Watch BSME Chair Maria Pieri, Polly Vernon, along with Vice Chairs Gaby Huddart, Laura Rowe plus some very special guests to announce the winners of the annual BSME Talent Awards. With 16 categories to choose from, we loved celebrating the brilliance of editorial and digital teams and their achievements over the past 12 months.
The 2019 BSME Christmas Quiz took place on Monday, 25 November at The Phoenix Arts Club, with Simon O’Hagan of the Radio Times as quizmaster and a raffle to benefit SKRUM, a charity which fights the spread of HIV and AIDS in Swaziland,
If somebody were to hold a poll asking journalists to name the greatest living critics, two of the names in contention would be Fay Maschler and Irving Wardle. On Tuesday, 14th May both of them were on the panel for this event The Bloomsbury. They discussed how to be a critic, who does it best, what qualities are needed and why it still matters, even in the age of user reviews. The full speaker line-up was:
FAY MASCHLER
Fay has been the restaurant critic of the Evening Standard ever since she won the role in a competition in 1972. The current editor of the Standard, George Osborne, is the 11th she has worked for. Her incisive reviews have helped the London restaurant scene transform itself from limited, verging on moribund, to diverse and dynamic.
IRVING WARDLE
Irving was the chief theatre critic for The Times from 1963 to 1989, before moving to The Independent On Sunday, where he was one of several star writers on the late lamented Sunday Review. He knows so much about reviewing plays, he wrote the book (Theatre Criticism, Routledge, 1992). He was the first critic to spot the talent of Harold Pinter, who sent a thank-you letter describing Irving's review as "most penetrating".
LUCY MANGAN
Lucy is the TV critic for G2, the daily magazine from The Guardian. A columnist for Stylist as well as The Guardian, she is the author of Bookworm: A Memoir of Childhood Reading (Square Peg, 2018), which led The Spectator to declare that "Lucy Mangan has enough comic energy to power the National Grid".
GAVIN GREEN
A former editor of Car magazine, Gavin is now motoring editor of High Life magazine and a freelance car critic. He is perhaps the only member of our panel who has the power to lower a share price.
CHAIR: TIM DE LISLE
Now in his second stint as a member of the BSME committee, Tim is the pop critic of Event magazine at The Mail On Sunday. As a former arts editor of The Times and The Independent On Sunday, he has had some practice at keeping critics in order.
It was a full house for our first BSME event of 2019 - ‘What lies ahead for magazines and brands?’ on 24th January at the House of Hearst. Three excellent speakers - Douglas McCabe (Enders), Rebecca Ironside (Made You Think!) and Claire Sanderson (Women’s Health) - challenged, surprised and inspired the audience in equal measure. If you couldn’t make it along, here are seven key take-outs from the night:
Time spent on UK magazine websites doubled between 2015 and 2018 (from 500m minutes to 1000m minutes). But this is still dwarfed by the digital heavyweights, such as Instagram and Youtube. To put it into context, the total time spent on UK magazine sites is equivalent to just one of the biggest lifestyle channels on Youtube. Gulp.
Magazine brands need to master their customers’ data. Competing with every other digital brand for site traffic and a slice of direct-response digital advertising is unlikely to be a future recipe for success. Magazines have always been at their strongest when helping people to discover things at the top of the purchase funnel, not the bottom. To diversify revenue, magazine brands need to grow their communities of registered users, using the data to understand their needs and behaviours, and create the right things for the community (not chase the right things for advertisers).
Subscription models are booming. Registration may be the first step, but we shouldn’t underestimate people’s willingness to pay for quality content. There are 600m consumer subscriptions for content, and the US has seen huge growth in people paying for online news in the past few years - this is not purely down to the ‘Trump bump.’ And younger audiences are actually more likely than older ones to pay for quality content...
But data doesn’t tell us everything - curiosity is key. Overlooking the background of readers’ lives can lead to false assumptions. We should consider their whole lifestyle, not just their relationship with the magazine. And we shouldn’t forget that their expectations are set by what other digital brands are doing - not just other publishers. Your competition might not be who you think it is.
Scrutinise your content using a ‘needs matrix’. Make time to truly understand your audience, and their various ‘need states’ from your brand (e.g. ‘entertain me’, ‘inspire me’, ‘reassure me’). Then screen all your types of content against those needs to see whether they’re really doing the job you think they are. Anything that isn’t is just filler.
