ASME’s Magazine of the Year finalists announced; Couric to host awards

Joe Pompeo
·Media Reporter

Katie Couric will take time out of her busy syndicated-talk-show-planning schedule to host the National Magazine Awards in New York on May 9, the America Society of Magazine Editors (ASME) announced Tuesday.

But on to the real news: The Atlantic, Backpacker, Foreign Policy, National Geographic and Wired will go head-to-head for Magazine of the Year. In a statement, ASME chief executive Sid Holt described the former two as "magazines that generations of readers have enjoyed in print and now on digital platforms," and the latter three as "titles that show why media consumers turn first to magazines to satisfy their wide-ranging interests."

In 2010, the group instituted its first cross-platform honor--for Magazine of the Year, which singles out distinguished work in digital as well as print formats. The top prize recognizes overall excellence in print, online and on tablets and smartphones. Last year, the distinction went to Glamour. (ASME has separately launched an entire digital magazine awards show.)

The annual awards gala is changing in other ways, too. This year, the award committees will group and judge nominees on the basis of subject area rather than circulation. Tapping a celebrity such as Couric as host is also a departure--the awards are traditionally hosted by ASME's president, currently People magazine managing editor Larry Hackett. "I'm turning this job over to somebody who really knows how to do it," Hackett said in a statement. Couric is no stranger to hosting media fetes--last year, for instance, she presided over the Mirror Awards, an annual media reporting competition and luncheon.

The ASME ceremony will feature several other boldfaced names in addition to Couric. Most notably, journalism legend Tom Wolfe will be on hand as the recipient of a special tribute. "The members of ASME are especially proud to be sharing this celebration of our best work with two of the best-known journalists in America," said Holt in a statement.

Last week, ASME announced the finalists for the other 21 awards categories. The New Yorker leads the pack with nine nominations, including general excellence in the news, sports and entertainment category, trailed by New York, the New York Times Magazine and Virginia Quarterly Review with six nominations a piece, GQ with five and The Atlantic with four.