By Jeff Bercovici

    The Oscars may be just days away, but the men and women of the magazine industry are looking further ahead, to May 2, when the American Society of Magazine Editors will announce this year’s National Magazine Award winners.
    Nominations for the awards were announced yesterday, and, as usual, nods went both to the venerated and the offbeat.
    The New Yorker led all magazines in nominations, tying the record it set last year with 11, distributed in 10 categories including General Excellence.
     Esquire came in second with eight nominations, better than the five it received last year and well ahead of third-place holders Atlantic Monthly and Rolling Stone, both of which received four nominations. Esquire, however, was not nominated for a General Excellence award.
     Esquire rival GQ received only two nominations, in Fiction and Profiles. Men’s Journal was also nominated, in the General Excellence category—a bittersweet honor, as former editor Mark Bryant, who was named in the nomination, was ousted from the magazine in December after months of clashing with Jann Wenner over editorial vision.
    Among the more obscure titles to be recognized were Nest, the quirky design magazine that last year won the General Excellence award for its circulation class, Transition, and the Harvard Medical Alumni Bulletin, all of which were nominated in the General Excellence under 100,000 circulation category.
    Not surprisingly, many of the year’s most talked-about articles were nominated.
    Seymour Hersh’s controversial New Yorker article "Overwhelming Force," an exposé of American atrocities following the Gulf War which elicited a smear campaign from then drug czar Gen. Barry McCaffrey, was nominated in the Reporting category. Sean Flynn’s "The Perfect Fire," an Esquire account of a deadly New England warehouse fire, was also nominated, as was "The Truth, the Whole Truth, and Nothing but the Truth," John Heilemann’s overview of the Microsoft antitrust trial for Wired.
     Nominations for the Features award included "My Favorite Teacher," in which Robert Kurson writes of finding out that a beloved high school teacher had been convicted of raping and murdering teenage boys. Author David Foster Wallace’s Rolling Stone story "The Weasel, Twelve Monkeys and the Shrub" also scored a nomination in this category.
    In the Profiles category, the Atlantic Monthly’s exhaustive profile of wine prodigy Robert Parker, "The Million-Dollar Nose" by William Langewiesche, was nominated, as was "The Pitchman," about Ronco founder Ron Popeil, by the New Yorker’s master of quirkiness, Malcolm Gladwell.
    This year’s nominations also included two categories for web sites. Among the nominees for General Excellence Online were Business Week Online, last year’s winner, as well as Wine Spectator Online and Hint Fashion Magazine. Nominees for Best Interactive Design included literary sex web site Nerve.

Following is the complete list of nominations.

GENERAL EXCELLENCE
- to honor a magazine for its performance in achieving its editorial objectives.

The American Scholar: Anne Fadiman, editor, for Spring, Summer, Autumn issues.

DoubleTake: Robert Coles, editor, for Winter, Summer, Fall, issues.

Harvard Medical Alumni Bulletin: William Ira Bennett, editor-in-chief, for Winter, Spring, Summer issues.

Nest: Joseph Holtzman, editor-in-chief and art director, for Spring, Summer, Fall issues.

Transition: Kwame Anthony Appiah and Henry Louis Gates, Jr., editors; Michael Colin Vazquez, executive editor, for Winter, Spring, Fall issues.

Harper’s Magazine: Lewis H. Lapham, editor, for January, June, November issues.

Mother Jones: Roger Cohn, editor-in-chief, for May/June, September/October, November/December issues.

Nylon Magazine: Marvin Scott Jarrett, editor-in-chief, for October, November, December issues.

Saveur: Dorothy Kalins, editor-in-chief, for April, May/June, September/October.

Texas Monthly: Gregory Curtis, editor, for April issue; Evan Smith, editor, for October, December issues.

Fortune: John Huey, managing editor, for March 6, May 29, November 13 issues.

Gourmet: Ruth Reichl, editor-in-chief, for September, October, November issues.

Jane Magazine: Jane Pratt, editor-in-chief, for March, May, August issues.

Men’s Journal: Mark Bryant, editor, for April, June, December issues.

The New Yorker: David Remnick, editor, for January 31, February 21 & 28, October 30 issues

Over 1,000,000 circulation

Health: Barbara Paulsen, editor-in-chief, for September, October, November/December issues.

Rolling Stone: Jann S. Wenner, editor and publisher; Robert Love, managing editor, for April 13, May 25, November 9 issues.

Sports Illustrated: Bill Colson, managing editor, for June 26, October 2, December 18 issues.

Teen People: Christina Ferrari, managing editor, for March, June/July, August issues.

Vanity Fair: Graydon Carter, editor, for October, November, December issues.

PERSONAL SERVICE
- for articles that clearly and compellingly help readers take action to improve the quality of their lives.

Esquire: David Granger, editor-in-chief, for This Man Survived Breast Cancer, by Ted Allen, June.

