The National Magazine Awards are a series of American awards that honor excellence in the magazine industry. They are sponsored by the American Society of Magazine Editors and administered by the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in New York City, New York. The awards have been presented annually since 1966.
They are generally considered the highest award in the magazine industry; in the magazine world, they are roughly equivalent to the Pulitzer Prizes (which are far more widely known in the popular culture, but do not include a magazine category).
Recipients of awards are selected in a two-step procedure: First, entries are reviewed by a judging panel, which recommends a group of finalists; then, a second panel of judges chooses one winner in each category. Categories include:
- General Excellence
- Personal Service
- Leisure Interests
- Reporting
- Public Interest
- Feature Writing
- Profile Writing
- Essays
- Columns and Commentary
- Reviews and Criticism
- Magazine Section
- Single-Topic Issue
- Design
- Photography
- Photojournalism
- Photo Portfolio
- Fiction
- General Excellence Online
- Personal Service Online
- Interactive Feature
Winners in each of the categories are awarded an "Ellie", a copper-colored stabile sculpture by Alexander Calder, resembling an elephant, which is manufactured by New York firm Society Awards. The National Magazine Awards web site has a searchable database of all the winners and top-five finalists.
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—Anonymous, U.S. women’s magazine contributor. Weekly Visitor or Ladies Miscellany, p. 20 (April 1803)