Time is an American weekly news magazine and
news website published in New York City. It
was founded in 1923 and originally run by
Henry Luce. A European edition (Time Europe,
formerly known as Time Atlantic) is published
in London and also covers the Middle East,
Africa, and, since 2003, Latin America. An
Asian edition (Time Asia) is based in Hong
Kong. The South Pacific edition, which covers
Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands,
is based in Sydney. In December 2008, Time
discontinued publishing a Canadian advertiser
edition.Time has the world's largest circulation
for a weekly news magazine. The print edition
has a readership of 26 million, 20 million
of whom are based in the United States. In
mid-2012, its circulation was over three million,
which had lowered to two million by late 2017.Richard
Stengel was the managing editor from May 2006
to October 2013, when he joined the U.S. State
Department. Nancy Gibbs was the managing editor
from September 2013 until September 2017.
She was succeeded by Edward Felsenthal, who
had been Time's digital editor.
== History ==
Time magazine was created in 1923 by Briton
Hadden and Henry Luce, making it the first
weekly news magazine in the United States.
The two had previously worked together as
chairman and managing editor, respectively,
of the Yale Daily News. They first called
the proposed magazine Facts. They wanted to
emphasize brevity, so that a busy man could
read it in an hour. They changed the name
to Time and used the slogan "Take Time–It's
Brief". Hadden was considered carefree and
liked to tease Luce. He saw Time as important,
but also fun, which accounted for its heavy
coverage of celebrities (including politicians),
the entertainment industry, and pop culture—criticized
as too light for serious news.
It set out to tell the news through people,
and for many decades, the magazine's cover
depicted a single person. More recently, Time
has incorporated "People of the Year" issues
which grew in popularity over the years. Notable
mentions of them were Barack Obama, Steve
Jobs, etc. The first issue of Time was published
on March 3, 1923, featuring Joseph G. Cannon,
the retired Speaker of the House of Representatives,
on its cover; a facsimile reprint of Issue
No. 1, including all of the articles and advertisements
contained in the original, was included with
copies of the February 28, 1938 issue as a
commemoration of the magazine's 15th anniversary.
The cover price was 15¢ (equivalent to $2.15
today) On Hadden's death in 1929, Luce became
the dominant man at Time and a major figure
in the history of 20th-century media. According
to Time Inc.: The Intimate History of a Publishing
Enterprise 1972–2004 by Robert Elson, "Roy
Edward Larsen [...] was to play a role second
only to Luce's in the development of Time
Inc". In his book, The March of Time, 1935–1951,
Raymond Fielding also noted that Larsen was
"originally circulation manager and then general
manager of Time, later publisher of Life,
for many years president of Time Inc., and
in the long history of the corporation the
most influential and important figure after
Luce".Around the time they were raising $100,000
from wealthy Yale alumni such as Henry P.
Davison, partner of J.P. Morgan & Co., publicity
man Martin Egan and J.P. Morgan & Co. banker
Dwight Morrow, Henry Luce, and Briton Hadden
hired Larsen in 1922 – although Larsen was
a Harvard graduate and Luce and Hadden were
Yale graduates. After Hadden died in 1929,
Larsen purchased 550 shares of Time Inc.,
using money he obtained from selling RKO stock
which he had inherited from his father, who
was the head of the Benjamin Franklin Keith
theatre chain in New England. However, after
Briton Hadden's death, the largest Time, Inc.
stockholder was Henry Luce, who ruled the
media conglomerate in an autocratic fashion,
"at his right hand was Larsen", Time's second-largest
stockholder, according to Time Inc.: The Intimate
History of a Publishing Enterprise 1923–1941.
In 1929, Roy Larsen was also named a Time
Inc. director and vice president. J. P. Morgan
retained a certain control through two directorates
and a share of stocks, both over Time and
Fortune. Other shareholders were Brown Brothers
W. A. Harriman & Co., and the New York Trust
Company (Standard Oil).The Time Inc. stock
owned by Luce at the time of his death was
worth about $109 million, and it had been
yielding him a yearly dividend of more than
$2.4 million, according to Curtis Prendergast's
The World of Time Inc.: The Intimate History
of a Changing Enterprise 1957–1983. The
Larsen family's Time stock was worth around
$80 million during the 1960s, and Roy Larsen
was both a Time Inc. director and the chairman
of its executive committee, later serving
as Time's vice chairman of the board until
the middle of 1979. According to the September
10, 1979, issue of The New York Times, "Mr.
