Wednesday
Dec162009
UPDATED "Where is My Vote?" (Part 2): TIME Snubs Green Movement as "Person of the Year"
Wednesday, December 16, 2009 at 6:44 
UPDATE 0925 GMT: US National Public Radio is conducting a parallel poll, so far without throwing out "Iran Protesters".President Obama is the Leader of the Others, with 2% of the vote. Yep, 2%. He's got a way to go to catch those pesky Protesters, who are on 93%.
United4Iran offers comments on the Time affair.
UPDATE 0800 GMT: Iran News Now has a spirited investigation of Time's poll and the dropping of "Iran's Protesters" from the final list for Person of the Year.
It may not rank with the alleged theft of June's Presidential election, but Time magazine just put itself in the role of vote-stealing villain for many supporters of Iran's Green Wave.
Yesterday Time put out the press release:
The seven finalists [for Time's Person of the Year] include Apple [Computers] CEO Steve Jobs, US Federal Reserve Charman [sic] Ben Bernanke, US Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, Jamaican Sprinter and Olympic Gold Medalist Usain Bolt, Commander of US Forces in Afghanistan General Stanley McChrystal and US President Barack Obama.
Also making the lists is "the Chinese worker," a group of people whom TIME says "are an increasingly influential group in one of the world's most powerful economies".
The Latest from Iran (15 November): The Path to Moharram
All credible candidates for the honour of the figure or group who has made a significant impact on the world in 2009 - except maybe the one whose claim is that he runs really, really fast. But the news is who didn't make the final cut from 10 nominees. Apparently "the Iranian People" didn't match up to an American Congresswoman, the man leading the US Long War in Central Asia, or the iPhone guy, let alone an assembly-line machinist in Beijing.
Still, even that rejection might have fluttered into cyber-space had it not been for Time's perverse tribute to democracy.
To boost attention to the award, the magazine held an on-line poll: the top US money-man Bernanke, for example, finished 6th with more than 63,000 votes; computer-whiz Jobs was 3rd with almost 87,000. (Bizarrely, given yesterday's outcome, Pelosi and "the Chinese worker" were not even among the nominees.) The runner-up in the vote was US President Barack Obama, who must be pleased with just under 112,000 endorsements.
But the winner in the poll? With 573,561 votes --- more than a 5:1 margin over Obama --- "Iran Protesters".
So how did Time achieve what Mahmoud Ahmadinejad cannot, making the Green Movement disappear after a supposedly full and fair election? Well, the magazine did put up the caveat, "TIME's editors reserve the right to disagree." And here is the likely explanation:
[While] their courage and determination in the face of a brutal government crackdown demonstrated the depth of their willingness to fight for what they believed in....any hopes that the protests would usher in a flowering of Iranian democracy were shattered by the violent reprisals. And as time went on, it became clear that opposition movement leaders like Mir-Hossein Mousavi were not seeking a clean break with the Islamic Republic, as many Western observers had hoped.
Sorry, folks, you were kinda cute, as well as kinda valiant, in the summer. You might even have spurred an outpouring of popular support as you persisted. But, for Time, your demonstrations no longer exist because you couldn't deliver a "regime change" winding the clock in Iran back to 1978.
Long live democracy. Go away, democracy.
Reader Comments (73)
I cried myself to sleep last night.
An Iranian I haven't talked to in a few months finally contacted me. I knew things were bad, but I found out it had gotten worse. He was not only dealt with unfairly at uni, but a friend of his was arrested and beaten during 13 Aban (4 Nov.) protests.
This bright, shining light that I met online this summer has dimmed. What should be the time of his life is nothing but sorrow and unhappiness now.
Not surprised that TIME magazine refused to recognize how noble and brave Iranians are in the face of such tyranny. It's one more example as to why the Mainstream Media continues to suffer with falling viewership/circulation and rounds of layoffs.
Take heart, my online compatriots. I remember the first weekend after the election, when Twitter was exploding with #iranelection and the entirety of the Mainstream Media continued to insist Iran was officially offline, and specifically mentioned, "No Twitter, No Facebook."
It took until Monday, 15 June, for the Mainstream Media to catch up to the rest of us.
Once again, we will leave them in the dust.
I just sent the following email to letters@time.com.
Dear Time magazine,
If you could give us one good reason why you removed Iranian Protesters (your own poll's front runners) from your list of Person of the Year finalists I will stop telling people that you only included them in the first place to get some much needed hits for your site. Makes us wonder what right you have to criticize the Iranian government for vote rigging when you are no better.
Regards,
A former Time reader
Won't change anything, I know. But it made me feel better.
where is my vote. you know what out people are doing with theirgovernment , so why YOU????
Fear of "international complications" when admitting #iranelection is what bothers people ?
afraid of PEOPLE's democracy?
Naj,
The regime will exploit whatever it can to bolster its narrative, so by your logic this blog, your blog, and our comments shouldn't exist since the regime can use it as evidence of a foreign plot. We can't allow them to continually dictate what we will or won't do out of fear of how they can use it. They will fabricate and manipulate with or without our "help."
