Mother Jones was named Magazine of the Year in the 2017 National Magazine Awards for Print and Digital Media. The Ellie Awards, as they are colloquially called, are given by the American Society of Magazine Editors (ASME) and were announced Tuesday at the Ellie Awards Annual Gala at Cipriani Wall Street in New York City.

The event was hosted by Lester Holt, anchor of "NBC Nightly News With Lester Holt" and “Dateline NBC.”

“In a year that rocked our country and challenged our industry, Mother Jones found new ways to engage audiences and continue its practice of fearless journalism,” the ASME Magazine Of The Year citation read.

This year, big magazine publishing companies like Time Inc., Hearst and Meredith were overtaken by smaller publications, such as Mother Jones, Pacific Standard and Good Magazine.

Pacific Standard Editor in Chief Nicholas Jackson seemed shocked to win the award. “They put me at the loser table,” he said, rushing to the stage to accept.

New York Magazine and The New York Times Magazine both won three Ellies this year. New York won the awards for Magazine Section, Video and Single-Topic Issue. (Since Adam Moss was appointed editor in 2004, New York has earned 37.)

The New York Times Magazine won Feature Writing, Essays & Criticism and Public Interest.

The California Sunday Magazine and Mother Jones both won two Ellies. California Sunday won the awards for Design and Photography and Mother Jones won Reporting, as well as Magazine of the Year.

Three publications were first-time winners: Good Magazine for Personal Service; Huffington Post Highline for Multimedia; and The Marshall Project for General Excellence in the Literature, Science and Politics category.

Huffington Post Highline and The Marshall Project were the first digital-only winners to receive awards in those categories.

Three titles received awards in the same category for the second consecutive year: The California Sunday Magazine in Photography; New York's Culture Pages in Magazine Section; and Eater in Leisure Interests.

ESPN The Magazine and Condé Nast’s Bon Appétit were repeat winners in General Excellence — Bon Appétit in the Service and Lifestyle category, which it previously won in 2014, and ESPN The Magazine in the News, Sports and Entertainment category, which it won in 2003 and 2006.

Modern Farmer won its first award for General Excellence in the category for Special Interest magazines, while National Geographic won the Ellie for the best magazine Web site.

Despite The New Yorker’s nominations in five categories, the magazine went home empty-handed.

The Ellies are named for the Alexander Calder sculpture, given to each winner and resembling an elephant. This year marked the 52nd anniversary of the awards, which were first presented in 1966.

Sixty-four media organizations were honored as finalists in 20 categories and 14 publications won awards.