Larsen was the only employee in the company's
history given an exemption from its policy
of mandatory retirement at age 65."
After Time magazine began publishing its weekly
issues in March 1923, Roy Larsen was able
to increase its circulation by using U.S.
radio and movie theaters around the world.
It often promoted both Time magazine and U.S.
political and corporate interests. According
to The March of Time, as early as 1924, Larsen
had brought Time into the infant radio business
with the broadcast of a 15-minute sustaining
quiz show entitled Pop Question which survived
until 1925". Then, in 1928, Larsen "undertook
the weekly broadcast of a 10-minute programme
series of brief news summaries, drawn from
current issues of Time magazine [...] which
was originally broadcast over 33 stations
throughout the United States".Larsen next
arranged for a 30-minute radio program, The
March of Time, to be broadcast over CBS, beginning
on March 6, 1931. Each week, the program presented
a dramatisation of the week's news for its
listeners, thus Time magazine itself was brought
"to the attention of millions previously unaware
of its existence", according to Time Inc.:
The Intimate History of a Publishing Enterprise
1923–1941, leading to an increased circulation
of the magazine during the 1930s. Between
1931 and 1937, Larsen's The March of Time
radio program was broadcast over CBS radio
and between 1937 and 1945 it was broadcast
over NBC radio – except for the 1939 to
1941 period when it was not aired. People
Magazine was based on Time's People page.
In 1989, when Time, Inc. and Warner Communications
merged, Time became part of Time Warner, along
with Warner Bros.
In 1988, Jason McManus succeeded Henry Grunwald
as editor-in-chief and oversaw the transition
before Norman Pearlstine succeeded him in
1995.
In 2000, Time became part of AOL Time Warner,
which reverted to the name Time Warner in
2003.
In 2007, Time moved from a Monday subscription/newsstand
delivery to a schedule where the magazine
goes on sale Fridays, and is delivered to
subscribers on Saturday. The magazine actually
began in 1923 with Friday publication.
During early 2007, the year's first issue
was delayed for roughly a week due to "editorial
changes", including the layoff of 49 employees.In
2009, Time announced that they were introducing
a personalized print magazine, Mine, mixing
content from a range of Time Warner publications
based on the reader's preferences. The new
magazine met with a poor reception, with criticism
that its focus was too broad to be truly personal.The
magazine has an online archive with the unformatted
text for every article published. The articles
are indexed and were converted from scanned
images using optical character recognition
technology. The minor errors in the text are
remnants of the conversion into digital format.
Time Inc. and Apple have come to an agreement
wherein U.S. subscribers to Time will be able
to read the iPad versions for free, at least
until the two companies sort out a viable
digital subscription model.In January 2013,
Time Inc. announced that it would cut nearly
500 jobs – roughly 6% of its 8,000 staff
worldwide. Although Time magazine has maintained
high sales, its ad pages have declined significantly
over time.Also in January 2013, Time Inc.
named Martha Nelson as the first female editor-in-chief
of its magazine division. In September 2013,
Nancy Gibbs was named as the first female
managing editor of Time magazine.In November
2017, Meredith Corporation announced its acquisition
of Time, Inc., backed by Koch Equity Development.
In March 2018, only six weeks after the closure
of the sale, Meredith announced that it would
explore the sale of Time and sister magazines
Fortune, Money, Sports Illustrated, since
they did not align with the company's lifestyle
brands.In September 2018, Meredith announced
that it would re-sell Time to Marc Benioff
and his wife Lynne for $190 million, which
was completed on October 31, 2018. Although
Benioff is the chairman and co-CEO of Salesforce.com,
Time will remain separate from the company,
and Benioff will not be involved in its daily
operations.
== Circulation ==
During the second half of 2009, the magazine
had a 34.9% decline in newsstand sales. During
the first half of 2010, another decline of
at least one-third in Time magazine sales
occurred. In the second half of 2010, Time
magazine newsstand sales declined by about
12% to just over 79,000 copies per week.As
of 2012, it has a circulation of 3.3 million,
making it the 11th-most circulated magazine
in the United States, and the second-most
circulated weekly behind People. As of July
2017, its circulation is 3,028,013. On Oct
2017, Time cut its circulation to two million.
