Every year, Time magazine’s Person of the Year sparks debate. The designation isn’t always about admiration—it’s about influence. With his Charlie Kirk days after Labor Day, it’s hard to see anyone else usurping the nod.

Ever Increasing Fragmented Media Landscape

As a Canadian, I didn’t fully appreciate the resonance of his message and style with younger American males. The media world’s massive fragmentation was manifested into how those who capture the attention don’t come from traditional paths, nor do they need to command the same reach. Leaning into social audio—particularly X Spaces—was a showcase of how mainstream media often overlooks niche environments that have an outsized effect. Both Donald Trump’s assailant and Kirk’s killer were Discord devotees. A classmate of Kirk’s assassin described him as a “Reddit kid.”

Overnight Successes that are a Decade in the Making

While media today seems driven by algorithms, those who have built successful media franchises were persistent and resilient storyteller/entrepreneurs who took years to hone their craft in a given white space they were passionate about. By the time mainstream media covers these new voices – be it in a NYT or Wapo article, or an appearance on a mainstream celebrity’s show – they come across like overnight successes to outsiders, whereas their journey was a decade in the making. For a decade, Kirk traveled from college campus to campus and debated. That for many the first time they really heard of Kirk was when he was assassinated in Utah was surreal, and that the act was caught on video & shared widely on social media will make it one of the most infamous of its kind.

A Spectre is Haunting America

America will turn 250 years next year, the average age of empires, at a time when in the 2020s it is showing some parallels with Germany in the 1930s (read or watch more on this). It’s not unreasonable to ask how much longer America will remain the global empire.

No society is a healthy society if people are gunned down for thoughts or speech. This is not just an American problem. Many Western nations are now grappling with a specter unlike anything else they’ve seen: how to balance open expression with civic responsibility in the digital age against radical socio demographics changes. So yes, one motivation was to silence dissent, which comes with its own chilling effect. Exacerbating matters is that apart from saying things that may have been hurtful to others, Kirk was neither a politician, nor a soldier, etc. But he was clearly effective at his craft.

Envy is the Mother of All Sins

As such, another motive was certainly envy, one of the most dangerous sins (tragically ironic, given Kirk’s personal brand being mainly around religious beliefs, which anchored his political views).

Kids these days don’t want to grow up and become doctors or lawyers. They don’t even want to be athletes. They want to be creators, influencers. Kirk crossed boundaries that many in the mainstream would not, but also cut into a universe that revealed just how much the center of gravity in media has shifted, drawing envy from his peers (in terms of age, not other such commentartors) who maybe sought the attention he commanded. I don’t think it was as much what he said, as to how he said – and did – it. 

A Shellshocked Generation

There are no shortage of characters who ultimately dabble in the same periphery of topics & circles, Kirk’s command of college campus stood out. Kirk crossed into the mainstream more, as well, appearing on Gavin Newsom and Bill Maher’s shows, and counting Donald Trump as a fan. He evidently rode the growing discontent of the DEI, Pandemic handling, and the US’ stance on both Ukraine/Russia and Israel/Palestine and both found a more compelling Venn diagram of supporters, and more effectively than most. You can certainly question the sincerity in some of the exchanges and outright push back on much of the substance, but as an Iranian-born Canadian, it did seem to capture the essence of American debating – and again, no one should be killed for merely speaking. 

New Media Franchises Are Cultivated in a Radically Different Way

Media brands look very different from the time Time was at its zenith covering the Zeitgeist. Yesterday’s “shock jocks” have given way to podcasters and provocateurs, who push the envelope for watch time, mindshare, and ultimately, dollars. It’s telling that even satellite radio—once the home of America’s loudest media personalities—is reconsidering its path. Joe Rogan Podcast wasn’t something MBAs crafted, it was an outlet to someone looking for a new outlet who then persistently and relentlessly honed his craft, becoming a media company in an almost backwards way. Paramount is leaning towards acquiring Bari Weiss’ outfit, in another nod to voices that manage to cut through the 24/7/365 media cycle we’re now held hostage to. That Sirius may balk at renewing Howard Stern’s deal is another signal of a deeper transformation: the old guard of media is being replaced by a decentralized, digital-first class of influencers who command loyalty in real-time conversations. It took two decades, but Time making “you” (UGC) 2006’s Person of the Year was prescient.

At a time when all organizations seek an overall marketing & communications strategy via content & storytelling, Kirk made media and communications central pillars of Turning Point USA’s mission, and the simple nature of it made him a popular figure, who at only 31, certainly had a ton of runway in politics.

Colleges are always the storming grounds for monumental change. Seeing the mood since his death, you almost see a complete regression to the mean after the DEI days of the 2010s. With details still uncertain, it’s cautious to hold off from politicizing the event, but it’s hard to think it won’t have profound socio-political effects. Worries about civil war (unlikely) may be overblown, but retaliation is certainly a threat, and the escalation from there is of concern. America has more guns than residents, after all.

So while I’ve read some people say “this will be forgotten in two weeks,” I bet to differ, and partly because it was a Challenger, Columbine, or 9/11 moment and (where were you then?) experience for not just a young generation, but a generation who clearly paid attention to the central character of the event.

Kirk’s impact wasn’t just as a conservative activist, but ultimately in how in life and death he captured both how much media and American society had changed, and given legacy media’s own desire to stay relevant and not come across as being politically correct, I don’t see how anyone else at this point would get the consideration from Time magazine.