Money Magazine: Robert Safian, managing editor, for The Ultimate Guide to Retirement, by Amy Feldman, Leslie Haggin, Laura Lallos, Teresa Tritch, Walter Updegrave, Penelope Wang, July.

National Geographic Adventure: John Rasmus, editor-in-chief, for The Rules of Adventure, by Laurence Gonzales, January/February.

Newsweek: Richard M. Smith, editor-in-chief; Mark Whitaker, editor, for Your Child: Birth to Three, Fall/Winter.

The New Yorker: David Remnick, editor, for three articles by Jerome Groopman, Second Opinion, January 24; The Prostate Paradox, May 29; Hurting All Over, November 13.

SPECIAL INTERESTS
- for articles that foster the enjoyment of leisure time interests through clear and instructive writing and infographics.

Esquire: David Granger, editor-in-chief, for How to Be a Better Man, November.

The New Yorker: David Remnick, editor, for The Sports Issue, August 21 & 28.

The Oxford American: Marc Smirnoff, editor, for its Fourth Annual Double Issue on Southern Music, July/August.

The Paris Review: George Plimpton, editor, for The Poetry Issue, Spring.

Texas Monthly: Gregory Curtis, editor, for A Celebration of Texas Music, May.

REPORTING
- for articles that give a definitive account of, or uncover new information about, an event, a situation or a problem of contemporary interest and importance.

Esquire: David Granger, editor-in-chief, for The Perfect Fire, by Sean Flynn, July.

The New Yorker: David Remnick, editor, for Overwhelming Force, by Seymour M. Hersh, May 22.

Rolling Stone: Jann S. Wenner, editor and publisher; Robert Love, managing editor, for In the Jungle, by Rian Malan, May 25.

The Texas Observer: Louis Dubose and Michael King, editors, for Color of Justice, by Nate Blakeslee, June 23.

Wired Magazine: Katrina Heron, editor-in-chief, for The Truth, the Whole Truth, and Nothing but the Truth, by John Heilemann, November.

FEATURE WRITING
- for an article that treats its subject with imagination, originality and stylish writing.

Esquire: David Granger, editor-in-chief, for My Favorite Teacher, by Robert Kurson, March.

Esquire: David Granger, editor-in-chief, for The Long Fall of One-Eleven Heavy, by Michael Paterniti, July.

National Geographic Adventure: John Rasmus, editor-in-chief, for The Endless Hunt, by Gretel Ehrlich, September/October.

The New Yorker: David Remnick, editor, for A Cold Case, by Philip Gourevitch, February 14.

Rolling Stone: Jann S. Wenner, editor and publisher; Robert Love, managing editor, for The Weasel, Twelve Monkeys and the Shrub, by David Foster Wallace, April 13.

PROFILES
- for an article that presents an original and illuminating portrait of a person, whether famous or obscure.

The Atlantic Monthly: Michael Kelly, editor, for The Million-Dollar Nose, by William Langewiesche, December.

GQ: Art Cooper, editor-in-chief, for The Ghost, by Elizabeth Gilbert, December.

The New Yorker: David Remnick, editor, for Delta Nights, by Bill Buford, June 5.

The New Yorker: David Remnick, editor, for The Pitchman, by Malcolm Gladwell, October 30.

Rolling Stone: Jann S. Wenner, editor and publisher; Robert Love, managing editor, for The Prince of Darkness, by Erik Hedegaard, July 6-20.

PUBLIC INTEREST
- for outstanding examples of analytical or expository journalism that bring exceptional clarity, interpretation and insight to their subject, and have the potential to influence national or local public policy.

The Atlantic Monthly: Michael Kelly, editor, for Health Care: A Bolt of Civic Hope, by MatthewMiller, October.

The New Yorker: David Remnick, editor, for two articles by Nicholas Lemann, The Redemption, January 31; Gore Without a Script, July 31.

Technology Review: John Benditt, editor-in-chief, for The Great Gene Grab, by Antonio Regalado; The Case for Gene Patents, by William A. Haseltine; Toward Sharing the Genome, by Seth Shulman, September/October.

Texas Monthly: Evan Smith, editor, for They Haven’t Got a Prayer, by Pamela Colloff, November.

Time: Walter Isaacson, managing editor, for three articles by Donald L. Barlett and James B. Steele, Big Money & Politics: How the Little Guy Gets Crunched, February 7; Soaked by Congress, May 15; Throwing the Game, September 25.

DESIGN
- to honor a magazine for excellent and innovative visual presentation that enhances the magazine’s mission.

Entertainment Weekly: James W. Seymore Jr., managing editor; Geraldine Hessler, design director, for June 30/July 7, October 27, December 22/29 issues.

Esquire: David Granger, editor-in-chief; John Korpics, design director, for February, March, July issues.

Martha Stewart Living: Martha Stewart, editorial director; Stephen Drucker, editor-in-chief; Eric Pike, creative director; Scot Schy, art director, for October, November, December issues.

Nest: Joseph Holtzman, editor-in-chief and art director, for Spring, Summer, Fall issues.

