ASME Names Winners for 2008 National Magazine Awards

National Geographic Triumphs with Three Ellies

First-Time Wins by Atlanta, Bicycling, Conde Nast Portfolio, New Letters and Runner's World

NEW YORK, May 1 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The American Society of Magazine Editors (ASME) bestowed the industry's most prestigious editorial honors tonight at the 43rd annual National Magazine Awards. The black-tie gala at New York City's Jazz at Lincoln Center, Frederick P. Rose Hall, gathered more than 1,000 editors, publishers, industry professionals and guests to celebrate 25 winners across 20 categories. Named after the Alexander Calder Stabile "Elephant," the 2008 "Ellies" drew a record-setting 1,964 entries from 333 print and online magazines.

The awards honor print and online magazines that consistently demonstrate superior execution of editorial objectives, innovative editorial techniques, journalistic enterprise, and imaginative design. Established in 1966, the National Magazine Awards is the preeminent program in the magazine industry to honor editorial excellence. ASME presents the awards program in association with the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

The 2008 National Magazine Award winners are:

• National Geographic for General Excellence (over 2,000,000 circulation)
• The New Yorker for General Excellence (1,000,000 to 2,000,000 circulation)
• GQ for General Excellence (500,000 to 1,000,000 circulation)
• Backpacker for General Excellence (250,000 to 500,000 circulation)
• Mother Jones for General Excellence (100,000 to 250,000 circulation)
• Print for General Excellence (under 100,000 circulation)
• Popular Mechanics for Personal Service
• New York for Leisure Interests
• National Geographic for Reporting
• The Nation for Public Interest
• Atlanta for Feature Writing
• Vanity Fair for Profile Writing
• New Letters for Essays
• Rolling Stone for Columns and Commentary
• The Atlantic for Reviews and Criticism
• Conde Nast Portfolio for Magazine Section
• The Virginia Quarterly Review for Single-topic Issue
• Wired for Design
• Gourmet for Photography
• National Geographic for Photojournalism
• Vanity Fair for Photo Portfolio
• Harper's Magazine for Fiction
• RunnersWorld.com for General Excellence Online
• BusinessWeek.com for Personal Service Online
• Bicycling.com for Interactive Feature

National Geographic won in three of its five nominated categories. Vanity Fair won in two categories. Atlanta, Bicycling, Conde Nast Portfolio, New Letters and Runner's World each took home their first Ellie.

Barnes & Noble is the exclusive sponsor of the 2008 awards. In addition to their support of the event, they will host a panel discussion with writers from winning and finalist magazines on June 4 at 7 p.m. at the Lincoln Triangle Barnes & Noble in Manhattan (1972 Broadway at 66th Street).

To view the 2008 National Magazine Award winners with judges' citations, visit http://asme.magazine.org.

About The American Society of Magazine Editors (ASME)

The American Society of Magazine Editors (ASME) is a non-profit professional organization for editors of print and online magazines which are edited, published and distributed in the U.S. Established in 1963, ASME currently has about 850 members nationwide. Among other things, ASME works to preserve editorial independence and speaks out on public policy issues, particularly those pertaining to the First Amendment.

Contacts: Marlene Kahan, Executive Director, ASME

212.872.3737 asme@magazine.org

Howard Polskin, Senior Vice President, Communications/Events, MPA

212.872.3732 hpolskin@magazine.org

Cris Dinozo, Director of Communications, MPA

212.872.3731 cdinozo@magazine.org