The TIME "Person Of The Year" title has always been a controversial, iconic and misunderstood. The goal of naming the person of the year (other than to create controversial press for their magazine) is unclear, but their criteria is not: "since 1927, TIME has identified the Person of the Year, recognizing the person or group of people who most influenced the news and the world — for better or for worse — during the past year." The winner is a person who has been inescapable in the news and has changed its course, whether they wanted to or not and whether they made positive change or not.
Today, the magazine has announced their shortlist for this year's list: Meghan Markle (of Deal or No Deal), Donald Trump (of The Apprentice), "Separated Families," the late Jamal Khashoggi, March For Our Lives Activists, South Korean president Moon Jae-in, Christine Blasey Ford (alleged victim of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh's sexual assault), Ryan Coogler (director of Black Panther), Robert Mueller (the ex-director of the FBI) and Vladimir Putin.
In previous years, "the shortlist for Person of the Year has included the Silence Breakers of the #MeToo movement, Hillary Clinton, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Black Lives Matter activists, CRISPR scientists and Beyoncé."