W: Patrick McCarthy, chairman and editorial director; Kirby Rodriguez, art director, for February, March, April issues.

PHOTOGRAPHY
- for a magazine's excellent use of photography as a part of its editorial presentation.

Esquire: David Granger, editor-in-chief; John Korpics, design director, for July, September, December issues.

Martha Stewart Living: Martha Stewart, editorial director; Stephen Drucker, editor-in-chief; Eric Pike, creative director, for October, November, December issues.

National Geographic: William L. Allen, editor; W. Allan Royce, senior editor, illustrations; Kent J. Kobersteen, senior editor, photography, for January, February, November issues.

Nest: Joseph Holtzman, editor-in-chief and art director, for Spring, Summer, Fall issues.

Vibe: Emil Wilbekin, editor-in-chief; George Pitts, director of photography, for June/July, September, December, issues.

W: Patrick McCarthy, chairman and editorial director; Kirby Rodriguez, art director; Melissa Comito, photo editor, for February, March, May issues.

FICTION
- to honor a magazine for its publication of excellent fiction.

The Atlantic Monthly: William Whitworth, editor, for Tyrants, by Marshall N. Klimasewiski, January; Michael Kelly, editor, for I Am the Grass, by Daly Walker, June; Family Christmas, by Roxana Robinson, December.

Esquire: David Granger, editor-in-chief, for Lobster Night, by Russell Banks, March; July ‘69, by Tim O’Brien, July; The Deep Sleep, by Aleksandar Hemon, November.

GQ: Art Cooper, editor-in-chief, for Cow-Cow, by Russell Banks, April; The Black Woman in the Chinese Hat, by Walter Mosley, August; Sharing, by John Edgar Wideman, December.

The New Yorker: David Remnick, editor, for Nettles, by Alice Munro, February 21 & 28; Revival Road, by Louise Erdrich, April 17; The Smoker, by David Schickler, June 19 & 26.

Zoetrope: All-Story: Adrienne Brodeur, editor-in-chief, for Fialta, by Rebecca Lee, Spring; Fair Warning, by Robert Olen Butler, Summer; The Cavemen in the Hedges, by Stacey Richter, Fall.

ESSAYS
- to honor a single piece of writing. The category includes a wide variety of nonfictional points of view, including personal reflection, political and/or social commentary, editorial opinion and humor.

The American Scholar: Anne Fadiman, editor, for Mail, by Anne Fadiman, Winter.

The American Scholar: Anne Fadiman, editor, for Narrow Ruled, by Nicholson Baker, Autumn.

Harper’s Magazine: Lewis H. Lapham, editor, for In the Land of the Rococo Marxists, by Tom Wolfe, June.

The New Yorker: David Remnick, editor, for Like a King, by Adam Gopnik, January 31.

Outside: Hal Espen, editor, for Skating Home Backward, by Bill Vaughn, January.

REVIEWS and CRITICISM
- for short reviews and longer critical pieces that analyze and comment upon specific works of art, performances, movies, broadcasts, products, and the like.

Gourmet: Ruth Reichl, editor-in-chief, for three restaurant reviews by Jonathan Gold, Luxury Triumphant, January; Paris on the Hudson, April; Magnificent Obsession, November.

Harper’s Magazine: Lewis H. Lapham, editor, for Stupor Mundi, by Lewis H. Lapham, April; A Life in the Maze, by Guy Davenport, June; The Glory of J.F. Powers, by Donna Tartt, July.

The New Yorker: David Remnick, editor, for three pieces by Anthony Lane, The Maria Problem, February 14; The Eye of the Land, March 13; The Light Side of the Moon, April 10.

Sports Illustrated: Bill Colson, managing editor, for three pieces by Steve Rushin, Let There Be Light, September 25; Blessings in Disguise, October 2; The Mock Olympics, October 9.

Vanity Fair: Graydon Carter, editor, for three pieces by James Wolcott, Lovers Come Back, April; How to Succeed in Business Without Really Breathing, June; Forever Young, November.

GENERAL EXCELLENCE ONLINE
- to honor an Internet site that most effectively serves its intended audience and reflects an outstanding level of interactivity, journalistic integrity and service.

Business Week Online: Bob Arnold, editor-in-chief

The Chronicle of Higher Education: Phil Semas, editor, new media

Hint Fashion Magazine: Lee Carter, editor-in-chief

U.S. News Online: Chris Sturm, editor

Wine Spectator Online: Tom Matthews, editor

BEST INTERACTIVE DESIGN
- to honor an Internet site that meets the criteria for General Excellence Online, but that also makes exceptional use of the digital medium to serve its intended audience.

The Atlantic Online: Wen Stephenson, editorial director

Business Week Online: Bob Arnold, editor-in-chief

CQ.com On Congress: Dave Rapp, executive editor

Nerve.com: Susan Dominus, editor-in-chief

SmartMoney.com: Marc Frons, editor and chief technology officer

-Jeff Bercovici is a staff writer for Media Life.

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