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Our “Persons of the Year"
The world was slightly amused in late 2006 when Time magazine picked “You" as it’s choice for “Person of the Year.
The “You" is supposed to represent “user generated Internet content’’. By that, it means all the material, from forums to video, that is posted daily to the Internet by all kinds of people. Well known examples abound. Subway attacks in London, the school shootings in Montreal, even a security store video posted by police to track down a convenience store crook. Lesser known examples populate, by the millions, web sites like Myspace and Youtube. It is America’s Home Videos, a million times larger, and without censors or biased editors sticking noses into the content.
Time is widely criticized for their choice of “You”. The criticism isn’t new to Time.
According to Time itself, the title is to reflect the person or persons who had the most influence in the news for that year. It’s not an honour, it’s about newsmaking. Yet, Time has dodged controversial choices.
In years past, the magazine shied from naming Adolf Hitler Man of the Century (selecting instead Albert Einstein) and for 2001, selecting the mayor of New York, Rudolf Guiliani over Osama Bin Laden.
Time’s Person of the Year illustrates our Lesser Slave Lake region, and even Alberta and Canada, are usually a few years behind America or Britain. When Time selected “The Personal Computer’’ in 1982, Microsoft was barely known and perhaps only twenty people in High Prairie were using PC’s. It’s also one of those quirks that even when we are behind the times, we are sometimes ahead too. In 1982, a local accountant by the name of Bill Henderson was writing software, parts of which would end up in later years in the well-known Simply Accounting.
Today, Youtube, Myspace, and even Ebay, Google, Yahoo and MSN, with each passing month, continue to have greater impact on our lives. Yet we are still very much a real-life world. We read our newspapers, magazines and books, listen to radio, and watch television.
Maybe one day, most people across Canada will open their smartphones to get the latest news as uploaded by “You.’’
Not today, but even in Big Lakes country, we’re getting there.
Meanwhile, we have our own pick for “Person of the Year’’ locally in 2006. We have many choices, from local business people both in town and on our reserves and settlements, to our government leaders, to volunteers such as on the Sports complex.
In the end, our choice goes to two of them: Our MLA, Pearl Calahasen, and former High Prairie mayor George Keay. Both, we believe, deserve special tribute for their unwavering work on the new regional learning center and hospital. On behalf of our entire community, well done and thank you.
In this coming year of 2007? Who knows, “you’’ might just be the top good newsmaker of the year!
Jeff Burgar
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