ASME ANNOUNCES 43RD ANNUAL NATIONAL MAGAZINE AWARDS FINALISTS

The New Yorker Receives Most Ellie Nominations; Magazine Industry Toasts Best and Brightest on May 1 at Jazz at Lincoln Center

NEW YORK, NY (March 19, 2008)—Marlene Kahan, Executive Director, American Society of Magazine Editors (ASME), today announced the finalists for the 43rd annual National Magazine Awards, the magazine industrys highest honor.  Named after the Alexander Calder Stabile Elephant, the 2008 Ellies represent a record-setting 1,964 entries from 333 print and online magazines.  Twenty-five winners will be announced at a gala event on May 1, at New York Citys Jazz at Lincoln Center, Frederick P. Rose Hall.

Magazines retain their unique appeal even as they traverse platforms to provoke and please todays most discerning media consumers. The unparalleled mix of immediacy and depth in magazine editorial keeps bringing readers back for more, saidMarlene Kahan, executive director, ASME.  From perennial favorites to unexpected newcomers, this years record number of submissions speaks to the exceptional level of quality consistently delivered to our newsstands and mailboxes.

Two hundred forty industry experts voted on the 2008 finalists, which represent the full spectrum of magazine journalism from politics and science to child-rearing and the arts.  Among the emerging themes and statistics from the 2008 nominees:

• The New Yorker leads the list of 128 finalists with a total of 12 nominations.
• Twenty-six other titles received multiple nominations: New York (9), Vanity Fair (6), GQ (5), National Geographic (5), The Atlantic (3), Popular Mechanics (3), T, The New York Times Style Magazine (3), The Virginia Quarterly Review (3), Wired (3), Aperture (2), BusinessWeek (2), Domino (2), The Economist (2), Field & Stream (2), Good (2), Gourmet (2), Harper's Magazine (2), Martha Stewart Living (2), Mens Health (2), Mother Jones (2), The Nation (2), The New York Times Magazine (2), People (2), O, The Oprah Magazine (2), Slate (2) and W (2).
• Twenty-two of the finalists are based in cities outside of New York (Athens, GA; Atlanta, GA; Boulder, CO;Charlottesville, VA; Chicago, IL; Decatur, GA; Denver, CO; Emmaus, PA; Kansas City, MO; Los Angeles, CA;Northampton, MA; Philadelphia, PA; San Francisco, CA; Washington, DC; West Hollywood, CA).
• The continuing impact of the war in Iraq in all facets of lifefrom tales of mercenary soldiers and analysis of administration statements to the plight of returning veterans.
• Surviving unknown disasters, as demonstrated in essays and articles in publications as diverse as Popular Mechanicsand O, The Oprah Magazine.
• First-time finalists include Babble, Bloomberg Markets, Budget Travel, Chow, Cond Nast Portfolio, Domino, Good, The New York Times Magazine, Paste, Play:The New York Times Sports Magazine, Radar, and T, The New York Times Style Magazine.
• Several traditional print categories (Reporting, Public Interest, Feature Writing, Profile Writing, Essays, Reviews and Criticism, Columns and Commentary, and Fiction) were opened to include articles published online only.

The awards honor print and online magazines that consistently demonstrate superior execution of editorial objectives, innovative editorial techniques, journalistic enterprise, and imaginative design. Established in 1966, the National Magazine Awards is the preeminent program in the magazine industry to honor editorial excellence. ASME presents the awards program in association with the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

Barnes & Noble is the exclusive sponsor of the awards. There will be a reading of winning and finalist articles at a Barnes & Noble location in Manhattan in early May.

The Categories and Finalists Are:

GENERAL EXCELLENCE:  Recognizes overall excellence in magazines in six circulation categories.  The award honors the effectiveness with which writing, reporting, editing and design all come together to command readers attention and fulfill the magazines unique editorial mission.

Circulation under 100,000

Aperture, The Georgia Review,  Metropolis, Print, The Virginia  Quarterly Review

Circulation 100,000 - 250,000

Foreign Policy, Mother Jones, Paste, Philadelphia Magazine, Radar

Circulation 250,000 - 500,000

Backpacker, Cookie, New York Magazine, W, Wondertime

Circulation 500,000 1,000,000

Budget Travel, The Economist, GQ, National Geographic Adventure, Wired

Circulation 1,000,000 2,000,000

Mens Health, The New Yorker, Play, The New York Times Sports Magazine,   Popular Mechanics, Vanity Fair

Circulation over 2,000,000

Glamour, Martha Stewart Living, National Geographic, People, Time

PERSONAL SERVICE:  This category recognizes excellence in service journalism.  The advice or instruction presented should help readers improve the quality of their personal lives.

