Editors Honoured In BSME Awards

At a time when the media industry is jittery about the prospect of recession- either in advertising or in general- the British Society of Magazine Editors (BSME)has honoured those among their number who are still delivering when it comes to newsstand sales.

At its awards presentation last night, the editor honoured for Launch of the Year was, predictably, Jo Elvin of Condé Nast’s Glamour. Her title, a US import with an innovative handbag-size format, stormed the field in its first set of ABC results during the summer, achieving a circulation of 451,486 and barely missing out on the top spot.

It was the editor of the title in that top spot, Lorraine Candy of Natmags’ Cosmopolitan, who won the Women’s Magazines (non-weekly) award. Presumably this was in part for managing to hold off the Glamour threat. Cosmo managed 452,176 in the Jan-June ABCs, with a small 0.5 percentage change year on year which was nonetheless an achievement in a tough market which has seen weaker examples bite the dust in the past year.

The market leader in Women’s Magazines (Weekly), H Bauer’s Take a Break, won an accolade for editor John Dale. The women’s weekly market saw a 4.6 percentage decrease year on year, but despite a 1.3% decrease for Take A Break it remains the only title in its sector with a circulation above 1 million.

It was another no-brainer for the General Interest and Celebrity Magazine winner, as the Lazarus of publishing, Emap’s Heat, brought recognition for Mark Frith, who appears to have achieved the impossible, turning around the fortunes of the listings/celebrity title from a 95,113 circulation in Jan-Jun 2000 to a 235,450 circulation in Jan-Jun 2001, despite growing competition from other celebrity titles. Frith was also named Editor of The Year.

This year’s awards saw the introduction of a new award, for new editors. It has been established in memory of Fiona Macpherson, Editor-in-Chief of Harpers and Queen who died a year ago this month. The first winner of the award was Sara Cremer of Emap’s New Woman.

British Society of Magazine Editors: 020 8906 4664

Subscribers can access ten years of media news and analysis in the Archive