The winners of the 2013 National Magazine Awards, often called the "Oscars of the magazine world," were announced in a ceremony held in midtown Manhattan Thursday night. National Geographic, which nabbed the most nominations of any magazine, also picked up the most awards, including two for its digital media efforts.
Nat Geo was recognized for General Excellence in four categories: News, Sports and Entertainment Magazine; Photography; Tablet Magazine; and Multimedia, the last of which for the "Cheetahs on the Edge" feature in its November issue.
ASME judges said Nat Geo won the tablet category because it offers everything one could want in a tablet magazine: in-depth reporting, world-class photography, beautiful design, smooth navigation, immersive interactivity, social media integration, plus engaging extras like a cheetah darting across a cover.
I happened to stop by the National Geographic Society's Manhattan offices the day before the awards ceremony to talk with Declan Moore, Nat Geo's president of publishing and digital media, and Chris Johns, its editor in chief. In a wide-ranging discussion about their publishing strategy, the pair told me that Nat Geo has a global paid digital circulation (that's tablet subscriptions plus digital newsstand sales) of 330,000, more than any other magazine, according to the Association for Audited Media. About 10% of publishing revenue now comes from digital, a category that includes e-books, digital advertising and native apps, Moore said.
I asked Moore if he was at all worried that the popularity of Nat Geo's tablet edition was hurting its print business. "We have to lead readers across the digital divide, else we risk losing them," Moore responded. "We're not worried about cannibalization. There's encouraging data [that shows] that people who come across are more engaged [and] renew at a higher rate," he said.
Moore and Johns said that we're still in the early days of tablet publishing, conceptually speaking. Nat Geo has recently begun embedding more audio in each issue so that can readers can listen rather than read most of the articles. Soon, they want readers to be able to access Nat Geo content anywhere -- on a smartphone, in a car, at their desktops -- and to sync across devices so they can pick up where they left off. That's a big step in the evolution of magazine publishing, and how publishers can think about delivering content experiences to consumers.
New York was named magazine of the year, and Pitchfork was recognized for General Excellence in Digital Media and The Atlantic for Best Website. The full list of winners is copied below.
Winners List
Magazine of the Year
New York
Adam Moss, Editor-in-Chief
Ben Williams, Online Editorial Director
General Excellence, Print:
News, Sports and Entertainment Magazines
National Geographic
Chris Johns, Editor-in-Chief
October, November and December
Service and Fashion Magazines
Vogue
Anna Wintour, Editor-in-Chief
March, September and December
Lifestyle Magazines
Martha Stewart Living
Martha Stewart, Founder
Gael Towey, Chief Creative and Editorial Director
Pilar Guzmán, Editor-in-Chief
April
Martha Stewart, Founder and Chief Creative Officer
Pilar Guzmán, Editor in Chief
May and November
Special-Interest Magazines
Outside
Lawrence J. Burke, Chairman and Editor-in-Chief
Christopher Keyes, Vice President and Editor
March, October and November
Literary, Political and Professional Magazines
The Paris Review
Lorin Stein, Editor
Spring, Fall and Winter
General Excellence, Digital Media
Pitchfork
Mark Richardson, Editor-in-Chief
Design
Time
Rick Stengel, Managing Editor
July 30, November 19 and December 31, 2012/January 7, 2013
Photography
National Geographic
Chris Johns, Editor in Chief
August, September and December
Feature Photography
W
Stefano Tonchi, Editor in Chief
“Good Kate, Bad Kate," by Will Self; photographs by Steven Klein
March
Single-Topic Issue
Saveur
James Oseland, Editor-in-Chief
“The Mexico Issue”
August/September
Magazine Section
New York
Adam Moss, Editor in Chief
“Strategist”
May 28, October 8 and October 22
Personal Service
Los Angeles
Mary Melton, Editor-in-Chief
“The New Face and Body of Plastic Surgery in L.A.”
October
Leisure Interests
Wired
Chris Anderson, Editor in Chief
“How to Be a Geek Dad”
June
Website
The Atlantic
James Bennet, Editor-in-Chief
Bob Cohn, Editor, Atlantic Digital
Tablet Magazine
National Geographic
Chris Johns, Editor-in-Chief
Lisa Lytton, Director, Digital Editions
May, November and December iPad Editions
Multimedia
National Geographic
Chris Johns, Editor in Chief
“Cheetahs on the Edge,” November iPad Edition
Video
Mother Jones
Monika Bauerlein and Clara Jeffery, Editors
David Corn, Washington Bureau Chief
James West, Producer
“Full Secret Video of Private Romney Fundraiser,” September 18
Public Interest
Texas Monthly
Jake Silverstein, Editor in Chief
“Mothers, Sisters, Daughters, Wives,” by Mimi Swartz
August
Reporting
GQ
Jim Nelson, Editor-in-Chief
“18 Tigers, 17 Lions, 8 Bears, 3 Cougars, 2 Wolves, 1 Baboon, 1 Macaque and 1 Man Dead in Ohio,” by Chris Heath
March
Feature Writing Incorporating Profile Writing
Texas Monthly
Jake Silverstein, Editor in Chief
“The Innocent Man: Part I,” November, and “The Innocent Man: Part II,” December, by Pamela Colloff
Essays and Criticism
The Atlantic
James Bennet, Editor-in-Chief
Scott Stossel, Editor
“Fear of a Black President,” by Ta-Nehisi Coates
September
Columns and Commentary
Slate
David Plotz, Editor-in-Chief
Three columns by Dahlia Lithwick: "It's Not About the Law, Stupid," March 22; "The Supreme Court's Dark Vision of Freedom," March 27; and "Where Is the Liberal Outrage?" July 6
Fiction
Harper’s Magazine
Ellen Rosenbush, Editor
“Batman and Robin Have an Altercation,” by Stephen King
September