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The American Society of Magazine Editors today announced its finalists for the 2014 National Magazine Awards, or Ellies. Los Angeles Magazine makes a return appearance on the list, but I think it's a first for both Pacific Standard and the Hollywood Reporter — both of them are nominated for general excellence. This perhaps bears repeating: The Hollywood Reporter is up for a general excellence award in the most prestigious magazine competition in the country. So is Pacific Standard, the fairly recent Santa Barbara startup formerly known as Miller-McCune.
THR is in the same category with Los Angeles.
The list:
General ExcellenceGeneral Interest Magazines
Honors magazines covering politics, business, technology, sports and entertainmentGQ; Harper’s Magazine; National Geographic; New York; Wired
Service and Lifestyle Magazines
Honors magazines covering family, the home, food, fashion and relationshipsESSENCE; Glamour; Martha Stewart Living; Real Simple; Sunset
Style and Design Magazines
Honors magazines covering fashion, decorating, dining, entertaining and travelAFAR; Bon Appétit; Garden & Gun; Harper’s Bazaar; W
Active Interest Magazines
Honors magazines covering active sports, outdoor recreation and health and fitnessField & Stream; Men’s Journal; Outside; Runner’s World; Women’s Health
Special Interest Magazines
Honors magazines serving highly defined reader communitiesThe Hollywood Reporter; Inc.; Landscape Architecture; Los Angeles; Modern Farmer
Literature, Science and Politics Magazines
Honors smaller-circulation general-interest magazines as well as publications covering the artsThe American Scholar; MIT Technology Review; Mother Jones; Pacific Standard; Poetry
Design
Honors overall excellence in print magazine designBon Appétit; Esquire; Martha Stewart Living; New York; Wired
Photography
Honors overall excellence in print magazine photographyBon Appétit; National Geographic; New York; Vogue; W
Single-Topic Issue
Honors print magazines that have devoted a single issue to the comprehensive examination of one subjectBloomberg Businessweek for “Five Years From the Brink,” September 16-22
Esquire for “The American Man Now: Esquire’s 80th Anniversary Issue,” October
New York for “His Town,” September 16
Poetry for “Landays,” June
Scientific American for “The Food Issue,” SeptemberMagazine Section
Honors front- or back-of-the-book departments or sections regularly published in printGQ for “Manual”
Modern Farmer for “Modern Farmer Handbook”
New York for “Strategist”
Road & Track for “Go”
Vanity Fair for “Fanfair”Personal Service
Honors the use of print to serve readers’ needs and aspirationsCosmopolitan for “Your Cosmo Guide to Contraception,” September
GQ for “GQ’s Guide to Dating Online,” March
Health for “Are You Getting a Good Skin Check? Are You Sure?” by Sunny Sea Gold, September
Los Angeles for “How to Afford the LA Life,” April
Money for “The Massachusetts Experiment,” June; “Worker, Heal Thyself,” August; and “Obamacare: Game (Really) On,” October, by Amanda Gengler
Money for “101 Ways to Build Wealth,” May
Southern Living for “30 Secrets to Southern Charm,” by Caroline McKenzie, MarchLeisure Interests
Honors the use of print to provide practical information about recreational activities and special interestsBackpacker for “The Truth About Bears,” by Ted Alvarez, March
Backpacker for “A Is for Apocalypse,” October
ESPN The Magazine for “Analytics Package,” March 4
Garden & Gun for “The Southerner’s Handbook,” February/March
O, The Oprah Magazine for “Hair Extravaganza!” September
Texas Monthly for “The 50 Best BBQ Joints . . . in the World!” June
Wired for “Crazy Good! Locos Tacos, Umami Burgers, Fake Meat, and the Miracle of Processed Food,” OctoberWebsite
Honors magazine websites and digital-only magazinesNational Geographic; New York; Outside; Pitchfork; Slate
Tablet Magazine
Honors magazines published on tablets and e-readers, including digital-only magazinesBloomberg Businessweek; Bon Appétit; Garden & Gun; National Geographic; Wired
Multimedia
Honors digital storytelling and the integration of magazine mediaThe Atavist for “Coronado High,” by Joshuah Bearman, July, at atavist.com
The Daily Beast for “Roe v. Wade Turns 40,” January 22, at thedailybeast.com
National Geographic for “The Last Chase,” by Robert Draper, November print issue and iPad edition
The New York Times Magazine for “A Game of Shark and Minnow,” by Jeff Himmelman, photographs by Ashley Gilbertson, October 27 print issue and at nytimes.com
Wired for “Vision Quest,” by Clive Thompson, September print issue and at wired.comVideo
Honors the outstanding use of video by magazine websites and digital-only magazinesThe Atavist for “The Last Clinic,” by Maisie Crow, essay by Alissa Quart
