Gayle King Was Just Named One of Time's Most Influential People of 2019
Time Magazine just named Gayle King as one of the top 100 most influential people in the world, receiving a written tribute from director Ava DuVernay.
Gayle joins other names including Sandra Oh, Chrissy Teigen, Taylor Swift, Dwyane Johnson, Nancy Pelosi, and Donald Trump.
Each year, Time Magazine honors their top 100 most influential people-
For the honor, the magazine asked director Ava DuVernay to write about why Gayle deserves the honor this year in particularly.
"Gayle King, journalist. More often than not, this isn’t the way we’ve described her. The signifier we most often used was in connection to her personal relationships. We’ve spoken of her in an adjacent manner," DuVernay wrote in her tribute. "We’ve regarded her in the context of others. But when you have the heart of Gayle King, that’s not necessarily a negative thing. You’re just fine not being the most known person in the room. In fact, you’re genuinely happy for the person who is."
On this year's Time 100 list, Gayle joins the likes of everyone from Glenn Close, Sandra Oh, and Chrissy Teigen to Nancy Pelosi...and, yes, Donald Trump.
We may be a bit biased here, but we couldn't agree more that Gayle belongs in this class of names. Gayle has had quite the career; last year, she was inducted into Broadcasting & Cable's Hall of Fame for her more than 40-year career as a journalist as a local news anchor, and, for the past few years, co-anchor of CBS This Morning. (And we should mention that she's done it all while balancing being editor at large of this very magazine.) And this year, she made headlines with the interview seen 'round the Internet: Her explosive sit-down with R. Kelly, where somehow, Gayle managed to show the utmost journalistic concentration and integrity while Kelly ranted and raved above her.
DuVernay added that while many might have previously known Gayle best because of her friendship with Oprah and her closeness with other celebrities, it's that very thing that shows exactly what kind of journalist she is.
"What most don’t understand about Gayle is that this perfected proximity to others is a superpower that the best journalists possess. To be present, but not centered. To observe. To bear witness. Gayle has long honed this craft," DuVernay shared with time. "So the fact that this year she is being lauded as one of the all-time great broadcast interviewers is simply the perfect signifier, a few decades overdue. Luckily for us, we’ve finally decided to regard her in relationship to herself."
For more stories like this, sign up for our newsletter.