Time has the world's largest circulation for
a weekly news magazine. The print edition
has a readership of 26 million, 20 million
of whom are based in the United States. In
mid-2012, its circulation was over three million,
which had lowered to two million by late 2017.
== Style ==
Time initially possessed a distinctive writing
style, making regular use of inverted sentences.
This was parodied in 1936 by Wolcott Gibbs
in The New Yorker: "Backward ran sentences
until reeled the mind [...] Where it all will
end, knows God!"Until the mid-1970s, Time
had a weekly section called "Listings", which
contained capsule summaries and/or reviews
of then-current significant films, plays,
musicals, television programs, and literary
bestsellers similar to The New Yorker's "Current
Events" section.Time is also known for its
signature red border, first introduced in
1927. The border has only been changed five
times since 1927: The issue released shortly
after the September 11 attacks on the United
States featured a black border to symbolize
mourning. However, this edition was a special
"extra" edition published quickly for the
breaking news of the event; the next regularly
scheduled issue contained the red border.
Additionally, the April 28, 2008, Earth Day
issue, dedicated to environmental issues,
contained a green border. The next change
in border was in the September 19, 2011, issue,
commemorating the 10th anniversary of September
11 attacks with a metallic silver border.
Another silver border was used in the December
31, 2012, issue, noting Barack Obama's selection
as Person of the Year. The most recent change
was the November 28 / December 5, 2016 issue,
featuring a silver border covering the Most
Influential Photos of All Time. Former president
Richard Nixon has been among the most frequently-featured
on the front page of Time, having appeared
55 times from the August 25, 1952 issue to
the May 2, 1994 issue.In 2007, Time engineered
a style overhaul of the magazine. Among other
changes, the magazine reduced the red cover
border to promote featured stories, enlarged
column titles, reduced the number of featured
stories, increased white space around articles,
and accompanied opinion pieces with photographs
of the writers. The changes have met both
criticism and praise.
== Special editions ==
=== Person of the Year ===
Time's most famous feature throughout its
history has been the annual "Person of the
Year" (formerly "Man of the Year") cover story,
in which Time recognizes the individual or
group of individuals who have had the biggest
impact on news headlines over the past 12
months. The distinction is supposed to go
to the person who, "for good or ill", has
most affected the course of the year; it is,
therefore, not necessarily an honor or a reward.
In the past, such figures as Adolf Hitler
and Joseph Stalin have been Man of the Year.
In 2006, Person of the Year was designated
as "You", a move that was met with split reviews.
Some thought the concept was creative; others
wanted an actual person of the year. Editors
Pepper and Timmer reflected that, if it had
been a mistake, "we're only going to make
it once".In 2017, Time named The Silence Breakers,
women and men who came forward with personal
stories of sexual harassment, as Person of
the Year.
=== Time 100 ===
In recent years, Time has assembled an annual
list of the 100 most influential people of
the year. Originally, they had made a list
of the 100 most influential people of the
20th century. These issues usually have the
front cover filled with pictures of people
from the list and devote a substantial amount
of space within the magazine to the 100 articles
about each person on the list. In some cases,
over 100 people have been included, as when
two people have made the list together, sharing
one spot.
The magazine also compiled "All-TIME 100 best
novels" and "All-TIME 100 best movies" lists
in 2005, "The 100 Best TV Shows of All-TIME"
in 2007, and "All-TIME 100 Fashion Icons"
in 2012.In February 2016, Time included the
British and male author Evelyn Waugh on its
"100 Most Read Female Writers in College Classes"
list (he was 97th on the list) which created
much media attention and concerns about the
level of basic education among the magazine's
staff. Time later issued a retraction. In
a BBC interview with Justin Webb, Professor
Valentine Cunningham of Corpus Christi College,
Oxford, described the mistake as "a piece
of profound ignorance on the part of Time
magazine".
