Winners of the 2021 National Magazine Awards

The American Society of Magazine Editors (ASME) announced winners for the 2021 National Magazine Awards for Print and Digital Media during a livestreamed presentation held Thursday, June 10.

The winners tackled the most pressing concerns of the year—Covid-19, environmental degradation, online privacy and the racial reckoning in America. Among the notable stories addressing these issues were Lawrence Wright’s definitive account of the nation’s response to Covid-19, “The Plague Year,” for The New Yorker; Mitchell S. Jackson’s wrenching depiction of the death of Ahmaud Arbery, “Twelve Minutes and a Life,” for Runner’s World; the causes of coastal erosion in “Hawaii’s Beaches Are Disappearing,” from Ash Ngu and Sophie Cocke for ProPublica and Honolulu Star-Advertiser; and Megan DiTrolio’s “Invasion of Privacy: Marie Clarie’s Guide to Protecting Yourself Online,” for Marie Claire….

The New Yorker led all finalists with a record-setting 14 nominations and won six awards, also a record. Other titles with multiple-award wins were ProPublica with five nominations and five wins, and Stranger’s Guide with two nominations and two wins.

This year’s awards were highlighted by the first-time presentation of the ASME Award for Coverage of Race in America. The recipient of the award was ProPublica for “How COVID-19 Hollowed Out a Generation of Young Black Men,” by Akilah Johnson and Nina Martin, and “Black Men Have the Shortest Lifespans of Any Americans. This Theory Helps Explain Why,” produced by Nadia Sussman and Joe Singer.

The most prestigious honor, General Excellence, went to four publications: The New Yorker, capturing its eighth award in this category; T: The New York Times Style Magazine, with its third award; Audubon, with its second award; and Stranger’s Guide, a first-time category winner.

The livestreamed event also included the presentation of the ASME Award for Fiction to Harper’s Magazine, as well as honors for the five winners of the 2021 ASME NEXT Awards for Journalists Under 30. Two hundred and thirty-one national and regional publications submitted entries this year including 440 print, 595 digital and 127 multiplatform. This year marks the first time digital entries surpassed print.

Winners receive “Ellies,” the elephant-shaped statuettes modeled on Alexander Calder’s stabile “Elephant Walking,” created in 1942, that give the awards their name.

General Excellence, News, Sports and Entertainment

• The New Yorker

General Excellence, Service and Lifestyle

• T: The New York Times Style Magazine

General Excellence, Special Interest

• Audubon

General Excellence, Literature, Science and Politics

• Stranger’s Guide

Design

• National Geographic

Photography

• Stranger’s Guide

Feature Design

• Vanity Fair for “Let the Great World Spin”

Feature Photography

• The New Yorker for “Whose Streets,” photographs by Isaac Scott

Digital Storytelling

• ProPublica and Honolulu Star-Advertiser for “Hawaii’s Beaches Are Disappearing,” by Ash Ngu, ProPublica, and Sophie Cocke, Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Social Media

• ProPublica for “Grace: A Failure in Michigan’s Juvenile Justice System”

Podcasting

• The Intercept, Invisible Institute and Topic Studios for three episodes of “Somebody,” hosted by Shapearl Wells: “Who Shot Courtney Copeland?,” “The Nurse” and “The Police”

Video

• The New Yorker for “Quiet No More,” directed by Eléonore Hamelin

Single-Topic Issue

• Bloomberg Businessweek for “The Lost Year”

Personal Service

• Marie Claire for “Invasion of Privacy: Marie Claire’s Guide to Protecting Yourself Online,” edited by Megan DiTrolio

Leisure Interests

• New York for three articles from “Biography of a Building” by Matthew Sedacca: “Graham Court: The Gilded Age Rental,” “One Fifth: The Downtown Co-op of All Downtown Co-ops” and “Villa Charlotte Brontë: A Cliffside Co-op in the Bronx”

Community Journalism

• ProPublica and Anchorage Daily News for “Unheard,” by Adriana Gallardo, Nadia Sussman and Agnes Chang, ProPublica, and Kyle Hopkins and Michelle Theriault Boots, Anchorage Daily News

Reporting

• The New Yorker for “The Plague Year,” by Lawrence Wright

Feature Writing

• Runner’s World for “Twelve Minutes and a Life,” by Mitchell S. Jackson

Profile Writing

• The New Yorker for “Survival Story,” by Jennifer Gonnerman

Essays and Criticism

• The New Yorker for “The Trayvon Generation,” by Elizabeth Alexander

Columns and Commentary

• The Paris Review for three columns from “Detroit Archives” by Aisha Sabatini Sloan: “Ladies of the Good Dead,” “On Immolation” and “On Doulas”

Public Interest

• ProPublica for two articles by Lizzie Presser: “The Black American Amputation Epidemic” and “Tethered to the Machine“

ASME Award for Coverage of Race in America

• ProPublica for “How COVID-19 Hollowed Out a Generation of Young Black Men,” by Akilah Johnson and Nina Martin, and “Black Men Have the Shortest Lifespans of Any Americans,” produced by Nadia Sussman and Joe Singer

ASME Award for Fiction

• Harper’s Magazine for “The Whale Mother,” by Susan Choi, “Terrace Story,” by Hilary Leichter, and “New Poets,” by Michael Deagler

ASME NEXT Awards for Journalists Under 30

Maxine Builder, Deputy Editor, The Strategist, New York
Nominated by Alexis Swerdloff, Editor, The Strategist, New York

Mamadi Doumbouya, Photographer, The New York Times Magazine
Nominated by Jake Silverstein, Editor in Chief, The New York Times Magazine

Andrea González-Ramírez, Senior Writer, GEN
Nominated by Brendan Vaughan, Editor in Chief, GEN

Morgan Jerkins, Senior Editor, ZORA
Nominated by Vanessa De Luca, Editor in Chief, ZORA

Robinson Meyer, Staff Writer, The Atlantic
Nominated by Jeffrey Goldberg, Editor in Chief, The Atlantic