TIME magazine reveals shortlist of 2012 Person of the Year

WASHINGTON – TIME magazine is scheduled to release its Person of the Year on Wednesday. Prior to the big reveal, the magazine released the eight frontrunners for this year's cover.

It includes Malala Yousafzai, the young Pakistani activist who was shot in the head by the Taliban for her crusade for better girls' education; U.S. president Barack Obama; Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi; and Bill and Hillary Clinton for their global humanitarian and political activism. Two prominent business leaders also made the cut: Marissa Mayer, CEO of Yahoo!, and Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, along with the Higgs Boson — the particle of the year — and the three scientists who discovered it.

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---TIME Magazine 2011 Person of the Year 'The Protestor'

Following last year's group choice of "The Protester," the only group to appear on this year's list is "Undocumented Americans" — a pick that highlights the demographic growth and increasing political power of Latino Americans and the ongoing struggle over U.S. immigration policy.
Each year since 1927, TIME has named a newsmaker of the year: the person that most influenced our world this year – for good or for ill. Last year's choice, The Protester, came out on top of runners-up including the newly minted Duchess of Cambridge and Chinese dissident Ai Weiwei. The choice is always kept under tight wraps until the minute the magazine cover is unveiled. TIME managing editor Rick Stengel will reveal this year's Person of the Year Wednesday, Dec. 19 on NBC's Today show at 7 a.m. on WDIV- Local 4.

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