Audiences expect magazines to be a force for good. 86% of people in trust trackers believe brands should take a stand on social issues, and 62% are more likely to buy a product if they believe in its mission. Magazines can and should be driving positive change for readers and their wider communities.
Well-judged brand extensions present big opportunities. The magazine itself is the starting point for building trust with your audience, but editorial teams are increasingly diversifying - for example, through product licensing, accreditation schemes, events and reader retreats. Hearst delivered more than 30 branded events in 2018, which generated more than £4m revenue (year-on-year growth of more than 150%). Country Living has even launched branded hotels.
** COMING UP NEXT: HOW TO LAUNCH YOUR OWN MAGAZINE **
Speakers include: winner of the 2018 BSME Mark Boxer Award and founder of MagCulture, Jeremy Leslie; Rob Orchard, owner of The Slow Journalism Company, Michael Harvey, editor of Road Rat and Vivien Jones,editor of Kookie and winner of the BSME Launch of the Year Award 2018. The Panel will be moderated by BSME Chair Alex Mead.
Further details and how to book to follow.
Lisa Smosarski, Editor-in-Chief of Stylist, joined Laura Price, Deputy Editor of The World’s 50 Best Restaurants and The World’s 50 Best Bars and Maria Pieri, Editorial Director, National Geographic Traveller to share their experiences of Stylist Live, the first-ever National Geographic Traveller Festival and the global success of The World’s 50 Best Restaurants. BSME Chair Alex Mead moderated the event.
The winners of the 2018 BSME Awards have been announced at The Sheraton Grand London Park Lane Hotel. The Awards were co-hosted by BSME Chair Alex Mead, Content Director, eric, and comedian Rachel Parris.
The dinner menu was specially devised for the evening by three amazing Chefs: Anna Hansen of The Modern Pantry, José Pizarro and Simon Ulph, Head Chef at St. Leonard’s and musician Hailey Tuck entertained the guests.
The list of 2018 Winners, Highly Commended and Shortlisted editors, art directors and columnists are:
EDITOR OF THE YEAR - FOOD & DRINK
WINNER: Laura Rowe, olive, Immediate Media
SHORTLIST:
Jessica Carter, Crumbs, MediaClash
Mark Sansom, Food and Travel Magazine, Food and Travel
William Sitwell, Waitrose Food, John Brown Media
EDITOR OF THE YEAR – CULTURE
WINNER: Jane Ferguson, The Observer New Review, Guardian Media Group
SHORTLIST:
Helen Hawkins, Culture, News UK
Gordon Thomson, Event, DMG Media
EDITOR OF THE YEAR - SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
WINNER: Greg Williams, Wired, Condé Nast Britain
SHORTLIST:
Ruth Cassidy, Andy's Amazing Adventures, Immediate Media
Dickon Ross, E&T, IET
EDITOR OF THE YEAR - SPECIALIST
WINNER: Kelly Wilks, Girltalk, Immediate Media
SHORTLIST:
Highly Commended: Peter Hart, BBC Top of the Pops, Immediate Media
Beverley Cuddy, Dogs Today, Pet Subjects
Rachael Jolley, Index on Censorship, Sage
Peter Hart, Pokémon Magazine, Immediate Media
Harry Mount, The Oldie, Oldie Publications
ART DIRECTOR OF THE YEAR - B2B
WINNER: Aubrey Smith, Supply Management for the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply, Haymarket
SHORTLIST:
Highly Commended: Sam Walker, Modus for The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, Sunday
Ella Mackinnon, Architects' Journal, EMAP
John Rooney, E&T, IET
Sonny Dhamu, Inside Housing, Ocean Media Group
James Wood, The Roger Collective for Virgin, John Brown Media
EDITOR OF THE YEAR - TRADE & PROFESSIONAL
WINNER: Keely Stocker, Drapers, EMAP
SHORTLIST:
Tom Fitzpatrick, Construction News, EMAP
