Ellie Awards 2018 Winners and Finalists

General Excellence

News, Sports and Entertainment
Honors publications covering politics, business and technology as well as culture and society

Winner: The New Yorker

Award Citation: Breaking some of the biggest stories of the year both online and in print, The New Yorker continued to shape not just the conversation but the culture.

Finalists: The Atlantic; The California Sunday Magazine; National Geographic; New York

Service and Lifestyle
Honors publications covering food, travel and design as well as fashion and beauty

Winner: T, The New York Times Style Magazine

Award Citation: Whether exploring exquisite spaces or clandestine destinations, T, The New York Times Style Magazine offered an immersive, sometimes rebellious vision of beauty.

Finalists: Bon Appétit; Eater; Saveur; Teen Vogue

Special Interest
Honors publications serving highly defined reader communities, including active-interest publications as well as city and regional magazines

Winner: San Francisco

Award Citation: With its large format, lush photography, bold design and ambitious journalism, San Francisco both served and challenged its readers.

Finalists: Bicycling; Inc.; Outside; Texas Monthly

Literature, Science and Politics
Honors smaller-circulation general-interest magazines as well as publications covering media and the arts

Winner: Aperture

Award Citation: Each specially themed issue of Aperture demonstrated the important role the magazine plays as an advocate for contemporary photography.

Finalists: The Marshall Project; Oxford American; Popular Science; Virginia Quarterly Review

Design
Honors overall excellence in magazine design

Winner: GQ

Award Citation: Always fresh, consistently innovative, GQ continued to deliver a unique combination of spectacular typography, lively photography and exciting design.

Finalists: Bon Appétit; ESPN The Magazine; Men’s Health; Wired

Photography
Honors overall excellence in magazine photography

Winner: W

Award Citation: With its inventive and unexpected approach to photography, W challenged the way we see and experience popular culture.

Finalists: GQ Style; National Geographic; New York; Virginia Quarterly Review

Feature Photography
Honors the use of photography in a feature story, photo-essay or photo portfolio

Winner: The New Yorker for “Faces of an Epidemic,” photographs by Philip Montgomery, October 30 at newyorker.com

Award Citation: With images cinematic in their intensity, The New Yorker created a wrenching visual narrative depicting an American community devastated by the opioid crisis.

Finalists: The New Republic for “Charlottesville’s Faces of Hate,” photographs by Mark Peterson, August 14 at newrepublic.com; New York for “The 43-Day Fashion Shoot,” photographs by Holly Andres, August 20 at thecut.com; TIME for “Death Reigns on the Streets of Duterte’s Philippines,” photographs by James Nachtwey, January 16; Vogue for “American Women,” photographs by Lynsey Addario, Evgenia Arbugaeva, Daniel Arnold, Jonas Bendiksen, Cass Bird, Charlie Engman, Alex Majoli, Bella Newman, Jackie Nickerson, Benjamin Rasmussen, Stefan Ruiz, Alessandra Sanguinetti, Lorna Simpson, Deanna and Ed Templeton and Mayan Toledano, March 8 at vogue.com

Magazine Section
Honors the editorial direction of print or digital departments or sections

Winner: New York for “The Strategist”

Award Citation: The Strategist is an elegantly orchestrated, relentlessly clever celebration of New York City’s material world. This is truly inspired magazine making.

Finalists: Backpacker for “The Play List”; Bon Appétit for “Starters”; Martha Stewart Weddings for “Planner”; New York for “The Culture Pages”

Personal Service
Honors magazine journalism that serves readers’ needs and aspirations

Winner: Cosmopolitan for “How to Run for Office,” by Laura Brounstein, Meredith Bryan and Jessica Goodman for Cosmopolitan and Amy Odell, Lori Fradkin and Emma Barker for cosmopolitan.com, November print issue and October 10 at cosmopolitan.com

Award Citation: With advice and encouragement from women on both sides of the political divide, this timely call-to-action galvanized readers into taking control of their electoral future.

Finalists: Consumer Reports for “Too Many Meds? America’s Love Affair With Prescription Medication,” by Teresa Carr, “How to Get Off Prescription Drugs,” by Teresa Carr and Ginger Skinner, "Give Your Drugs a Checkup: Reviewing Your Medication List Can Prevent Errors," by Teresa Carr, “From Pill Organizers to Apps, How to Manage Your Meds," by Ginger Skinner, and “12 Times to Try Lifestyle Changes Before Medication,” by Teresa Carr and Ginger Skinner, August 3 at consumerreports.org; Grist for “Ask Umbra's 21-Day Apathy Detox,” by Eve Andrews, Amelia Bates, Vishakha Darbha, Amy McDermott, Daniel Penner, Darby Minow Smith and Kate Yoder, April 17 at grist.org; Seventeen for “This Is a Story About Suicide,” by Andrea Stanley, November/December; Women’s Health for “Wakey Wakey!,” article by Malia Jacobson, December print issue, “Sleep Center" package, December 11 at womenshealthmag.com, and “Wakey Wakey!” video, December 11 at facebook.com/womenshealthmagazine

Leisure Interests
Honors magazine journalism that provides practical information about recreational activities and special interests

Winner: Texas Monthly for “The Golden Age of BBQ,” by Daniel Vaughn and Patricia Sharpe, June

Award Citation: Texas Monthly’s exhaustive research, transparent methodology, sharp writing and mouth-watering photography delighted casual and serious char-broiled foodies alike.

