NEW YORK — The American Society of Magazine Editors (ASME) announced winners for the 2020 National Magazine Awards for Print and Digital Media last week held in a virtual event. ASME President Jonathan Dorn opened the 55th annual presentation of the Ellie Awards, which was postponed due to COVID-19 concerns.
Winners receive “Ellies,” the elephant-shaped statuettes modeled on Alexander Calder’s stabile “Elephant Walking” that give the awards their name.
The New York Times Magazine took top honors this year, with five category wins including: Podcasting (first-time winner), Reporting, Feature Writing and Public Interest. The magazine received its first award for General Excellence, and its 11th award overall in the last four years. Three of the awards—General Excellence, Public Interest and Podcasting—recognize The 1619 Project.
National Geographic and Bon Appétit each won four awards. National Geographic had first-time wins in Feature Photography and Social Media. Bon Appétit was a first-time winner in Leisure Interests, Video (with Condé Nast Entertainment) and Design.
The most prestigious honor, General Excellence, went to four publications. 2020 winners are:
General Excellence, News, Sports and Entertainment
The New York Times Magazine
Jake Silverstein, Editor in Chief
General Excellence, Service and Lifestyle
Bon Appétit
Adam Rapoport, Editor in Chief
General Excellence, Special Interest
The Hollywood Reporter
Matthew Belloni, Editorial Director
General Excellence, Literature, Science and Politics
Quanta
Thomas Lin, Editor in Chief
The Marshall Project won two awards, Digital Innovation and its second consecutive award in the Website category.
The Washington Post Magazine’s first nomination resulted in a first award in any category with a win in Single-Topic Issue. Quanta and Catapult were also first-time nominees and winners in General Excellence and Columns and Commentary, respectively.
Pamela Colloff won her second National Magazine Award in Reporting for “False Witness;” she won previously in Feature Writing. Emily Kassie also won her second award for “Detained” in Digital Innovation.
The Magazine Editors’ Hall of Fame Award was presented by journalist Tom Junod to David Granger, former editor-in-chief of Esquire magazine.
The digital event also included the presentation of the 2020 ASME Award for Fiction to The Paris Review, as well as honors for the five winners of the 2020 ASME Next Awards for Journalists Under 30.
“This year’s winners reflect our continually changing industry, and represent the highest-quality content being produced,” said Sid Holt, executive director of ASME. “We congratulate all the winners, and finalists, and look forward to reading, watching and hearing what all the honorees will create in the coming year.”
Established in 1966, the National Magazine Awards for Print and Digital Media are sponsored by the American Society of Magazine Editors in association with the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and are administered by ASME. Originally limited to print magazines, the awards now recognize magazine-quality journalism published in any medium.
Two hundred forty-five national and regional publications entered the Ellie Awards this year, submitting 590 print, 531 digital and 133 multiplatform entries.
The 281 print- and digital-magazine editors, art directors, photo editors and journalism educators who judged the Ellies this year met in mid-January at the Columbia School of Journalism in New York City to choose the 2020 finalists.
2020 National Magazine Awards Winners
General Excellence, News, Sports and Entertainment
The New York Times Magazine
Jake Silverstein, Editor in Chief
April 7, August 11 and August 18
nytimes.com/magazine
General Excellence, Service and Lifestyle
Bon Appétit
Adam Rapoport, Editor in Chief
April, May and September
bonappetit.com, bonappetit.com/basically and bonappetit.com/healthyish
General Excellence, Special Interest
The Hollywood Reporter
Matthew Belloni, Editorial Director
February 20, April 11 and December 19
hollywoodreporter.com
General Excellence, Literature, Science and Politics
Quanta
Thomas Lin, Editor in Chief
quantamagazine.org
Design
Bon Appétit
Adam Rapoport, Editor in Chief
Michele Outland, Creative Director
May, September and October
