National Magazine Awards Finalists

Does nothing to resolve our Esquire/GQ debate--plenty of nods for both--along with a few nominations for espnmag and SI.

Also reminds me I need to catch up on those 129 back issues of The New Yorker piled all over the house.

http://www.magazine.org/asme/about_asme/asme_press_releases/nma-2010-finalists-list.aspx

 

The David Grann piece from the New Yorker that won for reporting was the one on the allegedly wrongly executed Texas death row inmate. Might have been the single best piece of magazine journalism I've ever read. Impossible to put down.

 

The New Yorker
David Remnick, Editor
For “The Cost Conundrum,” by Atul Gawande
June 1

Thought this story was the best and most important story in The New Yorker last year.

 

Gawande is an absolute stud. Did you read the "Checklist Manifesto," or at least the New Yorker story it was based on a year or so again?

Obviously anybody who is a surgeon AND a good enough writer/journalist to scribble for the New Yorker is a pretty bright guy. But his work is deceptively breezy and accessible even though he's taking on very complex topics. You don't have to be a Rhodes Scholar and Harvard Medical School graduate to learn something about the craft from the work he does.

 

Followed Boom's lead and cancelled my print edition, and subscribed on my kindle instead....changed my life. I clip the stories I want to read and save for when I have time. Added 9 feet of counter space to my kitchen by getting rid of the magazine piles.

 

I read that story was a must read at Obama White House and referenced often when crafting health care bill.

To me anyone who truly wants to understand the problems in health care needs to read than article.

 

Was that the one about the cost burdens of unnecessary tests?

His checklist story was of a similar tact. Basically we can save billions - and thousands of lives in the process - preventing infections by just having E.R. doctors and nurses use simple checklists that remind them to wash their hands, sanitize tubes, etc., etc.

 

One of those stories impressed Warren Buffet right hand man Charlie Munger to cut a $20k check and send it to Gawande as a thank you for the education!

 

I'm pretty visual, so I enjoy the covers too much to cancel the print. It's always been the best looking magazine on our coffee table in addition to being the best read.

 

The Man Who Never Was,” by Mike Sager in Esquire -- about Todd Maronvich was their best story of year - a well deserved award .

 

The only minor quibble I have with this piece is it originated as a story done by two guys at the Chicago Tribune, Maurice Possley and Steve Mills. They were the ones who brought the absurdity of the arson investigation to light, originally. The New Yorker story was obviously riveting journalism and extremely well written, but I think to rise to the level of a Nat Mag Award, the original idea shouldn't have come from a previous newspaper investigation. Especially when the category is "reporting."