This is a big loss. It would have really boosted Iranian morale.
Although it was possible for individuals to vote more than once, the supporters of all the nominees had the same opportunity to vote multiple times, so it's not like that feature favored one nominee in a way that would invalidate the results. I'm sure there were many Obama fans voting the maximum amount too. Time could have structured their poll to not permit multiple votes, but, like many online pollsters, they preferred to structure it this way because they HOPED people would make a commitment to come back to Time every day to vote, bumping up page hits for the site.
It was not easy to achieve the +500,000 vote results as we knew them ten days ago when Time stopped updating them, let alone whatever they truly are now. Thousands of people worked damn hard FOR FREE to send traffic to Time.com because they THOUGHT they were getting an opportunity to at least have their opinions considered by Time's editors. To not include the online winner in the shortlist is a slap in the face to everyone who promoted this poll for Time.
If I had known I was merely advertising a meaningless waste of time entertainment, rather than a serious poll, I would have wanted to be paid for my services and I wouldn't have bothered serious people with the message.
Funny; I told an exuberant JoanneMichele 2 weeks ago not to get so excited, because that this vote would end up being just like one of those Playboy Playmate of the Year votes. A million-or-two readers vote, and then Hef throws all the votes out and just decides himself.
Those 573,561 votes were great, until you realized that the Time Editor-In-Chief had 573,562 votes.
hamed,
Oh your so off on the oil bribe. It was the sack of potatos bribe Ahmandinejad has used so succesfully. Why try oil when you have a sure bet to win them over with the potatos? :)
Thx
bill
Naj,
While the site may not indicate it many polls done over the internet have a way of detecting an IP address thus limiting you to one vote. They don't often indicate with a response "you already voted" because it increases network traffic. The only way to verify it one way or another was to monitor the poll while one placed several votes to see if they all took. Obvisoulsy we can't do that now.
Thx
Bill
Catherine,
Wow I had not realized Khomeini won the award in 1979. In hindsight they are probably regretting that one!!
Thx
Bill
Rev Magdalen,
My point about the "clever" idea was an attempt to put an idea into the editors head. Often people don't like to be told their wrong but if you accuse them of something brilliant they will often take ownership of it. Just think if they did pursue this course--it would garner quite a bit of attention for such a bold move and likely sell lots of magazine. After all is it not profit that trully drives the motivation of an organization?
Thx
Bill
Time has not been relevant in a long time.
@ Bill (post 33)
One of the slogans Mousavi supporters were chanting at campaign rallies last May/June was "Death to potatoes" :-)
Catherine,
Thanks for the “Death to potatoes.” That is absolutely priceless!!! Funny how just about anything the regime does is turned against them. My friends mom who is here from Iran should get a good laugh out that chant. How do you say it it in farsi "Marg Bar ....." ? However last time I took them to dinner I did know to tell her that her daughter was divunei--not to mention I think all Iranian women are crazy anyway!!! HA HA
Thx
Bill
Marg bar sibzamin! :-)
Read all about it:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/may/14/potatoes-iran-election-protest
The last weeks before the election saw incredible displays of playful creativity and jubilant freedom of expression, not just in Tehran, but in smaller towns and cities as well. Sometimes you'd think you were in the middle of a street party. It fills me with incredible sadness to remember those days now.
Congratulations Time for figuring out how to lose well over 571,000 potential readers. And this is not even counting those who voted after they stopped accepting votes for us plus all the friends of those half a million voters.
I am amazed at the naivety of some sections of the Iranian opposition. If they think that there is any genuine democracy in the US and its Western allies or that they would support a 'democratic' movement unless it fits in with their own strategic objective. Witness the Tianamenn massacre and the West's crocodile tears at the time yet today US has the strongest relationship ever with a still in name Communist controlled China. Iranian opposition should be wary of any support offered to them by the West, they have no option but to create momentum for change themselves and this will be best done through peaceful advocacy within Iran. Despite constraints Iran still remains a far freer and peaceful society than any of its neighbours except for Turkey. Times has simply acted as the Vali e Faqih has done over ruled the popular vote( probably by a smaller margin) to put a man he can trust to deliver on the most important strategic objectives faced by IRI today. That is what happens in the US and all other 'democracies', the powerful interests that comprise the system will usually ensure that their 'man' wins. In fact the people who deserved the TIME prize are the mothers & children of Gaza who incurred the bulk of the wrath of the Israeli terror machine. The children in particular who did not choose to be born in the midst of a conflict that has been going on for 60yrs and who bear the brunt of atrocities are the true heroes of our time.
Bozorg
This is a big loss.
Is it?
So you think Iranians are glued to American MAINSTREAM media to clap for them to get their morales up?! I have more faith in their spirits than this. For whatever reason ,Time, which is an American magazine, has chosen someone who represents America's greatest fear and agony over the ENTIRE last year: economy.
It seems like a fair choice to me.
Had it been the Iranians, I would have called it a propaganda.
