This collection of stories and poems represents the best magazine journalism published in the United States in 2013. “Represents” because no single volume could contain every example of the often astonishing reporting and writing that appears every quarter, every month, every week, and now every day in American print and digital magazines. These stories appear here not as they were originally published—festooned with illustrations and photographs—but in simple black type. Yet these words have the power to remind us, as Mark Jannot explains in his introduction to this anthology, just how important magazine journalism remains to millions of readers.
“Remains” because many believe magazines are dying, even though the number of Americans who read magazines continues to grow—not necessarily in print, of course. Instead, many of us now read magazines on variously sized screens (no one could have imagined when the National Magazine Awards were founded in the mid-1960s that one day prizes for Multimedia and Video would be presented alongside awards for such magazine staples as reporting and service). Because the truth is, magazines are not dying. Yes, the business of magazines is changing, as it has changed before (before the Internet, there was television), but despite uncertain times, magazine journalism is thriving.
Wherefore this cockeyed optimism? The work collected here answers the question. Americans’ growing thirst for magazine storytelling is evidenced by the steady popularity of titles such as The New Yorker and The Atlantic (in both print and digital incarnations) and the emergence of magazines like The Atavist, a digital publication dedicated solely to literary journalism. The stories collected here from these and other titles—Esquire, Rolling Stone, Time—attest to the enduring strength of what we now call magazine media (the media being print, Web, tablet, smart-phone, and, a world of its own, social). Far from dying, magazines continue to shape our conversations both public and personal—just check your Twitter feed.
The stories in Best American Magazine Writing are drawn from publications nominated for National Magazine Awards—yet another reason this anthology can only be said to represent the best of magazine journalism. Hundreds of magazines enter the awards every year; hundreds more do not (the competition is fierce). Only a few dozen are nominated; still fewer win.
This year only seventeen publications received National Magazine Awards. Most of those magazines are represented (there’s that word again) in this anthology. Others such as Glamour, National Geographic, and W won awards for work—websites, tablets, video series, entire print issues—uncontainable between the covers of any book. To find that work, you can visit the websites or download the apps listed with the rest of the winners and finalists at http://www.magazine.org/asme/national-magazine-awards and on the Wikipedia entry for the National Magazine Awards.
Those winners and finalists are chosen by judges—magazine journalists and educators—who gather in New York every spring to read thousands of entries. This year there were 333 judges and 1,586 entries submitted by 251 magazines in 24 categories. In some categories—General Excellence, Design, Photography, Magazine of the Year—the judges read entire print and digital issues of dozens of magazines. In other categories—such as Public Interest, Personal Service, Leisure Interests, Feature Writing—the judges read hundreds of stories, some as long as 30,000 words, all in the matter of a day or two, then pick the finalists and eventually the winners.
Then the judges go home—many live and work in New York, where many magazines are headquartered, but more than a quarter of the judges live and work elsewhere—only to return later in the spring for the presentation of the awards at a sometimes raucous dinner, which this year was hosted by Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski of MSNBC’s Morning Joe. The winners get copper statuettes modeled on Alexander Calder’s stabile Elephant. The finalists receive certificates of recognition. Everyone else gets a story to tell until the next deadline comes along.
Hundreds of people work on the National Magazine Awards in one way or another. The judges, of course, deserve our thanks not only for the days they spend sequestered in utterly charmless conference rooms reading and discussing magazines but also for the time they spend preparing for the judging (each judge is assigned several entries to read before they arrive). A list of the judges is posted at http://www.magazine.org/asme. But even before the judging begins, editors up and down mastheads, especially editorial assistants and assistant editors, devote hours to preparing their entries. For this they deserve our thanks as well.
The National Magazine Awards are overseen by the board of the directors of the American Society of Magazine Editors. Board members juggle their ever-growing responsibilities, managing the sprawling operations magazines have become, with planning and supervising the awards. Their dedication and impartiality ensure that a wide range of magazines, from large general interest magazines to less well known special interest titles, receive National Magazine Award honors. Each board member deserves our gratitude, but special recognition is due the irrepressible Lucy Schulte Danziger, who served as president of ASME the last two years.
The National Magazine Awards are sponsored by ASME in association with the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism. ASME is thankful for the support Columbia has given to the awards since their founding a half century ago. On behalf of ASME, I want to thank Steve Coll, the dean of the school and Henry R. Luce Professor, and Abi Wright, who not only worked on the administration of the awards but also served as a judge.
The members of ASME are thankful to our literary agent, David McCormick of McCormick & Williams, for his skillful representation of our interests. I especially want to thank the editors of this book at the Columbia University Press, Philip Leventhal and Michael Haskell, who are not only talented craftsmen and patient friends but together are a constant reminder that even editors need editors.
ASME also thanks our associates at MPA—the Association of Magazine Media, especially the president and CEO, Mary G. Berner. In addition, I want to thank Hendley Badcock, Patty Bogie, John DeFrancesco, Sarah Hansen, and Meredith Wagner, as well as the longtime producers of the National Magazine Awards annual dinner, Leane Romeo and Michael Scarna of the Overland Entertainment Company. And a very loud shout-out goes to Nina Fortuna, who makes sure ASME members and award judges have what they need before they know they need it.
I also want to acknowledge the work of Mark Jannot, vice president, content, of the National Audubon Society and the current president of ASME, who wrote the introduction to this year’s anthology. His steady leadership ensures the continuing success of the National Magazine Awards. And finally, on behalf of ASME, I want to thank the writers, editors, and magazines that permitted their stories and poems to be published in Best American Magazine Writing 2014. Their work guarantees the future of magazine media.