New York magazine was named magazine of the year at the annual National Magazine Awards on Thursday night, taking home a prize only introduced in 2010 to honor brands that excel in both print and digital media.
It was one of two awards for New York, a perennial success at the National Magazine Awards, which are presented by the American Society of Magazine Editors in association with the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and are known as the Ellies for the Alexander Calder elephant sculptures that serve as trophies. New York, which earlier this week won Cover of the Year for its Hurricane Sandy cover, had been a finalist in seven categories including Magazine of the Year. Its other win was for best magazine section.
In the video category, Mother Jones won for "Full Secret Video of Private Romney Fundraiser," which damaged Mitt Romney's campaign for president by showing him telling donors that 47% of the people are "dependent upon government" and "believe that they are victims."
National Geographic won the most Ellie awards Thursday night, with four, including two for its iPad edition.
But another stalwart of the prizes, The New Yorker, went home with no wins despite five nominations. It had won at least one Ellie in 12 of the prior 13 years, including four wins for General Excellence in that span.
Thursday night's General Excellence awards went to Vogue, in the service and fashion category; Martha Stewart Living, for lifestyle; Outside, for special-interest magazines; The Paris Review, for literary, political and professional magazines; and National Geographic, for news, sports and entertainment.
Winners generally kept their acceptance speeches short, but still managed to work in some topical commentary.
"Martha would be here... But she's on a date," Martha Stewart Living Editor-in-Chief Pilar Guzman said as she accepted the general excellence award, referring to Ms. Stewart's widely-noted appearance on Match.com this week.
Howard Kurtz, who wrongly accused NBA player Jason Collins of not mentioning his earlier engagement to a woman when he came out this week, could have been saved from his mistake by magazine factcheckers, GQ Editor-in-Chief suggested when his magazine won in the reporting category.
Pitchfork, the music website, won an Ellie for general excellence in digital media. The site has drawn attention not just for its leading position in music coverage but for gorgeous design on certain features, like this one on Ariel Pink. Slate, another digital-only publication, won for columns and commentary after entering three columns by Dahlia Lithwick.
W magazine won in feature photography for "Good Kate, Bad Kate," a package on Kate Moss with photos by Steven Klein.
The night also included Creative Excellence Awards for Milton Glaser and Walter Bernard to honor their influence on magazine design.