Finalists: 5280 for “The 5280 Guide to Four Corners,” by Kasey Cordell, September; Bicycling for “How Cycling Works,” October; Bon Appétit for “A Simple Roast Chicken,” by Amiel Stanek, October; New York for “The Encyclopedia of Vegan Food,” by Robin Raisfeld and Rob Patronite, November 13-26

Single-Topic Issue
Honors print magazines that have devoted a single issue to the comprehensive examination of one subject

Winner: National Geographic for “Gender Revolution,” January

Award Citation: Balancing empathy with hard data, National Geographic’s “Gender Revolution” was the definitive examination of a complex and still controversial subject.

Finalists: The California Sunday Magazine for “A Teenage Life,” December 3; Columbia Journalism Review for “The Trump Issue,” Fall; New York for “My New York,” October 16-29; The New York Times Magazine for “The New York Issue,” June 4

Website
Honors magazine websites and online-only magazines

Winner: New York

Award Citation: New York’s innovative verticals offer daily coverage that is newsy, voicey, comprehensive and fun. This is one of the liveliest magazine experiences on the web.

Finalists: The Marshall Project; National Geographic; Pitchfork; Vogue

Social Media
Honors overall excellence in the use of social media by magazine websites and digital-only magazines

Winner: SELF

Award Citation: Each platform was used to best effect, but it was inclusivity, diversity and a commitment to portraying real women’s lived experiences that drove SELF’s social media strategy.

Finalists: Mother Jones; The New Yorker; Seventeen; TIME

Video
Honors the outstanding use of video in magazine media

Winner: TIME and Mic for “Life After Addiction,” video by Aja Harris and Paul Moakley, November 8 at time.com

Award Citation: Tightly edited and visually compelling, this multilayered narrative of physical and emotional addiction provided hope for those setting out on the hard road to recovery.

Finalists: The Atlantic for “What Will Happen to Undocumented Doctors?,” video by Jeremy Raff, February 2; The New Yorker for “A Fever Dream at Beautycon,” video by Tim Hussin, September 18; The Outline for “The Republican Who Quit the Party Because of Trump,” March 22; Vogue for “We Are All Fabulous . . . ,” video by Oliver Hadlee Pearch, February 24, “Paris, Je T’aime,” video by Gordon von Steiner, July 20, and “Workin’ 9 to 5 . . . Inside the Vogue Office!,” video by Charlotte Wales, September 25

Digital Innovation
Honors the outstanding use of digital media by magazine websites and digital-only magazines

Winner: SB Nation for “17776: An American Football Story,” by Jon Bois, July 5

Award Citation: The judges called this an extraordinary combination of art, fiction and technology, an online acid trip that had to be experienced to be believed.

Finalists: HuffPost Highline for “FML,” by Michael Hobbes, December 14; The Marshall Project with Condé Nast Entertainment and Participant Media for “We Are Witnesses,” by Jenny Carchman, October 26 at themarshallproject.org/witnesses; National Geographic Traveler for “North: An Illustrated Travelogue,” by Christoph Niemann, April 4; TIME for “Finding Home: 3 Babies, 3 Families, 1 Year,” photographs by Lynsey Addario, reporting by Aryn Baker, video by Francesca Trianni, December 18

Reporting
Honors reporting excellence as exemplified by one article or a series of articles

Winner: The New York Times Magazine for “The Uncounted,” by Azmat Khan and Anand Gopal, November 19

Award Citation: Meticulously reported and movingly told, this investigation of the U.S.-led campaign against the Islamic State found that far more civilians had been killed by airstrikes than the Pentagon would acknowledge. The judges deemed this a stunning and important work of journalism.

