Comm 439 TIME FINAL PRESENTATION

TIME

• 1923: first weekly news magazine in U.S.• Objective: Telling the news by describing the

actors• Criticized for light tone and heavy emphasis

on pop culture/celebrities• Partnership with CNN

What does a print magazine have to offer?

• Glossy photos• Rich, thoughtful writing• Trustworthy• More comfortable reader experience?• Tangible, physical presence• Can reach older (non-digital) audiences • Portable

September 11th “Special Issue”

• September 11th “Special” Issue– Accounts from each hour of the day– Incorporates personal stories– “ The air smelled of smoke and concrete.

You could task the air more easily than you could breathe it”

Time Specials

• Cover stories • Person of the Year • Time 100

Cover Stories•Influences whether or not someone will read it•Indicator of a person's notability, fame or notoriety •“Is God Dead?” cover leads to public backlash

Person of the Year

• Most popular feature • Often regarded as an honor • “the individual or group of individuals

who have had the biggest effect on the year's news”

• Featured several controversial people • Backlash from choosing Ayatollah

Khomeini in 1979

Time 100

• List of 100 most influential people in the world

• Started in 1999, made annual in 2004 • “changing the world, for better or for

worse” • Generated controversy over who was included or excluded

Good Qualities of TIME

• Criticism of the government• Summarizing and explaining stories• Suggestions for future problems

Criticism of the Government

• “So What Went Wrong?” (2003)• Mission Accomplished

• “The mission wasn’t accomplished then, and it’s still not”

• “Wanted to invade Iraq…Used 9/11 emotions as a catalyst and justification”

Criticism of the Government• “Untruths and Consequences” (2003)• Bush’s State of the Union Address

– “Just how aware was Bush of the accuracy of what he was about to say?”

– “Now the false assertion and rising causalities are combining to take a toll on Bush’s standing with the public”

Predictions and Suggestions

• “New Orleans: the Big Easy on the Brink” (2000)– Concern that a category 5 hurricane would

“essentially destroy New Orleans”– “Watery threat to New Orleans is extreme”– “One idea is to raise levees. Take

immediate steps to reverse the loss of the sensitive wetlands”

Predictions

• “Is Inflation Back?” (2005)• “I don’t think we’re going to have an inflation

problem”- economist, Robert Brusca• “But something big has changed”- “Companies

are at long last managing to pass part of those costs along to the consumers”

• “This is hardly a return to double- digit inflation, but it bears watching”

Summarize and Explain Stories

• “With Fannie and Freddie, US is Bailout Nation” (2008)– “Americans not versed in financial- market

arcana can be forgiven for scratching their heads at this time”

• “Why Obama needs to support the Rebels?”

• “This would be a terrible outcome. President Obama has made it unambiguously clear that he wants Gaddafi to step down”

TIME as a news source?Libya: Why Obama needs to support the

Rebels? (March 21, 2011)

Don’t Bet Against the United States (March 14, 2011)

• “It is deeply misleading, though, to cherry-pick dismal statistics from here and there to create an overall image of decline.”

• “As Americans, we are in favor of creativity wherever it can be found”

A national crime news coverage

• “Biggie fans may finally get their chance to learn what happened to the legendary rapper 14 years after his death”

Soft news > Hard news

An environmental issue on the cover?

• The latest TIME Magazine Cover

(April 11, 2011)

What TIME readers are reading…