived. It is a marvel of slick promotion, but it hooked me in anyway.
Instead of the usual one-page front cover, there were four featuring Nicki Minaj, the Zuckerbergs, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Christine Lagarde. Inside, I learned that there were six different covers altogether, so I wondered who graced the other two. (Lin-Manuel Miranda and Priyanka Chopra)
The usual world leaders, musical phenoms, and theatrical stars were well represented. So too were scientists and sports personalities. There was also, according to editor Nancy Gibbs, one person known only by the pseudonym Elena Ferrante.
The magazine was filled with large photographs and small biographies of the Chosen. I don’t know who took the photos, but each bio was “written” by an equally well-known personality. Joe Biden wrote about Pope Francis. Lena Dunham wrote about Julia Louis-Dreyfus. Mitt Romney wrote about Paul Ryan. The strange thing is that all the bios read alike, all in the standard Time patois.
Before we got our news from electronic devices, such magazines as Time played an important role in keeping us informed. But now that the news of the day is transmitted instantaneously, a weekly magazine featuring “news” has had to reinvent itself. I suppose the current issue in my hands is part of that effort. But then it seems it should be called People.
Oh wait. There already is a magazine with that name.
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