Let’s get this out of the way up front. No, I do not know who the TIME Person of the Year is. If I did know, I would not tell you anyway, it’s true. But not only do I doubt the decision has been made yet, most years I don’t know the choice until the day the magazine comes out–sometimes even when I’ve written articles for the POY issue. (There are often a few different “POY” packages done for the magazine each year, with only a select cabal knowing which will actually be the POY package.) This will not stop everyone I know from asking me, constantly, this December like every year, but for the record: I don’t know. Get off me.
What I do know is that, especially recently, if you don’t count politicians, the POY rarely comes from the world of TV or even pop culture generally. (Ted Turner made it once, and Bono shared the cover with the Gateses a couple years back, but not for U2’s albums.)
Arguably, You–last year’s notorious pick–was a pop-culture selection. But it won’t be You again. Frankly, You’ve had a pretty crappy year. Really. Step it up.
Anyway, while I’m biased, I often think that TIME and other “serious” media underestimate pop culture’s real effects on the world. So we’re going to have our own party here. Who do you nominate for Tuned In Person of the Year?
You can go beyond TV to the larger world of pop culture if you want, but Barack Obama doesn’t count for going on Oprah, and Pervez Musharraf, only if he cuts an album.