Split decision
for Ellies: Four winners
New Yorker, Esquire, Wired and Backpacker win three
By Louisa Ada Seltzer
May 1, 2009
It's another year in which the New Yorker came out tops in the National Magazine Awards, winning three, but for once the Conde Nast title shared the top spot with three other magazines, Esquire, Wired and Backpacker.
The New Yorker wins were in the categories of Fiction, Reviews and Criticism, and Photo Portfolio. It was nominated for 11 awards this year.
Esquire won in Feature Writing, Personal Service and Leisure Interests. Backpacker won for Essays, General Excellence Online and Personal Service Online. Wired won for General Excellence, Magazine Section and Design.
Meanwhile, the New York Times Magazine won only one award, but it was its first, for Reporting.
The awards were announced last night by the American Society of Magazine Editors at a rather subdued do at New York's Lincoln Center. Some 350 print and online magazines submitted 1,707 entries, and in all 26 winners were named.
The awards are called Elllies.
General Excellence awards, the group's highest honor, went to Reader’s Digest for General Excellence in magazines with over 2,000,000 circulation; Field & Stream for magazines with 1,000,000 to 2,000,000 circulation; Wired among titles with 500,000 to 1,000,000 circulation; Texas Monthly among titles with circulations between 250,000 to 500,000; Foreign Policy for publications with 100,000 to 250,000 in circulation; and Print, which won among titles with circulations under 100,000.
General Excellence Online wins went to Backpacker.com for sites with fewer than 1,000,000 average monthly unique visitors and Nymag.com for sites with 1,000,000 or more monthly uniques.
Below is a list of other winners:
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SINGLE-TOPIC ISSUE |
This category recognizes magazines that have devoted an issue to an in-depth examination of one topic. It honors the ambition, comprehensiveness and imagination with which a magazine treats its subject.
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Winner: Saveur:
James Oseland, editor-in-chief, for A World of Breakfast, October.
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MAGAZINE SECTION |
This category recognizes excellence of a regular, cohesive section of a magazine, either front- or back-of-book and composed of a variety of elements, both text and visual. Finalists are selected based on the section’s voice, originality, and unified design and packaging.
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Winner: Wired:
Chris Anderson, editor-in-chief, for its Start section, September, October, December.
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REPORTING |
This category recognizes excellence in reporting. It honors the enterprise, exclusive reporting and intelligent analysis that a magazine exhibits in covering an event, a situation or a problem of contemporary interest and significance.
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Winner: The New York Times Magazine:
Gerald Marzorati, editor-in-chief, for Right at the Edge, by Dexter Filkins, September 7.
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PUBLIC INTEREST |
This category recognizes journalism that sheds new light on an issue of public importance and has the potential to affect national or local debate or policy.
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Winner: Bicycling:
Loren Mooney, editor-in-chief, for Broken, by David Darlington, January/February.
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FEATURE WRITING |
This category recognizes excellence in feature writing. It honors the stylishness and originality with which the author treats his or her subject.
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Winner: Esquire:
David Granger, editor-in-chief, for The Things That Carried Him, by Chris Jones, May.
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PROFILE WRITING |
This category recognizes excellence in profile writing. It honors the vividness and perceptiveness with which the writer brings his or her subject to life.
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Winner: Rolling Stone:
Jann Wenner, editor and publisher; Will Dana, managing editor, for The Lost Years & Last Days of David Foster Wallace, by David Lipsky, October 30.
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ESSAYS |
This category recognizes excellence in essay writing on topics ranging from the personal to the political. Whatever the subject, emphasis should be placed on the author’s eloquence, perspective, fresh thinking and unique voice.
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Winner: Backpacker:
Jonathan Dorn, editor-in-chief, for The Source of All Things, by Tracy Ross, February.
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COLUMNS AND COMMENTARY |
This category recognizes excellence in short-form political, social, economic or humorous commentary. It honors the eloquence, force of argument and succinctness with which the writer presents his or her views.
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Winner: Automobile:
Jean Jennings, president and editor-in-chief, for three columns by Jamie Kitman, They Fought the Laws (of Supply and Demand), and the Laws Won, September; Lease Me to the Moon: The Rise and Fall of Consumer Finance?, November; Bailout Time for the Big Three. None Dare Call them Republicans, December.
