NATIONAL MAGAZINE AWARDS 2006 WINNERS ANNOUNCED AT 40TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION

NEW YORK, NY (May 9, 2006)—The American Society of Magazine Editors (ASME) and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism presented the 2006 National Magazine Awards, the industrys most prestigious editorial honor, at a gala black-tie event held this evening, it was announced by Marlene Kahan, Executive Director, ASME.  The 40th anniversary celebration of the awards, held at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City, was attended by more than 1,000 editors, publishers, industry professionals and guests.

The National Magazine Awards honor magazines that consistently demonstrate superior execution in carrying out stated editorial objectives, innovative editorial techniques, noteworthy journalistic enterprise, and imagination and vigor in layout and design. The Ellies (named after the Alexander Calder stabile Elephant, ASMEs symbol of the award) were presented to 14 print and online magazines across 22 categories. 

The 2006 National Magazine Award winners are:

Time for General Excellence (over 2,000,000 circulation)

ESPN The Magazine for General Excellence (1,000,000 to 2,000,000 circulation)

Esquire for General Excellence (500,000 to 1,000,000 circulation)

New York Magazine for General Excellence (250,000 to 500,000 circulation)

Harper's Magazine for General Excellence (100,000 to 250,000 circulation)

Virginia Quarterly Review for General Excellence (under 100,000 circulation)

SELF for Personal Service

Golf for Leisure Interests

Rolling Stone for Reporting

The New Yorker for Public Interest

The American Scholar for Feature Writing

Esquire for Profile Writing

Vanity Fair for Essays

The New Yorker for Columns and Commentary

Harper's Magazine for Reviews and Criticism

Backpacker for Magazine Section

Time for Single-topic Issue

New York Magazine for Design

W for Photography

Rolling Stone for Photo Portfolio/Photo Essay

Virginia Quarterly Review for Fiction

National Geographic Online for General Excellence Online

The Virginia Quarterly Review received six nominations and won two awards.  Harper's Magazine, New York Magazine and The New Yorker received five nominations and won two awards each.  Rolling Stone and Time received three nominations and won two awards each. Esquire received two nominations and won two awards. Backpacker, Golf, Self and Virginia Quarterly Review were awarded their first Ellie this year.

This years program attracted 1,653 entries from print and online magazines. The 115 finalists and 22 winners were chosen by more than 200 editors, art directors, educators and online media experts.

A number of 2006 awardees have received multiple Ellies through the years. The New Yorker has received 46 awards; Esquire has received 18 awards; Harper's Magazine has received 15 awards; National Geographic has received 13 awards; Rolling Stone has received 12 awards; Vanity Fair has received 11 awards; Time has received ten awards; New York Magazine has received nine awards; The American Scholar has received four awards; ESPN and W have received three awards each; and Virginia Quarterly Review received two awards.

Following are the 2006 National Magazine Award winners with judges citations. (Note that editors listed held that position at the time the issue was published in 2005.)

GENERAL EXCELLENCE This category recognizes overall excellence in magazines.  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.

Over 2,000,000 circulation  Time: James Kelly, Managing Editor, for June 20, September 12, October 10 issues.

From its sweeping account on Hurricane Katrina to its exclusive report from inside Guantanamos interrogation rooms, Timechronicled the events of 2005 with in-depth reporting, insightful analysis and striking photography. Time keeps reinvigorating its role as a newsweekly and demonstrates its relevance and importance in a changing media world.

1,000,000 to 2,000,000 circulation  ESPN The Magazine: Gary Hoenig, Editor-in-Chief, for June 6, November 7, November 21 issues.

Visually arresting, snappily written, and always energetic, ESPN The Magazine covers the sporting life on and off the playing field. The result is a twice-monthly feast for both the sports fan and the pop culture aficionado.

500,000 to 1,000,000 circulation  Esquire: David Granger, Editor-in-Chief, for March, September, November issues.

Esquires signature elements -- from What Ive Learned to A Woman We Love, are guideposts to a modern culture where men strive to be both serious and irreverent, stylish and sexy. Readers are treated to deep reporting, imaginative writing, superbly crafted pages, and an unconventional wisdom that is Esquires alone.

250,000 to 500,000 circulation  New York Magazine: Adam Moss, Editor-in-Chief, for April 4, July 18, September 19 issues.

