Major public figures—statesmen, business leaders, generals, and the royalty of the worlds of art, entertainment, and sport—were the staples. … And for years, Time would faithfully detail what the president had done that week, no matter how trivial or insignificant. … The relentless focus on personalities was a different way to do news, but Luce played down his innovation: "TIME didn't start this emphasis on stories about people," he insisted. "The Bible did."

Tim Wu, The Attention Merchants, loc. 755