bonappetit.com, bonappetit.com/basically and bonappetit.com/healthyish
Photography
National Geographic
Susan Goldberg, Editor in Chief
April, June and September
nationalgeographic.com/magazine
Feature Design
National Geographic
Susan Goldberg, Editor in Chief
“Countdown to a New Era in Space”
July
Feature Photography
National Geographic
Susan Goldberg, Editor in Chief
“The Immortal Corpse,” photographs by Lynn Johnson
January
Website
The Marshall Project
Susan Chira, Editor in Chief
themarshallproject.org
Digital Innovation
The Marshall Project in partnership with The Guardian
Susan Chira, Editor in Chief, The Marshall Project
“Detained,” by Emily Kassie
September 24 at themarshallproject.org
Social Media
National Geographic
Susan Goldberg, Editor in Chief
“Wildlife Tourism”
@natgeo on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter
@nationalgeographic on Reddit
National Geographic Society on LinkedIn
Podcasting
The New York Times Magazine
Jake Silverstein, Editor in Chief
Three episodes of “1619,” hosted by Nikole Hannah-Jones: “The Fight for a True Democracy,” August 23, “The Economy That Slavery Built,” August 30, and “The Birth of American Music,” September 6
Video
Bon Appétit with Condé Nast Entertainment
Adam Rapoport, Editor in Chief, Bon Appétit
Matthew Duckor, Vice President, Head of Programming, Lifestyle and Style, Condé Nast Entertainment
Three episodes of “Gourmet Makes” with Claire Saffitz: “Pastry Chef Attempts to Make Gourmet Ferrero Rocher,” February 12, “Pastry Chef Attempts to Make Gourmet Hot Pockets,” September 25, and “Pastry Chef Attempts to Make Gourmet Ruffles,” October 22
Single-Topic Issue
The Washington Post Magazine
Richard Just, Editor
“Prison”
October 28 at washingtonpost.com and November 3 in print
Personal Service
Audubon
Jennifer Bogo, Vice President, Content
“Start Here! Your Guide to Climate Action,” reporting and editing by Andrew Del-Colle, Breanna Draxler, Kevin Dupzyk, Rene Ebersole, Martha Harbison, Janet Marinelli, Andy McGlashen, and Hannah Waters
At audubon.org and in the Fall print issue
Leisure Interests
Bon Appétit
Adam Rapoport, Editor in Chief
“Absolutely Perfect,” by Alex Beggs, November
“Making Perfect: Thanksgiving” at youtube.com/bonappetit
Reporting
The New York Times Magazine in partnership with ProPublica
Jake Silverstein, Editor in Chief, The New York Times Magazine
Stephen Engelberg, Editor in Chief, ProPublica
“False Witness,” by Pamela Colloff
December 8
Feature Writing
Jake Silverstein, Editor in Chief
“The Schoolteacher and the Genocide,” by Sarah A. Topol
August 11
Profile Writing
The Georgia Review
Gerald Maa, Editor
“Jerry’s Dirt,” by Jacob Baynham
Fall
Essays and Criticism
Poetry
Don Share, Editor
“Tactile Art,” by John Lee Clark
October
Columns and Commentary
Catapult
Nicole Chung, Editor in Chief
Three “An Unquiet Mind” columns by s.e. smith: “When Disability Is a Toxic Legacy,” April 23, “The Ugly Beautiful and Other Failings of Disability Representation,” October 24, and “What We Don’t Talk About When We Talk About Mental Health and Medication,” November 26
Public Interest
The New York Times Magazine
Jake Silverstein, Editor in Chief
“The 1619 Project,” August 14 online at nytimes.com/magazine and August 18 in print
ASME Award for Fiction
The Paris Review
Emily Nemens, Editor
“Under the Ackee Tree,” by Jonathan Escoffery, Summer; “Foxes,” Kimberly King Parsons, Summer; and “Howl Palace,” by Leigh Newman, Fall
ASME NEXT Awards for Journalists Under 30
Tyler Foggatt, Associate Editor, The New Yorker
Nominated by Susan Morrison, Articles Editor, The New Yorker
Jazmine Hughes, Staff Editor, The New York Times Magazine
Nominated by Jake Silverstein, Editor in Chief, The New York Times Magazine
Miles Kohrman, Special Projects Editor, The Trace
Nominated by Tali Woodward, Deputy Editor, The Trace
Natalie Krebs, Senior Editor, Outdoor Life and Field & Stream
Nominated by Alex Robinson, Editor in Chief, Outdoor Life
Nominated by Brooke Unger, Americas Editor, The Economist
Magazine Editors’ Hall of Fame
The Magazine Editors’ Hall of Fame was established in 1995 by the American Society of Magazine Editors to recognize the editorial achievements and career accomplishments of leading journalists.
Magazine Editors’ Hall of Fame 2020 Honoree
David Granger
Award presented by Tom Junod