=== Red X covers ===
During its history, for five nonconsecutive
occasions, Time has released a special issue
with a cover showing an X scrawled over the
face of a man or a national symbol. The first
Time magazine with a red X cover was released
on May 7, 1945, showing a red X over Adolf
Hitler's face. The second X cover was released
more than three months later on August 20,
1945, with a black X (to date, the magazine's
only such use of a black X) covering the flag
of Japan, representing the recent surrender
of Japan and which signaled the end of World
War II.
Fifty-eight years later, on April 21, 2003,
Time released another issue with a red X over
Saddam Hussein's face, two weeks after the
invasion. On June 13, 2006, Time magazine
printed a red X cover issue following the
death of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in a U.S. airstrike
in Iraq. The most recent red X cover issue
of Time was published on May 2, 2011, after
the death of Osama bin Laden.
== Time for Kids ==
Time for Kids is a division magazine of Time
that is especially published for children
and is mainly distributed in classrooms. TFK
contains some national news, a "Cartoon of
the Week", and a variety of articles concerning
popular culture. An annual issue concerning
the environment is distributed near the end
of the U.S. school term. The publication rarely
exceeds ten pages front and back.
== Time LightBox ==
Time LightBox is a photography blog created
and curated by Time's photo department, that
was launched in 2011. In 2011 Life picked
LightBox for its Photo Blog Awards.
== Staff ==
=== Editors ===
Briton Hadden (1923–1929)
Henry Luce (1929–1949)
T. S. Matthews (1949–1953)
Roy Alexander (1960-1966)
=== Managing editors ===
=== Notable contributors ===
Aravind Adiga, Time correspondent for three
years, winner of the 2008 Man Booker Prize
for fiction
James Agee, book and movie editor for Time
Ann Blackman, deputy news chief in Washington
Ian Bremmer, current Editor-at-Large
Margaret Carlson, the first female columnist
for Time
Robert Cantwell, writer, editor 1936—1941
Whittaker Chambers, writer, senior editor
1939—1948
Richard Corliss, film critic for the magazine
since 1980
Brad Darrach, film critic
Nigel Dennis, drama critic
John Gregory Dunne, reporter; later author
and screenwriter
Peter Economy, author and editor
Alexander Eliot, art editor from 1945 to 1961,
author of 18 books on art, mythology, and
history, including Three Hundred Years of
American Painting, published by Time-Life
Books
John T. Elson, religion editor who wrote famous
1966 Is God Dead? cover story
Dean E. Fischer, reporter and editor, 1964–81
Nancy Gibbs, essayist and editor-at-large;
has written more than 100 Time cover stories
Lev Grossman, wrote primarily about books
and technology for the magazine
Deena Guzder, a human rights journalist and
author
Jerry Bernard Hannifin, award-winning chief
aerospace correspondent for four decades,
as well as specialist on Latin America, and
licensed pilot
Wilder Hobson, reporter in 1930s and '40s
Robert Hughes, Time's long-tenured art critic
Pico Iyer, essayist and novelist, essayist
for Time since 1986
Alvin M. Josephy Jr., photo editor 1952–60;
also a historian and Hollywood screenwriter
Weldon Kees, critic
Joe Klein, author (Primary Colors) and a Time
columnist who wrote the "In the Arena" column
Louis Kronenberger, drama critic 1938–1961
Andre Laguerre, Paris bureau chief 1948–1956,
London bureau chief 1951–1956, also wrote
about sports for Time; later longtime managing
editor of Sports Illustrated
Nathaniel Lande, author, filmmaker, and former
creative director of Time
Will Lang Jr. 1936–1968, Time Life International
Marshall Loeb, writer and editor from 1956
through 1980
John Moody, Vatican and Rome correspondent
1986 through 1996
Jim Murray, West Coast correspondent 1948–1955
Lance Morrow, backpage essayist from 1976
through 2000
Roger Rosenblatt, essayist from 1979 until
2006
Richard Schickel, film critic from 1965 through
2010
Hugh Sidey, political reporter and columnist,
beginning in 1957
Donald L. Barlett and James B. Steele, investigative
reporters who won two National Magazine Awards
while at Time
Joel Stein, columnist who wrote the Joel 100
just after Time Magazine's Most Influential
issue in 2006
Calvin Trillin, food writer, was a reporter
for Time from 1960 to 1963
David Von Drehle, current Editor-at-Large
Lasantha Wickrematunge, journalist
Robert Wright, contributing editor
Fareed Zakaria, current Editor-at-Large
=== Snapshot: 1940 editorial staff ===
In 1940, William Saroyan lists the full Time
editorial department in the play, Love's Old
Sweet Song.This 1940 snapshot includes:
Editor: Henry R. Luce
Managing Editors: Manfred Gottfried, Frank
Norris, T.S. Matthews
Associate Editors: Carlton J. Balliett Jr.,
Robert Cantwell, Laird S. Goldsborough, David
W. Hulburd Jr., John Stuart Martin, Fanny
Saul, Walter Stockly, Dana Tasker, Charles
Weretenbaker
Contributing Editors: Roy Alexander, John
F. Allen, Robert W. Boyd Jr., Roger Butterfield,
Whittaker Chambers, James G. Crowley, Robert
Fitzgerald, Calvin Fixx, Walter Graebner,
John Hersey, Sidney L. James, Eliot Janeway,
Pearl Kroll, Louis Kronenberger, Thomas K.
