On the previously written on subject of best writing linked to in the past year, this post highlights the best Time Magazine pieces posted on.
Four different cover stories which fell in two main subject categories... people & important events (bad in the case of these two stories).
Profiles of people
Two "about people" stories from the last year of Time struck me as exceptional. Both written by Lev Grossman, each is a long feature providing insight into non-political public figures. From the Aug 12 issue issue was Jonathan Franzen: Great American Novelist. Originally posted on and linked to here, the piece does a really good job of explaining both Franzen and his process of writing.
From the Dec 15 issue (and posted on here) was the Time Person of the Year Profile on Mark Zuckerberg. About a guy fictionally portrayed on screen this year, it's one of those really nuanced and informative looks at who someone really is (of course that's in the eyes of the profile writer, but that's what the writer is tasked with).
Profiles of important events
Time does me thinks a really solid job of big picture reporting on huge events and two stories from this past year illustrated that.
The Jan 21 issue of Time featured multiple pieces on the cataclysmic Haiti earthquake... including this one looking to the future rebuilding process. It's excellent writing from Bryan Walsh, Jay Newton-Small and Tim Padgett and I originally posted on it here.
Also from Bryan Walsh (and no, my favorite Time pieces being from Grossman and Walsh wasn't by design), was this June 10 published report on the Gulf Oil Spill. As I noted in my original post linking to it, it was really solid writing that worked on multiple levels.
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Lots of different work I've seen in Time from the past 12 months, but the best work had shared characteristics that made each piece great... in depth, well organized, interesting.
In short, solid combined with compelling.
