Time is an American news magazine based in New York City. It was published weekly for nearly a century. Starting in March 2020, it was published every other week.[2][3] It was first published in New York City on March 3, 1923, and for many years it was run by its co-founder, Henry Luce.
A European edition, Time Europe, is published in London and also covers the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America. An Asian edition, Time Asia, is based in Hong Kong.[4] The South Pacific edition, which covers Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands, is based in Sydney. Time France began publication in 2025.
Since 2018, Time has been owned by Salesforce founder Marc Benioff, who acquired it from Meredith Corporation. Benioff currently publishes the magazine through the company Time USA, LLC.
History
20th century
Time has been based in New York City since its first issue published on March 3, 1923, by Briton Hadden (1898–1929) and Henry Luce (1898–1967). It was the first weekly news magazine in the United States.[5] The two had previously worked together as chairman and managing editor, respectively, of the Yale Daily News. They first called the proposed magazine Facts to emphasize brevity so a busy man could read it in an hour. They changed the name to Time and used the slogan "Take Time – It's Brief".[6] 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 and politicians, the entertainment industry, and pop culture, criticizing it as too light for serious news.
Time set out to tell the news through people, and until the late 1960s, the magazine's cover depicted a single person. More recently, Time has incorporated "People of the Year" issues, which have grown in popularity over the years. The first issue of Time featured 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 magazine's issue from February 28, 1938, in commemoration of its 15th anniversary.[7]
Circulation
As of 2025, Time's circulation has been steadily declining. During the second half of 2009, the magazine had a 34.9% decline in newsstand sales.[35] During the first half of 2010, there was another decline of 30%.[36]
In 2012, Time had 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.[37] In July 2017, its circulation was 3,028,013.[1] In October 2017, Time circulation dropped to two million.[38] In early 2023 Time had 1.3 million print subscribers and 250,000 digital subscribers.[39] Combined print and digital circulation was 1 million for the six months to 31 December 2024, down 7.1% year-on-year.
Style
Writing
Time initially possessed a distinctively "acerbic, irreverent style", largely created by Haddon and sometimes called "Timestyle".[41] Timestyle made regular use of inverted sentences, as famously parodied in 1936 by Wolcott Gibbs in The New Yorker: "Backward ran sentences until reeled the mind ... Where it all will end, knows God!"[42] Time also coined or popularized many neologisms which became widespread, including "socialite", "guesstimate", "televangelist", "pundit", and "tycoon",[41] and some less successful ones such as "cinemactress"[43] and "radiorator".[44] Time introduced the names "World War I" and "World War II" in 1939, as opposed to older forms like "First World War" and "World War No. 2".
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 "You", and 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".[67]
In 2017, Time named the "Silence Breakers", people who came forward with personal stories of sexual harassment, as Person of the Year.[68]
Time 100
Spin-offs
Time for Kids
Time for Kids is a division magazine of Time that is specially 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 Africa
Time Africa launched on digital platforms in September 2025 in collaboration with Global Venture Partners.[82]
Time Canada
From 1942 until 1979, Time had a Canadian edition that included an insert of five pages of locally produced content and occasional Canadian covers. Following changes in the tax status of Canadian editions of American magazines, Time closed Canadian bureaus, except for Ottawa, and published identical content to the US edition but with Canadian advertising.
Staff
Richard Stengel was the managing editor from May 2006 to October 2013, when he joined the U.S. State Department.[92][93] Nancy Gibbs was the managing editor from September 2013 until September 2017.[93] She was succeeded by Edward Felsenthal, who had been Time's digital editor.[94]
Editors
- Briton Hadden (1923–1929)
- Henry Luce (1929–1949)
Competitors in the U.S.
Other major American news magazines include:
- The Atlantic (1857)
- Bloomberg Businessweek (1929)
- Mother Jones (1976)
- The Nation (1865)
- National Review (1955)
- The New Republic (1914)
- The New Yorker (1925)
- Newsweek (1933)
- U.S. News & World Report (1923)
See also
- Lists of covers of Time magazine
- Time World's Top Universities
External links
- Time vault at Time
- Time at the Internet Archive
- TimeLine: 4535 Time Magazine Covers, 1923–2009 by Lev Manovich and Jeremy Douglass
- Time articles by Whittaker Chambers/Time on the Hiss Case at Whittaker Chambers website
References
- Consumer Magazines retrieved May 13, 2025^
- Covers from 2020 Time, retrieved February 3, 2022^
- On This Day: Time magazine publishes for first time UPI, March 3, 2023, retrieved November 7, 2023^