Glamour for “Confronting Cancer: BRCA1 & BRCA2 Gene Mutations,” October 9, “Recovery: Meds. And Love,” October 23, and “Life Post-Surgery: Back on Stage,” October 30, from the “Screw You Cancer” series
Prevention for “The Remarkable Story of Ernestine Shepherd”
Vanity Fair for “Film Snob: The History of American International Pictures,” July 9, “Rock Snob: Robot-Rock Originators Kraftwerk,” October 28, and “Food Snob: Thanksgiving and the Heritage Turkey,” November 11, from “The Snob’s Dictionary” series
The Verge for “Beyond Recognition: The Incredible Story of a Face Transplant,” June 4Public Interest
Honors magazine journalism that illuminates issues of national importanceThe Atlantic for “How Long Can You Wait to Have a Baby?” by Jean M. Twenge, photographs by Geof Kern, July/August
Fortune for “Dirty Medicine,” May 15, “Maker of Generic Lipitor Pleads Guilty to Selling ‘Adulterated Drugs,’” May 13, and “The Latest to Claim Fraud at Generic Lipitor Maker Ranbaxy: Its Owners,” May 23, by Katherine Eban
National Geographic for “Last Song,” by Jonathan Franzen, photographs by David Guttenfelder, July
The New Yorker for “Taken,” by Sarah Stillman, August 12 & 19
TIME for “Bitter Pill: Why Medical Bills Are Killing Us,” by Steven Brill, March 4Reporting
Honors reporting excellence as exemplified by one article or a series of articlesThe Atavist for “The Sinking of the Bounty,” by Matthew Shaer, February
Harper’s Magazine for “The Way of All Flesh,” by Ted Conover, May
The New York Times Magazine for “The Dream Boat,” by Luke Mogelson, photographs by Joel Van Houdt, November 17
The New Yorker for “The River Martyrs,” by Luke Mogelson, April 29
Outside for “Nineteen,” by Kyle Dickman, November
Rolling Stone for “Jahar’s World,” by Janet Reitman, August 1
The Texas Observer for a two-part series by Emily DePrang: “Crimes Unpunished,” July, and “The Horror Every Day,” SeptemberFeature Writing
Honors original, stylish storytellingESPN The Magazine for “Michael Jordan Has Not Left the Building,” by Wright Thompson, March 4
New York for “Orders of Grief,” by Lisa Miller, November 11
The New York Times Magazine for “The Misfits,” by Stephen Rodrick, January 13
The New Yorker for “A Loaded Gun,” by Patrick Radden Keefe, February 11 & 18
Runner’s World for “Bret, Unbroken,” by Steve Friedman, June
Vanity Fair for “The Day Before,” by David Kamp, December
Wired for “Dangerous,” by Joshua Davis, JanuaryFeature Photography
Honors the use of original photography in a feature story, photo-essay or photo portfolioThe FADER for “Chicago Fire,” photographs by Daniel Shea, April/May
New York for “Candy Land,” photographs by Will Cotton, February 18-25
Vice for “Deep-Fried America on a Stick,” by Sophie D. Gilden, photographs by Bruce Gilden, November
Virginia Quarterly Review for “Life on the River Gambia,” photographs by Jason Florio, Spring
W for “Stranger Than Paradise,” photographs by Tim Walker, MayEssays and Criticism
Honors interpretative and critical journalismThe Believer for “If He Hollers Let Him Go,” by Rachel Kaadzi Ghansah, October
GQ for “The Old Man at Burning Man,” by Wells Tower, February
Harper’s Magazine for “Sliver of Sky,” by Barry Lopez, January
Harper’s Magazine for “Life as a Terrorist,” by William T. Vollmann, September
The New Yorker for “Thanksgiving in Mongolia,” by Ariel Levy, November 18Columns and Commentary
Honors political and social commentary; news analysis; and reviews and criticismArchitect for three columns by Witold Rybczynski: “Overexposed,” April; “Radical Revival,” August; and “Behind the Façade,” November
The Atlantic for blog posts by Ta-Nehisi Coates
The New Yorker for three columns by Emily Nussbaum: “Shark Week,” February 25; “Difficult Women,” July 29; and “Private Practice,” October 7
Slate for three columns by David Auerbach: “Err Engine Down,” October 8; “Quixotic Queries Question Quality!” October 12; and “Debugging the Healthcare.gov Hearings,” October 25
Tablet Magazine for three columns by J. Hoberman: “Living the Nightmare of Mass Murder in Oscar-Nominated Doc 'The Act of Killing,’” July 17; “Hannah Arendt, Guilty Pleasure,” May 24; and “Coen Bros. Torture Another Schlemiel While Imagining They Are Dylan’s True Heirs,” November 21Fiction
Honors fiction originally published in magazinesMcSweeney’s for “The Dance Contest,” by Wells Tower, September
The New Republic for “I Am Asleep But My Heart Is Awake,” by Nicole Krauss, December 30, 2013 & January 6, 2014
The New Yorker for “The Embassy of Cambodia,” by Zadie Smith, February 11 & 18Magazine of the Year
Honors magazines for print and digital editorial excellence and the success of out-of-book programs and servicesThe Atlantic; Bon Appétit; Esquire; Fast Company; New York
