The National Magazine Awards, the Oscars of the industry, proved Wednesday that a media-wide gap between the haves and have-nots may well be widening in a melancholy period for the magazine industry, with stalwarts The New Yorker and The Atlantic Monthly each taking home three of the 19 first-place prizes.
Amid an advertising depression, a decline in newstand sales (which constitute one-quarter of all sales) and new launches, not to mention several high-profile magazine deaths, it was heartening that sophistication, imagination and quality reporting generally won out in the 37-year-old competition sponsored by the American Society of Newspaper Editors and run by Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism.
But, like the recent Pulitzer Prizes dominated by a precious few newspapers, the big guys on the block crushed the rest of the pack. There were no long-shot winners, no plucky and under-financed gems who had their afternoon in the sun at the fancy awards luncheon in New York City. To the extent there was a little-guy winner, it was a respected niche design publication, Print.
The New Yorker continued to prove there’s life after flamboyant Tina Brown, whose latest venture, Talk, went down the tubes. Her successor, talented David Remnick, guided The New Yorker to wins for best essays, profile writing and fiction a year after taking home a head-turning five awards. The Atlantic Monthly, under the guidance of another sharp newspaper refugee, Michael Kelly, also took home three with wins in the reporting, public interest and feature writing categories.
“They are faithful to their mission statements, to their DNA,” said Samir Husni, a University of Mississippi journalism professor who tracks the magazine world.
The New Yorker’s latest batch brings its league-leading total to 34, with The Atlantic Monthly in second with 16.
And since CNN inexplicably did not break into its regular programming with a dramatic, “BREAKING NEWS” flash and word from boy anchor Bill Hemmer, we hereby pass along Wednesday’s happy campers:
– General Excellence, circulation over 2 million: Newsweek won for three post-Sept. 11 issues, which “demonstrated that the weekly news magazine is not only a vital form, but something of a miracle.” A runner-up here was the new star of the women’s field, O, The Oprah Magazine.
– General Excellence, 1 million to 2 million circulation: Entertainment Weekly. “From the early buzz about `In the Bedroom’ to a thoughtful cover story on David Letterman’s emotional return to television after Sept. 11, Entertainment Weekly satisfied its readers’ itch for great entertainment without ever insulting their intelligence.”
– General Excellence, 500,000 to 1 million circulation: Vibe, a well-financed and adroitly edited look at the African-American music world, “speaks to — and for — an audience that defines much of America’s youth culture. Vibe deconstructs and codifies hip-hop, in its many guises, with richness, attitude and humor.”
– General Excellence, 200,000 to 500,000 circulation: National Geographic Adventure, a wonderful travel and adventure magazine edited by stellar former Chicagoan John Rasmus, was deemed to have “broken new ground” in its category by giving weekend adventurers a mix of solid tips “while also taking them to places they will never tread — into the heart of Uganda with doctors trying to contain the Ebola virus, or up into the mountains of Afghanistan with an anti-Taliban tribal leader” (who was later murdered).
– General Excellence, under 200,000: Print is, indeed, what those in the know in design read, “the ultimate authority on all things graphic.”
– Personal Service: National Geographic Adventure repeated its 2001 victory with “Land of the Lost,” Laurence Gonzales’ account of the perils of getting lost while hiking in our national parks, mixing harrowing case histories and important advice for those planning their next trek.
– Leisure Interest: Vogue, impressively staying the course in the fashion arena under editor Anna Wintour, won for three articles by Jeffrey Steingarten, “who set out to discover the world’s best caviar, salt and steak.”
– Reporting: The Atlantic Monthly topped the field with William Langewiesche’s account of the crash into the Atlantic Ocean in the dead of night of EgyptAir Flight 990.
– Public Interest: The Atlantic Monthly landed on top here with Samantha Powers’ “Bystanders to Genocide,” a damning account that pretty much blew to smithereens the self-serving, Clinton administration claim that the U.S. could have done little to prevent the 1994 Rwandan slaughter of an estimated 800,000 Tutsis by the Hutu majority. This was a window into a shameful episode of neglect appreciated by few Americans.
– Feature Writing: The Atlantic Monthly was Numero Uno for Penny Wolfson’s “Moonrise,” a tale of her own teenage son’s fight with muscular dystrophy.
– Columns and Commentary: New York magazine, which has lost a good bit of its editorial verve and impact, was lauded for three media columns by the provocative and resolutely intelligent Michael Wolff.
– Essays: The New Yorker topped the competition with “My Father’s Brain,” a look at a dad succumbing to Alzheimer’s by Jonathan Franzen, best known in the past year for declining Oprah Winfrey’s invitation to tout his latest novel on her show.
– Reviews and Criticism: Harper’s Magazine won for three reviews on the state of American letters by Lee Siegel.
– Profile Writing: The New Yorker impressed the judges with media writer Ken Auletta’s melancholy tale, “The Lost Tycoon,” on Ted Turner (who may not be so lost if embattled AOL Time Warner got smart and beckoned him back to its inner circle).
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– Single-Topic Issue: Time won for its post-Sept. 11 special issue.
– Design: Details, which has been a bit discombobulated in recent years, was cited for edgy photos, an irreverent use of typography and a knack for melding “style and service in a fresh approach to magazine design.”
– Photography: Vanity Fair, easy to chide for its obsession with celebrity, does indeed do wonderful visual work, and here is cheered for works by Annie Leibovitz, Helmut Newton, Herb Ritts and others.
– Fiction: The New Yorker, in a less-than-surprising win, tops several usual suspects, including the Paris Review, with works by Alice Munro, E.L. Doctorow and Akhil Sharma.
– General Excellence Online: National Geographic Magazine Online was deemed a “world-class site.”