VANITY FAIR'S “CALL ME CAITLYN” NAMED COVER OF THE YEAR

Readers vote on texture.com, pick ESPN “Body” issue as their favorite cover

New York, NY (February 3, 2016)—James Bennet, editor in chief of The Atlantic and president of the American Society of Magazine Editors announced the winners of the annual ASME Best Cover Contest at the American Magazine Media Conference at the Grand Hyatt New York. Bennet was joined in making the announcement by Maggie Murphy, editorial director of Texture by Next Issue, which sponsored the 2016 contest. ASME chose Vanity Fair’s “Call Me Caitlyn” as the Cover of the Year. ESPN The Magazine’s “Body 2015: Chantae McMillan” was the Readers’ Choice Award winner.  

Best Cover Awards and Readers’ Choice winners in 10 categories were also announced. Notable winners included three covers that won both the Best Cover and Readers’ Choice awards in their respective categories: Glamour’s 25th- anniversary Women of the Year issue, featuring Reese Witherspoon, in Best Women’s-Lifestyle Covers; Harper’s Bazaar’s “Rihanna: Killer Fashion” in Best Fashion and Beauty; and New York’s “Times Square: The City’s Id, Now and Always” in Brainiest Covers.

The ASME Best Cover Contest finalists were chosen by nearly 100 leading editors, art directors and photo editors. The winners of the Best Cover Awards, including the Cover of the Year, were also chosen by ASME members. The Readers’ Choice winners were chosen by media consumers voting on texture.com. To see all the finalists, visit texture.com.

 “The cover contest judges had tough decisions to make this year,” said Sid Holt, chief executive of ASME. “Any time you have to choose between an already legendary Annie Leibovitz shoot on the cover of Vanity Fair, a Mark Seliger comedy special on GQ and one of the year’s most talked-about news covers, ‘Cosby: The Women’ on New York—plus Serena Williams on both Sports Illustrated and New York—that’s a good time to be a magazine editor and an even better time to be a magazine reader.”

Thirty-eight magazines were finalists in at least one of the 10 Best Cover Contest categories this year. New York and The New Yorker both had four covers in the top 50. AFAR, Bloomberg Businessweek, ESPN The Magazine, Harper’s Bazaar, The New York Times Magazine and Wired each had two finalists.

Covers of the following magazines were also finalists: Audubon, Bon Appétit, The California Sunday Magazine, The Chronicle Review, Conde Nast Traveler, Esquire, Garden & Gun, Glamour, GQ, The Hollywood Reporter, Los Angeles, Men’s Fitness, Men’s Health, Nautilus, Newsweek, Oklahoma Today, Parents, PC Magazine, People, Real Simple, Redbook, Rolling Stone, Saveur, Southern Living, Sports Illustrated, Surface, TIME, Vanity Fair, W and WSJ.


ASME Best Cover Contest 2016 Winners and Finalists
 

Best News and Politics Covers

Best Cover Award: New York, “Cosby: The Women,” July 27-August 9

Readers’ Choice: TIME, “America,  1968 2015,” May 11

Finalists: Esquire, “Women & Men With Nick Offerman & Chelsea Handler,” April; The New Yorker, “Solidarité,” January 19; The New Yorker, “Nine,” June 29

Best Celebrity and Entertainment Covers

Best Cover Award: Vanity Fair, “Call Me Caitlyn,” July

Readers’ Choice: GQ, “Our Tastiest Comedy Issue Yet! Starring Amy Schumer,” August

Finalists: The Hollywood Reporter, “The Reign of Kevin Hart,” January 23; The New York Times Magazine, “The Culture Issue [Nicki Minaj],” October 11; Rolling Stone, “Adele: A Private Life,” November 19

Best Business and Technology Covers

Best Cover Award: Newsweek, “What Silicon Valley Thinks of Women,” February 6

Readers’ Choice: The California Sunday Magazine, “Death,” April 5

Finalists: Bloomberg Businessweek, “The Aging of Abercrombie & Fitch,” January 26-February 1; The New Yorker, “The Mouse of Wall Street,” September 7; PC Magazine, “3D Printers,” Digital Edition, November 2015