Murdo Morrison, Flight Daily News, Flight International
Oliver Parsons, Modus for The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, Sunday
Liz Hamson, Property Week, Metropolis
Katie Jacobs, Supply Management for the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply, Haymarket
Sophie Griffiths, TTG, TTG Media
EDITOR OF THE YEAR - CURRENT AFFAIRS & POLITICS
WINNER: Tom Clark, Prospect, Prospect Publishing Ltd
SHORTLIST:
Highly Commended: Jason Cowley, New Statesman, Progressive Media
Paul McNamee, The Big Issue, The Big Issue Ltd
Zanny Minton-Beddoes, The Economist, The Economist Group
COLUMNIST OF THE YEAR - B2B
WINNER: Mark Ritson, Marketing Week, Centaur Media
SHORTLIST:
Gideon Spanier, Campaign, Haymarket
Justin Pollard, E&T, IET
Shaba Nabi, Pulse, Cogora
LAUNCH OF THE YEAR
WINNER: Vivien Jones, Kookie, Missprint Media
SHORTLIST:
Charlotte Coward-Williams, enki, Dock Street Creative Productions
Tim Lusher, Feast, Guardian Media Group
Will Harrison, Oceanographic Magazine, Atlas Publishing
Jenny Dickinson & Lucy Yeomans, Porter Digital, Yoox-Net-A-Porter
Marianne Jones, Stella Daily, Telegraph Media Group
Jo Harman, Wisden Cricket Monthly, Cricket Properties
ART DIRECTOR OF THE YEAR - BRANDED CONTENT
WINNER: Paul Yelland, WHN? for Hyundai, ScratchCreate
SHORTLIST:
Mat Wiggins, easyJet Traveller, Ink
Clare Watters, John Lewis Edition, John Brown Media
Sarah Barnett, N by Norwegian, Ink
Simon Esterson, Pulp Journal for Fedrigoni, Eye Magazine Limited
Kerry Wakefield, Waitrose Food, John Brown Media
EDITOR OF THE YEAR - GARDENS & COUNTRY
WINNER: Lucy Bellamy, Gardens Illustrated, Immediate Media
SHORTLIST:
Fergus Collins, BBC Countryfile, Immediate Media
Lucy Hall, BBC Gardeners' World, Immediate Media
Mark Hedges, Country Life, TI Media
Ceri Thomas, Which? Gardening, Which? Ltd
EDITOR OF THE YEAR - INDEPENDENT
WINNER: John L. Walters, Eye, Eye Magazine Limited
SHORTLIST:
Rob Orchard & Marcus Webb, Delayed Gratification, The Slow Journalism Company
Rachel Ingram, Tempus, Tempus Media (London)
EDITOR OF THE YEAR - ENTERTAINMENT & CELEBRITY
WINNER: Colin Tough, What's On TV, TI Media
SHORTLIST:
Highly Commended: Rosie Nixon, HELLO!, HELLO! Ltd
Hannah Fernando, Now, TI Media
Kirsty Tyler, OK! Magazine, Reach Plc
COVER OF THE YEAR - CONSUMER
WINNER: Graeme James, The Economist, The Economist Group
SHORTLIST:
Anne-Marie Curtis & Tom Meredith, ELLE, Hearst Magazines UK
Sarah Habershon, G2, Guardian Media Group
Melissa Denes & Maggie Murphy, Guardian Weekend Magazine, Guardian Media Group
Craig Mackie, New Scientist, New Scientist Ltd
Gillian McNeill, olive, Immediate Media
Jo Frost & Calvin McKenzie, Songlines, Mark Allen Group
Niall O’Brien, Sam Taylor & Lorna Wilson, The Lady, The Lady Ltd
MARK BOXER AWARD
WINNER: Jeremy Leslie, founder, MagCulture
CHAIR'S SPECIAL AWARD
WINNER: Sue Peart, former Editor YOU magazine, DMG Media
2018 EDITORS' EDITOR OF THE YEAR
WINNER: Anna Bassi, The Week Junior, Dennis Publishing
SHORTLIST:
Kath Brown, woman&home, TI Media
Justine Picardie, Harper's Bazaar (UK), Hearst Magazines UK
Farrah Storr, Cosmopolitan, Hearst Magazines UK
Toby Wiseman, Men's Health, Hearst Magazines UK
EDITOR OF THE YEAR - BUSINESS & FINANCE
WINNER: Harry Rose, Which? Money, Which? Ltd
SHORTLIST:
James Murray, BusinessGreen, Incisive Media
Gareth Jones, Charity Finance, Civil Society Media
EDITOR OF THE YEAR - SPORT, FITNESS & HEALTH
WINNER: Claire Sanderson, Women's Health, Hearst Magazines UK
SHORTLIST:
Charlotte Richards, Fit & Well, TI Media
Tom Rowley, Healthy For Men, The River Group
Andy Dixon, Runner's World, Hearst Magazines UK