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REVIEWS AND CRITICISM |
This category recognizes excellence in criticism of art, books, movies, television, theater, music, dance, food, dining, fashion, products and the like. It honors the knowledge, persuasiveness and original voice that the critic brings to his or her reviews.
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Winner: The New Yorker:
David Remnick, editor, for three columns by James Wood, Say What?, April 7; The Homecoming, September 8; Wounder and Wounded, December 1.
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FICTION |
This category recognizes excellence in magazine fiction writing. It honors the quality of a publication’s literary selections.
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Winner: The New Yorker:
David Remnick, editor, for Them Old Cowboy Songs, by Annie Proulx, May 5; The Noble Truths of Suffering, by Aleksandar Hemon, September 22.
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PERSONAL SERVICE |
This category recognizes excellence in service journalism. The advice or instruction presented should help readers improve the quality of their lives in areas that are core to their personal well-being.
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Winner: Esquire:
David Granger, editor-in-chief, for Retool, Reboot, Rebuild, by Mehmet Oz, M.D., and Michael Roizen, M.D., May; Seventy-Five,by Susan Casey, May.
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LEISURE INTERESTS |
This category recognizes excellent service journalism about leisure-time pursuits. The practical advice or instruction presented should help readers enjoy hobbies or other recreational interests.
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Winner: Esquire:
David Granger, editor-in-chief, for The Esquire Almanac of Steak, September.
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DESIGN |
This category recognizes excellence in magazine design. It honors the effectiveness of overall design, artwork, graphics and typography in enhancing a magazine’s unique mission and personality.
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Winner: Wired:
Chris Anderson, editor-in-chief; Scott Dadich, creative director; Wyatt Mitchell, design director, for February, June, November issues.
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PHOTOGRAPHY |
This category recognizes excellence in magazine photography. It honors the effectiveness of photography, photojournalism and photo illustration in enhancing a magazine’s unique mission and personality.
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Winner: GQ:
Jim Nelson, editor-in-chief; Fred Woodward, design director; Jim Moore, creative director; Anton Ioukhnovets, art director; Dora Somosi, director of photography, for August, November, December issues.
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PHOTOJOURNALISM |
This category recognizes the informative photographic documentation of an event or subject in real-time. Photo essays accompanied by text are judged primarily on the strength of the photographs.
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Winner: National Geographic:
Chris Johns, editor-in-chief; David Griffin, director of photography; Kurt F. Mutchler and Susan A. Smith, deputy directors, photography, for Who Murdered the Virunga Gorillas?, by Mark Jenkins, photographs by Brent Stirton, July.
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PHOTO PORTFOLIO |
This category honors creative photography and photo illustration.
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Winner: The New Yorker:
David Remnick, editor; Elisabeth Biondi, visuals editor, for Service, portfolio by Platon, September 29.
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GENERAL EXCELLENCE ONLINE |
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This category recognizes excellence in magazine websites, as well as online-only magazines that publish original content. The site must convey a distinct editorial identity and create a unique magazine environment on the web.
Less than 1,000,000 average monthly unique visitors
Winner: Backpacker.com
(
http://www.backpacker.com/
): Jonathan Dorn, editor-in-chief; Anthony Cerretani, online editor
1,000,000 and above average monthly unique visitors
Winner: Nymag.com
(
http://nymag.com/
): Adam Moss, editor-in-chief; Kelly Maloni, director of P.D. & edit operations; Ben Williams, editorial director, nymag.com
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PERSONAL SERVICE ONLINE |
This category recognizes excellent service journalism on the Web. The practical advice or instruction presented should help readers either improve the quality of their personal lives or enjoy recreational pursuits. The category honors a site’s effective use of multimedia technology that users can act on.
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Winner: Backpacker.com – Maps Project
(
www.backpacker.com/hikes
): Jonathan Dorn, editor-in-chief; Anthony Cerretani, online editor; Kris Wagner, Map Editor
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INTERACTIVE FEATURE |
This category recognizes an outstanding feature or section of a website that uses multimedia technology, tools, community platforms or other interactive formats to deliver or share content such as news, information and entertainment, rather than practical instruction or advice.
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Winner: AARP The Magazine Online – 1968: The Year That Rocked Our World
(
www.aarpmagazine.org/people/1968
): Steven Slon, editor-in-chief; Julie Feiner, online content producer; Marilyn Milloy, features editor
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