Naj,
Time's Person of the Year issue is no small fish. It has international exposure and would place the struggle of Iranians back into the world's attention. And yes, even though Iranians would be heartened by such recognition of their sacrifice and commitment to democracy, they're not dependent on it.
No one is criticizing Time Magazine for not choosing the Iranian protesters as Person of the Year. People, like myself, are upset that they grossly ignored the results of their own poll in forming their short list. A darkly ironic deed given the reason for the post-election crisis.
I don't share your knee-jerk anti-American paranoia.
An update.... http://pomed.org/blog/2009/12/time-person-of-the-year.html/
It was actually the children of Gaza who deserved this honour. They are suffering for a 60 year old conflict that has never been of their own making.
"I am amazed at the naivety of some sections of the Iranian opposition. If they think that there is any genuine democracy in the US and its Western allies or that they would support a ‘democratic’ movement unless it fits in with their own strategic objective."
Rezvan, the Iranian opposition isn't as naive as you might think. Iranians have a long memory. We haven't forgotten 1953. Mossadegh lives in the heart of all patriotic Iranians. Personally, I welcome Obama's change in tone but that doesn't change the fact that the US (and all other states) are primarily motivated by self-interest in their international relations (and not by human rights or democratic principles).
I'm confident that the Iranian opposition can and will succeed on the strength of the universality of its ideals and through the support of the mass majority of the Iranian population. No foreign intervention required or desired.
It's off-topic, but since you bring it up, the children of Gaza (and of the West Bank for that matter) truly have suffered under the brutal Israeli occupation and their plight is ignored almost completely by the mainstream media. I hope that Israeli opinion (or, alternatively, US Congress) will finally come to its senses and push for a withdrawal from the territories. It's the only long-term solution to the conflict.
Israelis can pick two:
1. The West Bank and Gaza.
2. A Jewish majority in Israel.
3. Human rights and dignity for the Palestinians (and peace and stability for Israel).
There's no way around it. Any rational person can see that there must be a compromise..
Hi Folks,
Here is my take on this whole Time Magazine person of the year gimmick.
We have a free Press in this country! Well, kind of! Free in a sense that they are constitutionally protected to publish whatever they choose. Often though they measure those rights with mighty Dollar to make their shareholders happy. Sometimes they balance their constitutional rights by favors they seek from their favorite politicians- for example an exclusive interview which leads to more sales. So it would not be far-fetched to think of the following scenario.
Iran protesters gets lots of vote and it is miles ahead of all other nominees, staff is all excited and wants to run with it but it has to consult the Time Management. Time Management who is always after the bigger fish calls the White House and asks their counsel (one of those you scratch my back I scratch yours). Administration advises against it because (a) it is a slap in IR face and Obama administration is still hoping to bring rogue IR to the negotiation table and (b) it would play into the hands of the loony mullah government to say we told you so and here is the proof, pointing to that issue of Time, that U.S. has been engineering this Green Movement all along. Time Management agrees and gets its brownies and everyone is happy. And journalistic ethics is in the toilet but this is not the first or the last time.
Those of you who believe it is far-fetched and that Islamic Rubbish Republic is not that stupid, to use Time Magazine Person of the Year as a U.S. plot to overthrow the Iran regime, please listen/ read Maziar Bahari’s account of his interrogation. Maziar integrator mentions Newsweek as one of the spy agencies Maziar is working for. I am certain if Time Magazine nominated Iran protestors as the Persons of the Year, that issue of Time would have been submitted into evidence for convicting oppositions leaders as agent of U.S. in their trial in the event they are arrested and tried. At minimum Time with Green Protesters on its cover as Persons of the year would be used by loony mullahs in every mosque to incite their brain-washed supporters. And a lot of brain-washed supporters of this defunct regime will gobble up the rubbish. Those who run the Islamic Banana Republic are legally insane and they prove that every time they open their mouth and give us a glimpse of how much brain mass they do not have.
I do agree with readers who believe this would have been a great boost for Iranian Democracy protesters knowing that they have been the most important news item in the entire world in 2009. I also say to those who allow their prejudice against U.S. cloud their views on every issue even when it favors their countrymen and women to please stop pretending that you are speaking for all Iranians and all humanity. And to those who keep pointing to U.S. and to other nations as corrupt and unjust or whatever, I would like to say one wrong does not excuse the other wrong.
I meant excited not exited. Staff is all excited........
Mike, Scott,
edit function was really good. Please turn the edit function on. Thanks.
"Time Management who is always after the bigger fish calls the White House and asks their counsel..."
Do you really have such a low opinion of the free press in the U.S.?
"I am certain if Time Magazine nominated Iran protestors as the Persons of the Year, that issue of Time would have been submitted into evidence for convicting oppositions leaders as agent of U.S. in their trial in the event they are arrested and tried."
It would be amusing to see the defence submit this issue into evidence: http://www.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,19800107,00.html (that is, if the defendants are permitted legal counsel..).
"I would like to say one wrong does not excuse the other wrong."
Amen. No double standards.