Sara Ward, Slimming World, Slimming World Ltd
EDITOR OF THE YEAR - MOTORING
WINNER: Ben Miller, CAR, Bauer Media Group
SHORTLIST:Mark Tisshaw, Autocar, Haymarket
Charlie Turner, BBC TopGear, Immediate Media
Keith Adams, Parkers.co.uk, Bauer Media Group
Steve Huntingford, What Car?, Haymarket
ART DIRECTOR OF THE YEAR - DIGITAL
WINNER: Gemma Stark, Porter Digital, Yoox-Net-A-Porter
SHORTLIST:
Dennis Lye, Glamour, Condé Nast Britain
EDITOR OF THE YEAR - BRANDED CONTENT
WINNER: Ellie Hughes, Healthy, The River Group for Holland & Barrett
SHORTLIST:
Highly Commended: Sarah Warwick, N by Norwegian, Ink
Vanessa Thompson, John Lewis Edition, John Brown Media
Kate Cornish, My VIP (Pets at Home), John Brown Media
John L. Walters, Pulp Journal for Fedrigoni, Eye Magazine Limited
David Burton, WHN? for Hyundai, ScratchCreate
EDITOR OF THE YEAR - HOMES & INTERIORS
WINNER: Susy Smith, Country Living, Hearst Magazines UK
SHORTLIST:
Highly Commended: Ben Spriggs, ELLE Decoration, Hearst Magazines UK
Hatta Byng, House & Garden, Condé Nast Britain
Loma-Ann Marks, Reclaim, Tailor Made Publishing
EDITOR OF THE YEAR - DIGITAL
WINNER: Marcus Fairs, Dezeen, Dezeen Limited
SHORTLIST:
Natasha Bird, ELLE, Hearst Magazines UK
Sam Parker, Esquire, Hearst Magazines UK
Sarah Karmali, Harper's Bazaar, Hearst Magazines UK
Tim Glanfield, radiotimes.com, Immediate Media
James Temperton, Wired, Condé Nast Britain
Amy Hopkinson, Women's Health, Hearst Magazines UK
COLUMNIST OF THE YEAR - CONSUMER
WINNER: Polly Vernon, Grazia, Bauer Media Group
SHORTLIST:
Highly Commended: Helen Lewis, New Statesman, Progressive Media
Simon Kuper, FT Weekend Magazine, The Financial Times
Adrian Wooldridge, The Economist, The Economist Group
Eva Wiseman, The Observer Magazine, Guardian Media Group
Caitlin Moran, The Times Magazine, News UK
Allison Pearson, woman&home, TI Media
ART DIRECTOR OF THE YEAR - INDEPENDENT
WINNER: Simon Esterson, Eye, Eye Magazine Limited
SHORTLIST:
Christian Tate, Delayed Gratification, The Slow Journalism Company
Ross Andrew Forbes, Tempus, Tempus Media (London)
ART DIRECTOR OF THE YEAR - CONSUMER
WINNER: Maggie Murphy, Guardian Weekend Magazine, Guardian Media Group
SHORTLIST:
Paul Solomons, GQ, Condé Nast Britain
Declan Fahy, Men's Health, Hearst Magazines UK
Gillian McNeill, olive, Immediate Media
Lynsey Irvine, The Observer New Review, Guardian Media Group
Dan Biddulph, The Sunday Times Magazine, News UK
Jessica Rose, Wallpaper*, TI Media
Andrew Diprose, Wired, Condé Nast Britain
EDITOR OF THE YEAR - TRAVEL
WINNER: Melinda Stevens, Condé Nast Traveller, Condé Nast Britain
SHORTLIST:
Highly Commended: Ed Grenby, The Sunday Times Travel Magazine, News UK
Jonny Ensall, easyJet Traveller, Ink
Pat Riddell, National Geographic Traveller (UK), APL Media
Rory Boland, Which? Travel, Which? Ltd
EDITOR OF THE YEAR - NEWSPAPER MAGAZINE
WINNER: Melissa Denes, Guardian Weekend Magazine, Guardian Media Group
SHORTLIST:
Sinead McIntyre, Fabulous, News UK
Alice Fishburn, FT Weekend Magazine, The Financial Times
Marianne Jones, Stella, Telegraph Media Group
Eleanor Mills, The Sunday Times Magazine, News UK
Nicola Jeal, The Times Magazine, News UK
EDITOR OF THE YEAR - MEN'S & WOMEN'S
WINNER: Farrah Storr, Cosmopolitan, Hearst Magazines UK
SHORTLIST:
Highly Commended: Jill Wanless, HELLO! Fashion Monthly, HELLO! Ltd
Anne-Marie Curtis, ELLE, Hearst Magazines UK
Dylan Jones, GQ, Condé Nast Britain
Justine Picardie, Harper's Bazaar, Hearst Magazines UK
Toby Wiseman, Men's Health, Hearst Magazines UK
Lucy Yeomans, Porter, Yoox-Net-A-Porter
COVER OF THE YEAR - B2B
WINNER: Ravi Naidoo, Pulse, Cogora
SHORTLIST:
Ella Mackinnon, Architects' Journal, EMAP
John Rooney, E&T, IET
Simon Esterson, Eye, Eye Magazine Limited
Holly Catford & Simon Esterson, Pulp Journal for Fedrigoni, Eye Magazine Limited
In an unprecedented poll, the British Society of Magazine Editors (BSME) has canvassed its members to name the most influential magazine of all time. And the winner is ... Time, the American news weekly.
For several weeks, editors have been making their choice of "the most influential magazine, past or present, dead or alive, published in the English language". The nominations ranged from Life magazine to Loaded and from the Architectural Review to the comic Elektra – Assassin. The early front-runners were Jackie, the girls' weekly which closed in 1994, and Smash Hits, the pop fortnightly which closed in 2006.
Time, the world's biggest-selling news magazine with a circulation of 3m, was nominated by James Waldron, editor of Chemist and Druggist and winner of the BSME's Fiona Macpherson New Editor award for 2018. "Time's covers are so iconic," Waldron said, "that they are still used as shorthand to pinpoint key moments in history. You don't get much more influential than that."
Leading editors, past and present, argued for their choices at a special BSME event held last night at the new Bankside Hotel in Southwark. Ian Birch, former editor of TV Guide and author of Uncovered, an oral history of great front covers, spoke up for New York magazine under its present editor Adam Moss, homing in on the cover Cosby: The Women, photographed by Amanda Demme. "This was in 2015," Birch said, "but it anticipated the whole #MeToo era. It prompted the hashtag #TheEmptyChair and inspired ten more women to come forward with their stories, showing the impact a single image can have."
Melissa Denes, editor of Guardian Weekend, argued for Vogue, particularly in the late Eighties and early Nineties, when it was edited by the late Liz Tilberis. "Vogue is highly influential," she said. "It's the cover everybody wants to be on, from Rihanna to Kate Middleton, and under Liz Tilberis, especially, it was a club that drew the reader in. Full of fun, visual experiment, and driven by the energy and charisma of the original supermodels. It has spawned movies, documentaries, and a hundred other fashion magazines. Vogue is a truly global brand, and yet each edition, British, American, French or Italian, has its own character."
Terri White, editor-in-chief of Empire and Pilot TV, chose Time, now edited by Edward Felsenthal. She singled out a cover from this month, showing Dr Christine Blasey Ford giving evidence to the senate about Judge Brett Kavanaugh, in an illustration by the artist John Mavroudis which made use of Ford's own words.
"That cover moved me to tears when I first saw it," Terri White said, "It will go down in history as an iconic image. Time, which was America's first news weekly when it launched in 1923, still has this amazing ability, even in the digital era, to find its own perspective on a story that has already been everywhere. The double whammy of Brexit and Trump has made the news weeklies more relevant than ever, and Time leads the pack. It has a specific lens, a smart take, on the issues facing the world right now, and its covers, reporting and insight are hugely impactful – not just on its audience, but on other news media and the world at large. It moves beyond the pages of the mag to protest marches, onto placards and over the walls of the White House itself. Anyone who wonders how magazines can still be relevant in 2018 just needs to look at a printed copy of Time, and feel its power."
