Time Magazine names 2011 “Person of the Year”
Hundreds of thousands of Egyptian anti-government demonstrators crowd Cairo’s Tahrir Square on February 8, 2011 on the 15th consecutive day of protests demanding the ouster of embattled President Hosni Mubarak.
Time Magazine announced Wednesday that its "Person of the Year" for 2011 is "the Protester."
Time explained that "no one could have known that when a Tunisian fruit vendor set himself on fire in a public square, it would incite protests that would topple dictators and start a global wave of dissent."
Time's "Person of the Year" is the product of a year's worth of thinking and reporting, according to the magazine.
Everywhere this year, people have complained about the failure of traditional leadership and the fecklessness of institutions. Politicians cannot look beyond the next election, and they refuse to make hard choices. That's one reason we did not select an individual this year.
The issue profiled 10 protesters from different movements around the globe, and mentions uprisings in Tunisia, Egypt, Syria, Libya, Britain, Spain, Greece — and the US's Occupy movement.
The magazine also profiled the four runner ups for the honor. Navy SEAL Captain William McRaven, Chinese dissent Ai Weiwei, US Rep. Paul Ryan and Kate Middleton were all runner-ups.
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