This is why Time Person of the Year get mix reaction

Maria Ressa, CEO of Rappler appearing on the cover of Time’s People (Person) of the Year
Maria Ressa, CEO of Rappler appearing on the cover of Time’s People (Person) of the Year

Time magazine’s 2018 acknowledged person(s) of the year (POY) received mixed reaction from netizens.

Before the end of year, the US-based news magazine picks a POY of their choice who has done the most to influence the events of the year.

This 2018, it came out with not one, but many, persons of the year representing journalists around the world.

But some of those being honored also raised a few eyebrows.

The magazine’s urge to highlight the plight of journalists headlined the choice with “The Guardians and the War on Truth.”

Honorees include murdered Washington Post contributor and Saudi Journalist Jamal Kashoggi.

Yes, Kashoggi was the journalist who disappeared while seeking to process divorce papers in the Saudi Arabian embassy in Ankara allegedly murdered by operatives from the Kingdom. The whereabout of his remain is part of the ongoing investigation.

Included in the ‘elite choice’ are reporters of Reuters- Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, arrested by the Myanmar authorities for exposing the subhuman plight of Rohingya Muslims in the country.

Rappler’s publisher Maria Ressa made it to the list. The online social news  media is at loggerheads with the Duterte administration on some issues not pleasing the ‘budding strongman.’

The victims of mass shooting on the newspaper offices of the Capital Gazettte were equally recognized, too.

The most glaring choice include Ukrainian journalist Arkady Babchenko. He who orchestrated his fake death from alleged Russian assasins. It turned out, Babchenko and the Ukrainian security service put the stunt together.

The cheap propaganda made his Ukrainian colleagues feel damage was done on their credibility as journalists afterwards.

Watch the video and meet some more of the finalists and honorees:

People are not too keen anymore of accolades such as the POY for being lopsided. Awards are given for convenience and based on a choice viewpoint. What say you?

POY is often regarded as an honor, and spoken of as an award or prize, based on many previous selections of admirable people. However, Time magazine points out that controversial figures such as Adolf Hitler (1938), Joseph Stalin (1939 and 1942), Nikita Khrushchev (1957) and Ayatollah Khomeini (1979) have also been granted the title for their impacts. As a result of the public backlash it received from the United States for naming Khomeini as Man of the Year in 1979, Time has since shied away from using figures who are controversial in the United States for commercial reasons, fearing reductions in sales or advertising revenue.– 

Wikipedia.Org

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