Best Women’s-Lifestyle Covers

Best Cover Award: Glamour, “Women of the Year [Reese Witherspoon],” December

Readers’ Choice: Glamour, “Women of the Year [Reese Witherspoon],” December

Finalists: Parents, “Girl Power! Raise a Confident Daughter,” November; People, “The World’s First Size 22 Supermodel! [Tess Holliday],” June 1; Redbook, “Real Women, Real Style Tips,” September; Southern Living, “The Soul of Summer,” July

Best Sports and Fitness Covers

Best Cover Award: ESPN The Magazine, “Body 2015: Chantae McMillan,” July 20

Readers’ Choice: ESPN The Magazine, “Body 2015: Chantae McMillan,” July 20

Finalists: ESPN The Magazine, “James Harden: ‘When Was the Last Time You’ve Seen Anything Normal From Me?’” October 26; Men’s Fitness, “Game Changer: Miles Teller,” October; Men’s Health, “The Reader Issue,” November; Sports Illustrated, “Sportsperson of the Year: Serena Williams,” December 21 

Best Fashion and Beauty Covers

Best Cover Award: Harper’s Bazaar, “Rihanna: Killer Fashion,” March

Readers’ Choice: Harper’s Bazaar, “Rihanna: Killer Fashion,” March

Finalists: Harper’s Bazaar, “Kendall Jenner Transformed,” May; New York, “Serena’s Sweep,” August 10-23; W, “Gigi Hadid: The World’s Most Connected Supermodel,” September; WSJ., “Rocket Woman: Karlie Kloss Suits Up for SpaceX,” December 2015-January 2016

Best Travel and Adventure Covers

Best Cover Award: The New York Times Magazine, “The Voyages Issue,” September 27

Readers’ Choice: Oklahoma Today, “The Indians & Cowboys Issue,” July-August

Finalists: AFAR, “Will Travel for Food,” May; AFAR, “The Future of Travel,” June-July; Conde Nast Traveler, November 2015

Best Style and Design Covers

Best Cover Award: Nautilus, “Playing War: Games, Not Missiles,” September-October

Readers’ Choice: Wired, “Cities by Design MMXVI,” October

Finalists: Audubon, “Parakeet,” July-August; Real Simple, “More Energy Now,” February; Surface, “Tadao Ando,” February

Most Delicious Covers

Best Cover Award: New York, “Cook Me. A Home Chef’s Resource Book,” November 9-15

Readers’ Choice: Los Angeles, “L.A.’s Best New Restaurants,” January

Finalists: Bon Appétit, “The Toast With the Most,” January; Garden & Gun, “The Southern Food Issue,” August-September; Saveur, “The Saveur 100,” January-February

Brainiest Covers

Best Cover Award:  New York, “Times Square: The City’s Id, Now and Always,” October 5-18

Readers’ Choice: New York, “Times Square: The City’s Id, Now and Always,” October 5-18

Finalists: Bloomberg Businessweek, “If You Can’t Read That, You’d Better Read This, “ June 15-June 28; The Chronicle Review, “The Isolated Black Professor,” January 30; The New Yorker, “90th Anniversary [Eustace Tilley],” February 23 and March 2; Wired, “Sex in the Digital Age,” March

All publication dates 2015 unless otherwise indicated

About ASME

The American Society of Magazine Editors is the principal organization for magazine journalists in the United States. The members of ASME include the editorial leaders of most major consumer and business magazines published in print and on digital platforms. Founded in 1963, ASME works to defend the First Amendment, protect editorial independence and support the development of journalism. ASME sponsors the Ellie Awards in association with the Columbia Journalism School and publishes the ASME Guidelines for Editors and Publishers.

About Texture by Next Issue

Since 2010, Next Issue Media has been bringing the world’s most popular and trusted magazines to life on the digital device of your choice and fitting them seamlessly into your life. The company is owned by six leading publishers—Conde Nast, Hearst Magazines, Meredith, News Corp., Rogers Communications and Time Inc.—and backed by KKR.