Finalists: The California Sunday Magazine with the Investigative Fund for “Below Deck,” by Lizzie Presser, February 5; ESPN The Magazine for “Sin City or Bust,” April 24, “Standing Down,” November 13, and “Roger Goodell Has a Jerry Jones Problem,” December 4, by Don Van Natta Jr. and Seth Wickersham; Harper’s Magazine with the Investigative Fund for “Ghost Nation,” by Nick Turse, July; National Geographic and ProPublica for “How the U.S. Triggered a Massacre in Mexico,” by Ginger Thompson, June 12 at nationalgeographic.com/magazine; The New York Times Magazine with ProPublica for “Kushnerville,” by Alec MacGillis, May 28; The New Yorker for “On the Brink,” by Evan Osnos, September 18

Feature Writing
Honors original, stylish storytelling

Winner: GQ for “A Most American Terrorist: The Making of Dylann Roof,” by Rachel Kaadzi Ghansah, September

Award Citation: Rachel Kaadzi Ghansah’s reporting on the culture of white supremacy that shaped Dylann Roof was emotionally, morally and even physically brave, while her writing was bracing, startling and brilliantly structured.

Finalists: The Atlantic for “My President Was Black,” by Ta-Nehisi Coates, January/February; The Atlantic for “A Death at Penn State,” by Caitlin Flanagan, November; The New York Times Magazine for “The Mailroom,” by Jeanne Marie Laskas, January 22; TMC Pulse for “Alan Dickson's Final Days,” by Alexandra Becker, July; Virginia Quarterly Review for “The Useful Village,” by Ben Mauk, Spring; Wired with Epic Magazine, “Love in the Time of Robots,” by Alex Mar, November

Essays and Criticism
Honors interpretative and critical journalism

Winner: The Atlantic for “Lola’s Story,” by Alex Tizon, June

Award Citation: Combining personal confession with unflinching reporting, the late Alex Tizon’s essay—one of the most widely read pieces in the history of The Atlantic—movingly explored issues of race, colonialism, immigration and, ultimately, human freedom.

Finalists: ELLE for “Her Eyes Were Watching the Stars,” by Rachel Kaadzi Ghansah, June; New York for “The Uninhabitable Earth,” by David Wallace-Wells, July 10-23; The New Yorker for “Losing Streak,” by Kathryn Schulz, February 13 and 20; Smithsonian for “What Ever Happened to the Russian Revolution?” by Ian Frazier, October

Columns and Commentary
Honors political and social commentary; news analysis; and reviews and criticism

Winner: New York for three columns by Rebecca Traister: “Why the Harvey Weinstein Sexual-Harassment Allegations Didn’t Come Out Until Now,” October 5, “Your Reckoning. And Mine.,” November 12, and “This Moment Isn’t (Just) About Sex. It’s Really About Work,” December 10, at thecut.com

Award Citation: In a year when issues of gender and sexuality dominated the national conversation, no one shaped that exchange more than Rebecca Traister. Her wise and provocative columns helped make sense of a cultural transformation.

Finalists: BuzzFeed News for three columns by Bim Adewunmi: “How the Oscar Flub Demonstrates the Limits of Black Graciousness,” March 1, “How Oprah Got Her Acting Groove Back,” April 10, and “Maria Sharapova's Rivalry With Serena Williams Is in Her Head,” September 9; ESPN The Magazine for three columns by Howard Bryant: “The Williams Movement,” February 27, “Power Play,” April 24, and “How Is This Still a Debate?” December 4; Longreads for three columns by Laurie Penny: “The Horizon of Desire” October 10, “We’re All Mad Here: Weinstein, Women, and the Language of Lunacy,” October 23, and “The Unforgiving Minute,” November 7; Pitchfork for three columns by Jayson Greene: “Is Rihanna the Most Influential Pop Singer of the Past Decade?” April 5, “Can Music Heal Trauma? Exploring the Therapeutic Powers of Sound,” September 20, and “Do Androids Dream of Electric Guitars? Exploring the Future of Musical A.I.,” June 12

Public Interest
Honors magazine journalism that illuminates issues of national importance

Winner: The New Yorker for “Abuses of Power,” October 23 print issue, “Weighing the Costs of Speaking Out About Harvey Weinstein,” October 27 at newyorker.com, and “Harvey Weinstein’s Army of Spies,” November 6 at newyorker.com, by Ronan Farrow

Award Citation: Ronan Farrow’s reporting helped spark the national discussion about gender and power. Farrow gave Harvey Weinstein’s accusers room to tell their stories, confirming jaw-dropping details about the machinery Weinstein used to silence his victims.

Finalists: Harper’s Magazine for “Where Health Care Won’t Go,” by Helen Ouyang, June; The New Yorker for “The Takeover,” by Rachel Aviv, October 9; ProPublica and NPR for “The Last Person You’d Expect to Die in Childbirth,” by Nina Martin, ProPublica, and Renee Montagne, NPR, May 12, “Lost Mothers,” by Nina Martin, Emma Cillekens and Alessandra Freitas, July 17, and “Nothing Protects Black Women From Dying in Pregnancy and Childbirth,” by Nina Martin, ProPublica, and Renee Montagne, NPR, December 7, at propublica.org; Vanity Fair for “The 5^th Risk,” September, and “Made in the U.S.D.A.,” December, by Michael Lewis

All publication dates 2017 unless otherwise indicated

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