Monday, Dec. 31, 1951
This week TIME starts a new department, called Personality. Appearing occasionally, the section will consist of one-page character sketches of individuals--not necessarily those who figure in the week's major news developments, but those who are noteworthy personalities of" our times.
In a deliberate departure from TIME'S established practice, many of the sketches will be the work of writers not on our staff. Editor T. S. Matthews has been working on the project for almost a year--collecting and scanning lists of names, having sample articles written in the approximately 1,300 words the space permits.
Since it was founded in 1923, TIME has made many changes in format, news-gathering and writing, all directed at improving the magazine. A number of new departments have been added at different times; some of these have been discarded. Most of the original departments, however, like most of TIME'S first principles of news coverage and organization, have survived to the present. Of 21 departments listed in the prospectus, 14 still appear in the magazine. Other departments have been added for only the duration of wars; still others, like Crime, Animals, Aeronautics, Law and Fashions, have been absorbed into National Affairs, Science and Business.
The first sketch in the new section is of Groucho Marx, whose appearance on this week's cover is an introduction to the department. Groucho appeared on our cover once before, along with three of his four brothers, in 1932.This week's Personality story is the work of Joel Sayre, who has written for TIME, The New Yorker and Hollywood.
We plan to keep the new feature on the-page opposite the People section, where the first article appears this week. In a sense, it is highly appropriate that the many-sided Groucho, who is one of the most interesting, talented and peoplest people we know, should be the personality with whom we launch the Personality section.
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