Complex, dynamic and smart, New York Magazine reports on the people and events that are constantly reshaping New York City. With stylish writing, original packaging and editorial flair, the magazine is as intriguing as the city it covers.

100,000 to 250,000 circulation  Harper's Magazine: Lewis H. Lapham, Editor, for May, November, December issues.

A dazzling intellectual immersion, Harper's pairs its supremely thoughtful long-format reads with fresh, provocative front-of-book choices.  Consistently challenging, even demanding, Harper's power is in its ability to cause sometimes subtle, sometimes seismic shifts in a readers world view.

Under 100,000 circulation  The Virginia Quarterly Review: Ted Genoways, Editor, for Winter, Summer, Fall issues.

At a time when magazines are rushing to embrace the digital age, Virginia Quarterly Review reimagines and reenergizes that old-world form the literary journal. Crisply designed, smartly written, full of not just fiction and poetry but also topical reportage and memorable essays, VQR sets the bar extremely high -- and clears it time and again.

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

Self: Lucy S. Danziger, Editor-in-Chief, for its breast cancer handbook, Keep Your Breasts, Healthy for Life, October.

The 2005 Breast Cancer Handbook combines the raw, personal insight of a cancer sufferer with a service package that delivers a comprehensive range of calls to actionall presented in an energetic, easy-to-follow style that strikes a wonderful balance of inspiration and practicality.

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.

Golf Magazine: David M. Clarke, Editor, for The New Way to Putt, October.

Departing from the usual advice, Golf uncovers a breakthrough technique for getting the ball into the hole.  Both concise and inspiring, The New Way to Putt presents compelling evidence, as well as a clear plan for making the method your ownwhether you're a duffer or a pro.  While keeping its eye on the ball, this piece helps you train yours on improving your game.

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.

Rolling Stone: Jann S. Wenner, Editor and Publisher; Will Dana, Managing Editor, for The Man Who Sold the War, by James Bamford, December 1. 

Reporter James Bamford delves deep into the crossfire of the war of information and imagery to expose the work of the most secretive-and effective-tacticians of the endless Iraqi conflict. The Man Who Sold the War, a massive reporting effort that includes a rare interview with General John Rendon, provides a glimpse into covert trading of rumours and information in order to go to war.

PUBLIC INTEREST This category recognizes journalism that has the potential to affect national or local policy or lawmaking. It honors investigative reporting or groundbreaking analysis that sheds new light on an issue of public importance.

The New Yorker: David Remnick, Editor, for The Climate of Man, a three-part series by Elizabeth Kolbert, Part I, April 25; Part II, May 2; Part III, May 9.

In The Climate of Man, Elizabeth Kolbert brings to the complexity of global warming the clarity and synthesis that only a gifted writer can summon:  The unfailing intelligence and irresistible sanity of Kolberts narrative become a call to arms for all of us to confront the climate catastrophe we are leaving for our children.

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

The American Scholar: Robert Wilson, Editor, for Genome Tome, by Priscilla Long, Summer. 

In Genome Tome, Priscilla Long asks the question, What are the reverberations of the recent discoveries about the human genome?  In 23 luminous chapters that reflect a humans 23 chromosomes, Long uses a blend of poetry, scholarship, and personal narrative to map out the implications of our past and how they will construct our future.

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.

Esquire: David Granger, Editor-in-Chief, for Into the Light, by Robert Kurson, June.

Robert Kursons extraordinary profile, Into the Light, recounts one mans conflicted passage out of darkness.  At three, Mike May was told he was blind for life. Decades later, he is a CEO, the first-ever blind CIA analyst, world sightless downhill record holder, a guitarist, sky diver and father of two sons. Then he is offered a stem-cell-and-cornea transplantand the ability to see the world with new eyes.

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 authors eloquence, perspective, fresh thinking and unique voice.

Vanity Fair: Graydon Carter, Editor, for A Matter of Life and Death, by Marjorie Williams, October.

At 43, Marjorie Williams, a writer for the Washington Post and Vanity Fair, learned she had advanced liver cancer and shortly would die, leaving a husband and two young children. Her dramatic and analytic account of her ordeal, published posthumously, meticulously walks readers through both the agony and the uplift of her time remaining.

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.

The New Yorker: David Remnick, Editor, for three columns by Hendrik Hertzberg, Landmarks, February 14  & 21; Mired, August 22;Bah Humbug, December 26 & January 2.

