• by Sara Guaglione , May 28, 2020

The New York Times Magazine was the star of the National Magazine Awards for Print and Digital Media, winning five Ellies at the event held virtually Thursday evening for ticket holders.

National Geographic and Bon Appétit both won four Ellie awards.

Originally scheduled to take place in early March, the awards ceremony was postponed due to the spreading COVID-19 virus in New York. At the time, there were over 140 confirmed cases of the virus in New York. In the nearly three months since, that number has jumped to 360,000 cases in the state.

More than 500 magazine editors and publishers were expected to attend the 55th annual event, which was to be held at Brooklyn Steel in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

About 300 people tuned in to the awards show livestream.

The New York Times Magazine won in five categories, including: Podcasting (first-time winner), Reporting, Feature Writing and Public Interest. 

The magazine also received its first award for General Excellence, and its 11th award overall in the last four years. 

Three of the awards — General Excellence, Public Interest and Podcasting — recognize The New York Times Magazine's “1619 Project,” an editorial initiative that examines the beginning of slavery in the United States and how it has shaped history. (The initiative has since expanded into a podcast and multi-book publishing deal with Random House.)

National Geographic had first-time wins in Feature Photography and Social Media. 

Bon Appétit was a first-time winner in Leisure Interests, Video (with Condé Nast Entertainment) and Design. 

The Washington Post Magazine won its first award in any category, with a win in Single-Topic Issue on its special issue "Prison."  The issue was written, illustrated and photographed by people who have been or are currently incarcerated.

Former Esquire editor in chief David Granger received the Magazine Editors’ Hall of Fame Award.

The American Society of Magazine Editors sponsors the National Magazine Awards in partnership with the Columbia Journalism School.

The digital event also included the presentation of the 2020 ASME Award for Fiction to The Paris Review, as well as honors for the five winners of the 2020 ASME Next Awards for Journalists Under 30. 

Sixty-two magazine titles were nominated in 22 categories at the National Magazine Awards.

ASME plans to host an in-person event to honor the winners and finalists later this year. 

The Ellies will be shipped to winners.

The Ellie Awards are named and modeled after an elephant-shaped Alexander Calder sculpture.