Since 1927 TIME has produced a “Person of the Year” issue to decree the most influential person or persons in the news. At 200 pages this edition in the Person of the Year series was their longest issue ever. The decision to choose “You,” as the biggest newsmaker of 2006 has already made waves through the blogosphere.
Some decreed it a stunt for readers, others too little too late.

So NewAssignment.Net went to the TIME/Life building in New York and sat down with Stephen Koepp, TIME magazine’s deputy managing editor, to find out about the back story to this choice and how they are reacting to all the hoopla.

NewAssignment.Net: How did Time settle on giving “You” the award? Was it highly debated by the editorial staff or did everyone agree right away?

Stephen Koepp: There is a process for gathering information. We get suggestions from all our bureaus and bring them back, and they are finalists. Then there is a phase of preliminary reporting and we see where the news goes. At the end of the process we got enough to do several person of the year projects. The final decision is made by the Managing editor Richard Stengel.

The question you are asking — was it a consensus. There is a debate. And the managing editor knows what people think, but he makes the call essentially.

NAN: Who were the runners up?

There’s a scene in the 1998 movie The Big Lebowski when Jeff Bridges’ perpetually baked character, “The Dude,” finds himself staring at his reflection in the mirrored cover of Time magazine’s “Man of the Year” issue. But “The Dude” is the last person to do something noteworthy enough for a spot on newsstands. Link together millions of real life dudes, dorks, geeks and dabblers through the Internet and they start looking a lot more influential – enough to end up as 2006’s biggest newsmaker.

This year, Time picked “You” as its Person of the Year. “You”—or, more accurately, “We”—have earned the recognition of these old media stalwarts.

The cover decision was not entirely unexpected (NewAssignment.Net, among others, reported on it back in November) and Time has been known to lean toward the gimmicky before, but this selection is remarkable nonetheless. When an old lion of big media like Time turns to recognize the collective contributions of bloggers, Wikipedians, and open source programmers, it’s some sort of milestone, a clear indication that the Great Man theory is in demise.

Dan Gillmor at the Center for Citizen Media made an interesting observation about the magazine’s choice of words. “There’s a tiny bit of reality in the fact that the cover didn’t say “Us” instead of ‘You,’” he wrote. “In part because it was a vestige of the magazine’s traditional, royal thinking wherein they told us everything and we bought it or didn’t. If the people of the year are all of you, that leaves ‘we the deciders of what is news’ still inside the gates.”

This is precisely why NewAssignment.Net considers this an award for the collective “We” not just an external “You.”

The collective “You,” or perhaps I should say “We” is a serious nomination for Time Magazine’s 2006 Person of the Year cover.

At a luncheon with panelists Brian Williams (NBC anchorman), Arianna Huffington and other media types, there was mixed feelings about giving “You” or rather “Us” an award.

“The impact of bloggers, Wikipedia and YouTube, where consumers increasingly disperse and devour unfiltered opinions on everything from lunch preferences to political issues, is harmful to American culture. ‘We’re choosing cat juggling videos over well-thought-out, well-researched and well-reported evening newscasts,’ said Williams. ‘Our celebration…and marketing of self, I believe, is tearing us apart and could kill us.’”

Back in 2003 Time Magazine gave the Person of the Year Award to the American soldier. If there ever was a year to give the award to Americans across-the-board, I imagine this is it – during the rise of social media.

Time probably won’t go that far. The list of nominations right now include Al Gore, George Bush and other usual suspects. Sticking out from the group – the only nomination that isn’t a proper name – the “YouTube Guys.”

And while the YouTube guys would get the cover picture, in obvious ways this would also be giving an award to the collective “You,” which has made YouTube a success.