Hearst Gives Itself a Pat On the Back

Everyone loves an award, especially at Hearst Magazines.

The company held its second annual Editorial Excellence Awards Tuesday, in which the editors honored their own for their work in 2015. The big reveal took place over lunch on the 44th floor at Hearst Tower in New York. More than 150 entries were submitted for the awards, which were culled down to 42 finalists by a panel of Hearst’s editors in chief, executive editors, creative directors, design directors and site directors.

The winners, across 14 categories, spanned Hearst’s U.S. and international titles across print and digital. Harper’s Bazaar U.S. took home the most accolades, with the U.S. team winning Print Innovation of the Year, Cover of the Year and Best Photography; Harper’s Bazaar U.K. was recognized for International Excellence.

Winners, below, were picked by a senior management committee including Hearst Magazines president David Carey; editorial director Ellen Levine; vice president of talent acquisition Eliot Kaplan; president, marketing and publishing director Michael Clinton; Hearst Magazines international president Duncan Edwards; digital media president Troy Young, and digital senior vice president, editorial operations Kate Lewis, along with media professionals Scott Mowbray, former editor in chief of Cooking Light and Popular Science; Peggy Northrop, former editor in chief of Sunset and More, and Lockhart Steele, editorial director of Vox Media.

The awards are part of a series of initiatives this week, including the “Spotlight Awards,” which honor individuals at the company, as well as a community service day at schools in Brooklyn through a partnership with United Way.

“We think a lot about the need to constantly evolve and innovate and be nimble,” Carey told WWD. “We don’t believe it’s from the top down.”

He noted that throughout the week, Hearst’s top executives have met with staffers to talk about their roles and ideas for the company. As part of that theme, Frank Bennack Jr., executive vice chairman of Hearst, attended the luncheon today to award recipients with the excellence prize, which takes the form of a dark metal statuette of interlocking triangles.

“It signifies the complexity of the business and it evokes the facade of the Hearst Tower,” Carey said.

Print Innovation of the Year, U.S.:

WINNER:  Harper’s Bazaar — Pop-up edit: Harper, Bazaar Gardens, Bazaar Art.

Finalists: Redbook — Real Women Style Awards and cover, September; O, The Oprah Magazine — O’s Little Books

Digital Innovation of the Year, U.S.:

WINNER: Cosmopolitan.com — Snapchat Discover

Finalists: Delish.com — snackable videos; Hearst Magazines Digital Media Newsroom — multiple breaking news and feature stories.

INTERNATIONAL EXCELLENCE, PRINT (OUTSIDE OF THE U.S.):

WINNER: Harper’s Bazaar U.K.

Finalists: Elle China; Fujingaho Japan

INTERNATIONAL EXCELLENCE, DIGITAL (OUTSIDE OF THE U.S.):

WINNER: Cosmopolitan.nl

Finalists: Elle.it; HarpersBazaar.es

COVER OF THE YEAR:

WINNER: Harper’s Bazaar — March

Finalists: Good Housekeeping — 130th Anniversary special collector’s edition, November; Road & Track — July

STORY OF THE YEAR:

WINNER: Esquire – “The Friend,” by Matthew Teague, May

Finalists: Elle — “Feeling is Believing,” by Lisa Chase, October; Popular Mechanics — “The Daily Miracle,” by Reeves Wiedeman, March

PHOTOGRAPHY:

WINNER: Harper’s Bazaar — March and September

Finalists: Town & Country — September and October; Veranda — March/April and July/August

DESIGN:

WINNER: Car and Driver — June and July

Finalists: Cosmopolitan — May and November; Harper’s Bazaar — March and September

REGULAR SECTION OR DEPARTMENT:

WINNER: PopularMechanics.com — Space Vertical: Mars Week, October

Finalists: Elle.com — Culture Vertical: Squad Week, June; Popular Mechanics — How Your World Works, February and September

SPECIAL INTERESTS A (FASHION, BEAUTY, FOOD, TRAVEL AND HOME DESIGN):

WINNER: Food Network Magazine, A Complete Guide to Cupcakes, May

Finalists: Veranda — Spring Style Guide, March/April, Summer Style Guide, May/June and Encyclopedia of Style, September/October; Woman’s Day — Halloween special section, October

SPECIAL INTERESTS B (HEALTH, SELF-IMPROVEMENT, CAREERS, TECHNOLOGY AND AUTOMOTIVE):

WINNER: O, The Oprah Magazine — The Sensuous Woman, October

Finalists: Elle — Breast package, June; Seventeen — How to Get Into College (Without Losing It), September

PUBLIC INTEREST:

WINNER: Cosmopolitan — “Pregnant? Scared? Need Options? Too Bad.” August

Finalists: Esquire — “Ballad of the Sad Climatologists,” August; Marie Claire — Sex trafficking series: “Crude Awakening,” September, and “A Tribe’s Quest,” October

VIDEO OF THE YEAR:

WINNER: CountryLiving.com & Delish — Halloween How-To: Mummy Pops

Finalists: Cosmopolitan.com – Mom, I’m Not A Girl: Raising a Transgender Child, Harpersbazaar.com/ShopBazaar – harper by Harper’s Bazaar starring Hannah Bronfman

BEST USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA:

WINNER: Seventeen.com — Facebook, Instagram, Twitter

Finalists: CountryLiving.com — Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest; Delish — Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat/delishdotcom