Protester Named Time 'Person of the Year'

In what was a surprising choice, Time Magazine selected the protester as this year's "Person of the Year."

Many guessed it'd be Steve Jobs, the CEO of Apple Inc., who passed away in October, but managing editor Rick Stengel said there was a consensus that the "protester" represented the most significant theme of the year. "It felt right," Stengel said. [Slideshow: The Death Toll of the 'Arab Spring' Revolutions.]

Stengel made the announcement on NBC's TODAY and said the protester was chosen because of what he or she represented not only in the occupy protests, which stretched globally from Oregon to Greece, but also in the Arab Spring movement, which erupted in Tunisia, Syria, Libya, Egypt and Yemen this year.

This wasn't the first time the magazine chose an idea or group for the honor. In 1960, editors recognized American Scientists. In 1966 it was baby boomers, in 1982 it was the computer and in 1988 they named the endangered earth the "Person of the Year." [See cartoons on the 'occupy' movement.]

However, just as reactions to protests have been mixed, so has the feedback over Time Magazine's choice to name the protester the "Person of the Year."

Forbes magazine wrote, "Congratulations, Wall Street occupiers. You did it! You got yourselves named Time's Person of the Year!"

But the dissent was seen in the Twitter sphere.

"I mean if time just wants newsstand sales with their Person of the Year selection, they might as well just pick @Kim Kardashian," jimgeraghty tweeted.

• Read the U.S. News debate on whether Occupy Wall Street is the Next Tea Party.
  
• Check out the latest cartoons on the 'occupy' movement.
• See who's been visiting the White House.

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