Taylor Swift is Time’s person of the year

Time magazine on Wednesday named the American pop star Taylor Swift as its person of the year.

“Picking one person who represents the 8 billion people on the planet is no easy task. We picked a choice that represents joy. Someone who’s bringing light to the world,” said Sam Jacobs, the magazine’s editor-in-chief, speaking on the NBC programme Today on Wednesday morning. “She was like weather, she was everywhere.”

Swift, 33, beat out eight other finalists who were announced on Today this week, including King Charles III and Barbie.

“Taylor Swift found a way to transcend borders and be a source of light. … Swift is the rare person who is both the writer and hero of her own story,” Jacobs wrote in a statement.

“Swift’s accomplishments as an artist — culturally, critically, and commercially — are so legion that to recount them seems almost beside…