Magazines Make Me Happy

Because I still daydream about working at a magazine some day, I try to stay on top of the industry news. And this morning, I was excited to read all about the 2006 National Magazine Awards--the Oscars of the magazine world--held last night at a fancy shmancy black-tie gala at Lincoln Center.

I'm not really suprised by any of the winners. I was really pulling for Runner's World to win the Gen. Excellence category (Esquire got the prize in that category). The editor there has done amazing things to revamp the magazine, although I've heard that it has become too "general interest" for true runner geeks. Whatever--I'd work there (which would include a move to PA, where they are based) any day!

I think it's a bit of a surprise that Backpacker (a Rodale mag, like Runner's World) won for best Magazine section, beating out heavy hitters like Condé Nast Traveler, Entertainment Weekly, Men’s Health, and New York Magazine. Also two awards for, Virginia Quarterly Review, which I think was given out to us a few times at Hopkins, has to be a big deal. But then again, they had a bunch of nominations, so maybe it isn't.

Here are the winners:

Time for General Excellence (over 2,000,000 circulation)
ESPN The Magazine for General Excellence (1,000,000 to 2,000,000 circulation)
Esquire for General Excellence (500,000 to 1,000,000 circulation)
New York Magazine for General Excellence (250,000 to 500,000 circulation)
Harper’s Magazine for General Excellence (100,000 to 250,000 circulation)
Virginia Quarterly Review for General Excellence (under 100,000 circulation)
Self for Personal Service
Golf for Leisure Interests
Rolling Stone for Reporting
The New Yorker for Public Interest
The American Scholar for Feature Writing
Esquire for Profile Writing
Vanity Fair for Essays
The New Yorker for Columns and CommentaryHarper’s Magazine for Reviews and Criticism
Backpacker for Magazine Section
Time for Single-topic Issue
New York Magazine for Design
W for Photography
Rolling Stone for Photo Portfolio/Photo Essay
Virginia Quarterly Review for Fiction
National Geographic Online for General Excellence Online