The BSME event culminated in a live vote with eight magazines on the ballot. Time emerged as the clear winner, with Vogue in joint second place alongside Nova, the innovative British monthly that ran from 1965 to 1975. Fourth was Smash Hits, just ahead of New York, with NME (in the mid-Seventies), Just Seventeen and Jackie completing the shortlist.
The event was devised and chaired by Tim de Lisle, the former editor of Intelligent Life. "The evening produced a worthy winner in Time," he said, "and made for an eye-opening discussion, which ranged from whether the lads' mags of the Nineties were reprehensible to whether today's editors are right to allow stars like Beyonce and Taylor Swift to appear on their cover without giving an interview. What was most striking was the way that magazines that have long since closed down, like Smash Hits and Jackie, live on as influences on today's editors, who grew up loving them. You can take a magazine off the shelves, but you can't take it out of the hearts and minds of its readers."
BEST PRINT WRITER
JOINT WINNERS: Sophie Barnes, Inside Housing, Ocean Media Group &
Catriona Innes, Cosmopolitan, Hearst Magazines UK
Jennifer Savin, Cosmopolitan, Hearst Magazines UK
Kate Green, Country Life, Time Inc. UK
Jonathan Heaf, GQ, Condé Nast Britain
Michael Brooks, New Scientist, New Scientist Ltd
Emanuele Midolo, Property Week, Metropolis
Guy Hobbs, Which Travel?, Which? Ltd
BEST DIGITAL WRITER
WINNER: Jessica Hamzelou, New Scientist, New Scientist Ltd
Jessica Mairs, Dezeen, Dezeen Limited
Stuart McGurk, GQ, Condé Nast Britain
Angus Harrison, VICE, VICE UK
Lisa Galliers, Which?, Which? Ltd
Matt Burgess, Wired.co.uk, Condé Nast Britain
Rowland Manthorpe, Wired.co.uk, Condé Nast Britain
BEST FEATURE IDEA - PRINT
WINNER: Jennifer Savin, Cosmopolitan, Hearst Magazines UK
Alastair Campbell & Jonathan Heaf, GQ, Condé Nast Britain
Laura Atkinson, Sunday Times Style, News UK
Natalie Hitchins, Matt Knight, Paul Lester, Francesca Lo Castro, Victoria Pearson, Ben Stockton & Jack Turner, Which?, Which? Ltd
Faye Lipson, Which? Money, Which? Ltd
Oliver Franklin-Wallis, Wired, Condé Nast Britain
Roisin Dervish-O’Kane, Women’s Health, Hearst Magazines UK
BEST CONTENT IDEA - DIGITAL
WINNER: Oobah Butler, VICE, VICE UK
Grace Lewis, Nagarjuna Thallam & Claire Vandenberghe, C+D, UBM
Catriona Harvey-Jenner, Cosmopolitan.com/UK, Hearst Magazines UK
Conrad Quilty-Harper, GQ.co.uk, Condé Nast Britain
Andrea Moro & Tracy Ramsden, Marie Claire, Time Inc. UK
Andrew Laughlin, Which.co.uk, Which? Ltd
BEST PICTURE EDITOR / RESEARCHER
WINNER: Matt Richardson, Cedar Communications
HIGHLY COMMENDED: Charlie Hall, Mosaicscience.com, Wellcome Trust
Nicole Holcroft-Emmess, Cosmopolitan, Hearst Magazines UK
Hannah Ridley, Harper’s Bazaar, Hearst Magazines UK
Andy Greenacre, Telegraph Magazine, Telegraph Media Group
Kate Hockenhull, The Sunday Times Travel Magazine, News UK
BEST SCOOP
WINNER: Matt Burgess, Wired.co.uk, Condé Nast Britain
Jack Simpson, Construction News, Metropolis
David Hatcher, EG, RBI
Luke Barratt, Inside Housing, Ocean Media Group
Carolyn Wickware, Pulse, Cogora
Trevor Baker, Which? Travel, Which? Ltd