Rising above the cacophony of competing voices in the punditry-industrial-complex, Hendrik Hertzbergs Talk of the Town essays provide a perspective that too few social commentators offer nowadays. Hertzberg makes sense of bewildering and often unnerving topics with insight, fair-mindedness and authority.

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.

Harper's Magazine: Lewis H. Lapham, Editor, for three reviews by Wyatt Mason, Make It Newish, May; A World unto Himself, July;White Knees, October.

At once compassionate and ruthless, Wyatt Mason seeks an understanding of his subject with endless erudition and a singular, tireless focus on quality.  His criticism moves from the specific to bigger game a defense of modernism and originality and hes not afraid to confront the authors with his findings.

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.  Selection is based on the sections voice, originality, design and packaging.

Backpacker: Jonathan Dorn, Editor-in-Chief, for its Basecamp section, June, September, December.

Backpacker Magazine neatly stuffs exactly what its readers need into its Basecamp section, without an extra ounce of verbiage. Basecamps authoritative product reviews, clear technical advice, and enticing trail suggestions encourage readers and equip them for their adventures, and the writing and graphics offer a well-marked, scenic path through what could be a jungle of information.

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.

Time: James Kelly, Managing Editor, for An American Tragedy, September 12.

When Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast, Time magazine used every available resource to cover the worst natural disaster in American history. The resulting 52-page special report, done under intense pressure and published within a week of the event, was a triumph of the newsmagazines craft.

New York Magazine: Adam Moss, Editor-in-Chief; Luke Hayman, Design Director, for July 25, November 21, December 19 issues.

The graphic sensibility of New York Magazine reflects the best qualities of the city itself.  Its an inventive mix of modernism and classicism, studied elegance and playful irreverence, blended together in one smart, inviting package.  The magazines design does not play a supporting role.  It is a vivid and original storytelling tool.

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

W: Patrick McCarthy, Chairman and Editorial Director; Dennis Freedman, Vice Chairman and Creative Director; Edward Leida, Executive Vice President and Group Design Director; Kirby Rodriguez, Art Director, for July, September, October issues.

Provocative and endlessly innovative, the arresting photography in W shatters the conventional boundaries of fashion imagery.  It succeeds in bridging the gap between photography and contemporary art with a variety of visual styles that add up to maximum impact.

PHOTO PORTFOLIO/PHOTO ESSAY This category recognizes a distinctive portfolio or photographic essay. It honors either photos that express an idea or a concept, or documentary photojournalism shot in real time.

Rolling Stone: Jann S. Wenner, Editor and Publisher; Will Dana, Managing Editor; Amid Capeci, Art Director; Jodi Peckman, Director of Photography, for The Edge of the World, by Sebastio Salgado, November 17.

As part of an ambitious special report on global warming, Rolling Stone published a 14-page photo essay by Sabastio Salgado. The Edge of the World, takes readers on a journey to the solitary reaches of Antarctica and Patagonia where his passionate plea for the environment resulted in black and white images of startling drama.

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

Virginia Quarterly Review: Ted Genoways, Editor, for Peacekeeper, by Alan Heathcock, Fall; Smother, by Joyce Carol Oates, Fall; In a Grove, by R.T. Smith, Fall.

VQR marries the traditions of American short story writing with innovative narrative to create three explorations of moral ambiguity. Peacekeeper, by Alan Heathcock, follows a young policewoman who takes justice into her own hands. R.T. Smiths Ina Grove is a tale of rape and murder in the backwoods of Virginia. And Joyce Carol Oates, who had three nominated stories in this category, explores the fallibility of memory in Smother.

GENERAL EXCELLENCE ONLINE This category recognizes outstanding magazine Internet sites, as well as online-only magazines and Weblogs that have a significant amount of original content.

National Geographic Online (www.ngm.com): Chris Johns, Editor-in-Chief

National Geographic Online combines stunning photography, innovative interactive applications of text and video, and first-class journalism to open a remarkable door on the planet and its peoples.  Whether its a live webcam on an African watering hole or a virtual tour of King Tut's tomb, visitors are guaranteed to be delighted and inspired.

The American Society of Magazine Editors (ASME) is a non-profit professional organization for editors of magazines which are edited, published and sold in the U.S.  Established in 1963, ASME currently has about 900 members nationwide.  Among other things, ASMEprovides an opportunity for magazine editors to network with their peers.  ASME works to preserve editorial independence and speaks out on public policy issues, particularly those pertaining to the First Amendment.