Adam Moss Elected to Magazine Editors’ Hall of Fame

Editor in chief of New York magazine to be honored at Ellie Awards on March 14

New York, NY (February 28, 2019)—The Board of Directors of the American Society of Magazine Editors today announced the election of Adam Moss to the Magazine Editors’ Hall of Fame. Moss will be honored at the annual presentation of the Ellie Awards at Brooklyn Steel, in Williamsburg, New York, on March 14, 2019.

“One of the most creative and widely respected magazine journalists of our time—of any time—Adam Moss long ago established an enduring legacy both in print and online,” said Sid Holt, chief executive of ASME. “His work at New York magazine and earlier at The New York Times Magazine has influenced a generation of magazine makers. And then there’s 7 Days, still not forgotten after 30 years—the city is filled with writers and editors who point to their time there as among the most formative experiences of their careers.”

Adam Moss was named editor in chief of New York in March 2004. As editor in chief, he was responsible for the revitalization of the now 50-year-old print magazine, the relaunch of nymag.com and the creation of five highly successful digital publications, The Cut, Grub Street, Intelligencer, The Strategist and Vulture. Moss also increased political and business coverage, introduced the much-lauded “Culture Pages” and “Strategist” sections and emphasized visual and multimedia storytelling. Writers he brought to the magazine included Frank Rich, Rebecca Traister, Andrew Sullivan and Jonathan Chait as well as the Pulitzer Prize-winning architecture and music critic Justin Davidson and the Pulitzer Prize- and National Magazine Award-winning art critic Jerry Saltz.

During Moss’ tenure as editor in chief, New York won 40 National Magazine Awards, including the 2013 award for Magazine of the Year, six awards for General Excellence in print and seven for overall excellence for nymag.com. In addition, the magazine won the Society of Publication Designers’ award for Magazine of the Year and the American Society of Magazine Editors’ award for Cover of the Year three times each. In 2017, Advertising Age named New York magazine of the year and Moss editor of the year, an honor he also received in 2001 and 2007. In 2016, Adweek named Moss editor of the year and New York magazine of the year. In 2005, Moss was awarded an honorary doctor of humanities degree from his alma mater, Oberlin College, and in 2012 the Missouri Honor Medal for Distinguished Service in Journalism.

Before joining New York, Moss was the editor of The New York Times Magazine and assistant managing editor of the newspaper, overseeing The New York Times Book Review and style and culture coverage as well as the magazine. Moss was founding editor of 7 Days, a New York weekly magazine, which won the National Magazine Award for General Excellence in its circulation class in 1990. Before that, he worked at Esquire in a variety of positions, including those of managing editor and deputy editor. Earlier he worked at Rolling Stone.

Moss announced in January that he would step down as editor in chief of New York at the end of March. “There are many reasons,” he told his staff, “but they pretty much boil down to this: editors ought to have term-limits. Experience is good, but after a while every institution needs a blood transfusion. . . . I want to see what else I can do.”

The Magazine Editors’ Hall of Fame was established in 1995 by the American Society of Magazine Editors to recognize the editorial achievements and career-long accomplishments of leading journalists and honors distinguished service to magazine media. Among the members of the Hall of Fame best known to the general public are Graydon Carter, Anna Wintour, Martha Stewart, Tina Brown, Hugh Hefner, Gloria Steinem, Jann S. Wenner and Helen Gurley Brown.

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, preserve editorial independence and support the development of journalism. ASME sponsors the Ellie Awards in association with the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and publishes the ASME Guidelines for Editors and Publishers.

For more information about the Magazine Editors’ Hall of Fame and the 54th annual Ellie Awards, please visit magazine.org/asme.

Contacts:

Sid Holt
[email protected]
212-872-3723

Susan Russ
[email protected]
212-872-3732