Krug, John T. McManus, Sherry Mangan, Peter
Matthews, Robert Neville, Emeline Nollen,
Duncan Norton-Taylor, Sidney Olson, John Osborne,
Content Peckham, Green Peyton, Williston C.
Rich Jr., Winthrop Sargeant, Robert Sherrod,
Lois Stover, Leon Svirsky, Felice Swados,
Samuel G. Welles Jr., Warren Wilhelm, and
Alfred Wright Jr.
Editorial Assistants: Ellen May Ach, Sheila
Baker, Sonia Bigman, Elizabeth Budelrnan,
Maria de Blasio, Hannah Durand, Jean Ford,
Dorothy Gorrell, Helen Gwynn, Edith Hind,
Lois Holsworth, Diana Jackson, Mary V. Johnson,
Alice Lent, Kathrine Lowe, Carolyn Marx, Helen
McCreery, Gertrude McCullough, Mary Louise
Mickey, Anna North, Mary Palmer, Tabitha Petran,
Elizabeth Sacartoff, Frances Stevenson, Helen
Vind, Eleanor Welch, and Mary Welles.
== See also ==
Heroes of the Environment
List of people on the cover of Time magazine
"The Thriving Cult of Greed and Power", 1991
article about Scientology, by Richard Behar,
which received the Gerald Loeb Award
Is God Dead?, one of Time's most famous covers
== References ==
== Bibliography ==
Baughman, James L. (2011), "Henry R. Luce
and the Business of Journalism" (PDF), Business
& Economic History On-Line, 9, retrieved October
8, 2018
Baughman, James L. (April 28, 2004), Henry
R. Luce and the Rise of the American News
Media, American Masters, retrieved October
8, 2018
Brinkley, Alan (2010), The Publisher: Henry
Luce and His American Century, Alfred A. Knopf,
ISBN 978-0307592910
Maslin, Janet (April 20, 2010), "A Magazine
Master Builder", Book review, The New York
Times, p. C1, retrieved April 20, 2010
Brinkley, Alan (April 19, 2010), "What Would
Henry Luce Make of the Digital Age?", TIME,
Atheneum, excerpt and text search
Elson, Robert T. (1968), Time Inc: The Intimate
History of a Publishing Enterprise, 1923–1941,
Atheneum, ISBN 978-0689105555, official corporate
history
Elson, Robert T. (1973), Norton-Taylor, Duncan,
ed., The World of Time Inc.: The Intimate
History, 1941–1960, 2, ISBN 978-0689105555,
official corporate history
Herzstein, Robert E. (2006), Henry R. Luce,
Time, and the American Crusade in Asia, Cambridge
University Press, ISBN 978-0521835770
Herzstein, Robert E. (1994), Henry R. Luce:
A Political Portrait of the Man Who Created
the American Century, C. Scribner's Sons,
ISBN 978-0684193601
Wilner, Isaiah (2006), The Man Time Forgot:
A Tale of Genius, Betrayal, and the Creation
of Time Magazine, New York: HarperCollins,
ISBN 978-0061747267
== External links ==
Works written on the topic Time (magazine)
at Wikisource
Media related to Time Magazine at Wikimedia
Commons
Official website
Time Magazine Vault – archive of magazines
and covers from 1923 through present
Time articles by Whittaker Chambers
