To Those Who Surf: Time Salutes You

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Associated Press
Sunday, December 17, 2006

NEW YORK -- Congratulations! You are the Time magazine "Person of the Year."

The annual honor for 2006 went to each and every one of us, as Time cited the shift from institutions to individuals -- citizens of the new digital democracy, as the magazine put it. The winners this year were anyone using or creating content online.

"If you choose an individual, you have to justify how that person affected millions of people," said Richard Stengel, who took over as Time's managing editor earlier this year. "But if you choose millions of people, you don't have to justify it to anyone."

Time did cite 26 "People Who Mattered," including North Korea's Kim Jong Il, Pope Benedict XVI, President Bush, Vice President Cheney and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

Stengel said that if it came down to one individual, it probably would have been Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. "It just felt to me a little off selecting him," Stengel said.

The 2006 "Person of the Year" package hits newsstands Monday. The cover shows a white keyboard with a mirror for a computer screen -- showing readers their reflection.