Field & Stream, Good Housekeeping, O, The Oprah Magazine, Popular Mechanics (two nominations)

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.

Domino, Field & Stream, Mens Health, New York Magazine, Time Out Chicago

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.

National Geographic, The New York Times Magazine, The New Yorker (two nominations), Vanity Fair

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.

5280, Bloomberg Markets, BusinessWeek, The Nation, The New Yorker

FEATURE WRITING:  This category recognizes excellence in feature writing.  The award honors the stylishness, flair and originality with which the author treats his or her subject.

Atlanta Magazine, GQ, New York Magazine, The New Yorker, Vanity Fair

PROFILE WRITING:  This category recognizes excellence in profile writing.  The award honors the vividness and perceptiveness with which the writer brings his or her subject to life.

The Atlantic, Los Angeles Magazine, The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, Vanity Fair

ESSAYS:  This category recognizes excellence in essay writing on topics ranging from the personal to the political.  Whatever the subject, the award honors the authors eloquence, perspective, fresh thinking and unique voice.

The Atlantic, Elle, Entertainment Weekly, Harper's Magazine, New Letters,  The New Yorker

COLUMNS and COMMENTARY:  This category recognizes excellence in short-form political, social, economic or humorous commentary.  The award honors the eloquence, force of argument and succinctness with which the writer presents his or her views. 

Inc., New York Magazine, The New Yorker, Rolling Stone, Slate

REVIEWS and CRITICISM:  This category recognizes excellence in criticism of art, books, movies, television, theater, music, dance, food, dining, fashion, products and the like.  The award honors the knowledge, persuasiveness and original voice that the critic brings to his or her reviews.

The Atlantic, GQ, The Nation, New York Magazine, The New Yorker

MAGAZINE SECTION:  This category recognizes the excellence of a regular department or editorial section of a magazine, either front- or back-of-book, and composed of a variety of elements, both text and visual.  The award honors the sections voice, originality, and unified design and packaging.

Conde Nast Portfolio, Esquire, Good, O, The Oprah Magazine, Wired

SINGLE-TOPIC ISSUE:  This category recognizes magazines that have devoted an issue to an in-depth examination of one topic.  The award honors the ambition, comprehensiveness and imagination with which a magazine treats its subject.

Departures, Domino, Gourmet, IEEE Spectrum, The Virginia Quarterly Review

DESIGN:  This category recognizes excellence in magazine design.  The award honors the effectiveness of overall design, artwork, graphics and typography in enhancing a magazines unique mission and personality.

Good, GQ, New York Magazine, T, The New York Times Style Magazine, Vanity Fair, Wired

PHOTOGRAPHY:  This category recognizes excellence in magazine photography.  The award honors the effectiveness of photography, photojournalism and photo illustration in enhancing a magazines unique mission and personality.

Gourmet, GQ, Martha Stewart Living, National Geographic, New York Magazine, W

PHOTOJOURNALISM: This category recognizes the informative photographic documentation of an event or subject in real-time.

Aperture, Mother Jones, National Geographic, The New Yorker, The Virginia Quarterly Review

PHOTO PORTFOLIO: This category honors creative photography and photo illustration (including portraiture or specially produced layouts on fashion, food, decorating, travel, design, the arts, etc.).

New York Magazine, Newsweek, T, The New York Times Style Magazine (two nominations),
Vanity Fair

FICTION:  This category recognizes excellence in magazine fiction writing.  The award honors the quality of a publications literary selections.

Harper's Magazine, McSweeneys Quarterly, The New Yorker, The Paris Review, 
Zoetrope: All-Story

GENERAL EXCELLENCE ONLINE:  This category recognizes outstanding magazine websites, as well as online-only magazines that feature original content. The award honors sites that convey a distinct editorial identity and create a unique magazine environment on the Web.

Babble.com, Chow.com, NewYorker.com, Runners World.com, Slate.com

PERSONAL SERVICE ONLINE:  Previously known as Interactive Service, this category recognizes an outstanding service feature on the web. It honors a sites creative use of multimedia technology, user involvement and community tools, and/or exceptional work in the blog form.

BusinessWeek.com, NYmag.com, People.com, Self.com, SI.com

INTERACTIVE FEATURE:  This category recognizes an outstanding interactive section of the website, featuring news, entertainment, and other subjects that do not offer practical instruction or advice. It honors a sites creative use of multimedia technology, user involvement and community tools, and/or exceptional work in the blog form.

Bicycling.com, Economist.com, ESPN.com, Essence.com, National Geographic Online