Timemagazine named a trio of women whistle-blowers as its Persons of the Year today, praising their roles in unearthing malfeasance that eroded public confidence in their institutions.
Two of the women, Ms Sherron Watkins, a vice president at Enron , and Ms Cynthia Cooper of WorldCom ,uncovered massive accounting fraud at their respective companies, which both went bankrupt.
The third, Ms Coleen Rowley, is an agent for the Federal Bureau of Investigation. In May, she wrote a scathing 13-page memo to FBI Director Mr Robert Muller detailing how supervisors at a Minneapolis, Minnesota field office brushed aside her requests to investigate Zacarias Moussaoui, the so-called "20th hijacker" in the September 11th attacks, weeks before the attacks occurred.
"It came down to did we want to recognise a phenomenon that helped correct some of the problems we've had over the last year and celebrate three ordinary people that did extraordinary things," said Timemanaging editor Mr Jim Kelly.
Other people considered by the magazine included US President George W. Bush, al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, Vice President Dick Cheney and New York attorney general Eliot Spitzer.