Times Man of the Year

JON FRIEDMAN'S MEDIA WEB: Al Gore Will Be Time's Person Of The Year
November 12, 2007: 12:38 AM EST
http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/djhighlights/200711120038DO...

NEW YORK (Dow Jones) -- After attending Time's discussion of who should be the magazine's Person of the Year, I reached two conclusions:

Al Gore looks like a shoo-in.

Time is blowing a major journalistic and marketing opportunity by bestowing only one award.

The Gore factor

Gore, 59, looms as a timely and popular selection. Through his respected documentary, "An Inconvenient Truth," and his presentations, he has sparked interest in global warming and the environment. He has jump-started America's " green" movement more significantly than any other individual. That alone is noteworthy.

But over the past few years, Gore has come a long way. In 2006, the puffy ex- presidential hopeful looked like little more than a prime candidate for a Weight Watchers commercial. Then, in only the past nine months, he has accepted an Oscar and a Nobel Peace Prize.