NATIONAL Geographic was the top winner at last night’s National Magazine Awards, winning three prizes, followed by Graydon Carter‘s Vanity Fair, which snagged two.
No one title dominated this year’s ceremony as Adam Moss‘ New York magazine did last year when the title snagged five. Moss managed to return to the winner’s circle for a single award last night, in Leisure Interests.
National Geographic won for General Excellence in the over 2 million circulation category, as well as for reporting and photojournalism.
“While remaining true to traditions known to generations of readers, the magazine continues to inspire and amaze with photography that reveals wondrous and often threatened corners of our planet and reporting that is both intrepid and tough-minded. Its mission has never been more vital,” said the judges from the American Society of Magazine Editors.
The awards are known as Ellies because each winner receives a stylized Alexander Calder-designed statue in the shape of an elephant. They were held last night at Time Warner’s Jazz at Lincoln Center.
The choice of Carter’s magazine as a winner was somewhat sur prising; he’s been known in the past to shun the awards cere mony altogether if he knew that he was not going to land a big prize.
In the clubby maga zine world, that kind of behavior can often leave one on the outs with fellow editors. But not this year.
Vanity Fair won in an important category – Profile Writing – for an Evan Wright piece that ran to 23,000 words entitled “Pat Dollard’s War on Hollywood.” It was about failed Hollywood agent-turned-documentary filmmaker Pat Dollard, who drifted into drugs.
Vanity Fair also won for Photo Portfolio for Annie Leibovitz photos that ran in the 2007 Hollywood Issue featuring modern film icons in famous scenes from past movies.
The judges said the spread “captures the glamour of old Hollywood.” The biggest surprise of the night may have been the win by Condé Nast Portfolio, which is edited by Joanne Lipman, and has seen constant turnover and unrest in its editorial staff during its first year.
But last night Condé Nast Portfolio’s “Brief” section, which features pithy takes on recent business news, was a winner in the Magazine Section category.
“Consistently smart, contrarian and well-reported, Condé Nast Portfolio’s “Brief” is an original take on ambition, ego, drama and conflict.”
New Yorker Editor David Remnick managed a single victory this year in the General Excellence category in the 1 million to 2 million circulation category.
“If you had The New Yorker’s limitless reserve of intelligence, humor, passion and tradition, you’d make it look easy, too,” the judges wrote. “But the weekly stal wart never rests on its considerable laurels.”
Other General Ex cellence winners in cluded GQ (in the 500,000 to 1 million category); Back packer (in the 250,000 to 500,000 circulation cate gory); Mother Jones (in the 100,000 to 250,000 category); and Print (in the under 100,000 category). keith.kelly@nypost.com