BEST DESIGNER
WINNER: Lauren Atkinson-Smith, National Geographic Traveller (UK), APL Media
Victoria Horn, Cosmopolitan, Hearst Magazines UK
Isabella Fernandes, easyJet Traveller, Ink
Katie Wilkinson, Modus, Sunday
Ryan Wills, New Scientist, New Scientist Ltd
Katerina Varnavides, Waitrose Food, John Brown Media
Nathalie Gimson, Women’s Health, Hearst Magazines UK
BEST STYLIST
WINNER: Lynne McKenna, Fabulous, News UK
Tracey Lea Sayer, Thesun.co.uk/fabulous, News UK
Paula Moore, Woman, Time Inc. UK
BEST SUBBING / PRODUCTION TEAM
WINNER: Lucy Brown & Jon Squire, Inside Housing, Ocean Media Group
HIGHLY COMMENDED: Joanna Bregosz, Angus Dawson, Charlotte Gorbold,
Louise Keable, Claire Kielczewska, Anna Kierstan, Hannah McEwen, Melinda Powers, Paul Ryan, Jack Tomlin, Melanie Train & Alastair Warman, Which?, Which? Ltd
Maria Hodson, BBC Countryfile, Immediate Media Co
Claire Frost, Charlotte Goodwin, Stacey Halls, Michelle Higgins & Kirsty Spence, Fabulous, News UK
BEST ART TEAM
WINNER: Andrew Diprose & Mary Lees, Wired, Condé Nast Britain
Emily Anderson, Steve Ayres, Heather Clark, Emma Earnshaw & Lucy Ford, Country Life,
Time Inc. UK
Amy Blacker, Amy Galvin, Joanna Goodby & Leanne Robson, Harper’s Bazaar, Hearst Magazines UK
James Davies, Danielle Jenkins, Camilla Josephs & Kara Wright, Harrods Magazine, Harrods Ltd
Sam Walker & Katie Wilkinson, Modus, Sunday
Daniel Almeroth, Lauren Atkinson-Smith & Philip Lay, National Geographic Traveller (UK),
APL Media
Kathryn Brazier, Adam Goff, Joe Hetzel, Dave Johnston, Kirstin Kidd, Craig Mackie, David
Stock, Prue Waller & Ryan Wills, New Scientist, New Scientist Ltd
BEST SECTION EDITOR / TEAM
WINNER: Valeria Fiore, Melissa Jacobs, Sofia Lind, Alex Matthews King & Carolyn Wickware, Pulse News Team, Cogora
Morgan Jeffery, DigitalSpy.com TV Editor, Hearst Magazines UK
Emily Cope & Claie Wilson, Fabulous Features Team, News UK
Helena Lee & Hannah Ridley, Harper’s Bazaar Art Supplement, Hearst Magazines UK
Michael Barnett, Mindi Chahal, Thomas Hobbs, Erin Lyons, Leonie Roderick, Charlotte Rogers,
Lucy Tesseras & Sarah Vizard, Marketing Week Features Team, Centaur Media
Richard Webb, New Scientist Features Editor, New Scientist Ltd
Alex Allen, Katie Bowman, Liz Edwards, Alicia Miller, Nick Redman & Lucy Thackray, The
Sunday Times Travel Magazine Features Team, News UK
Yvette Fletcher, Natalie Hitchins, Olivia Howes & Joanna Pearl, Which? Health Team,
Which? Ltd
BEST INNOVATION
WINNER: Olivia Mull, Dezeen, Dezeen Limited
Shoshana Goldberg, Amy Grier, Lottie Lumsden & Farrah Storr, Cosmopolitan, Hearst Magazines UK
Martin Hilditch, Inside Housing, Ocean Media Group
Rosie Benson, Lucy Pavia, Tracy Ramsden, Lydia Regis, Andrea Thompson & Kate Thompson, Marie Claire, Time Inc. UK
Matthew Jackson, Natalie Jackson, Maria Pieri & Pat Riddell, National Geographic Traveller (UK), APL Media
Anna Sbuttoni, Sunday Times Style, News UK
BEST CAMPAIGN
WINNER: Thomas Bell, Kishan Chauhan, Daniella Delaney Mendes, Francesca Lo Castro & Ben Slater, Which?, Which? Ltd
Lucy Alderson & The Editorial Team, Construction News, EMAP
Amy Grier & Farrah Storr, Cosmopolitan, Hearst Magazines UK
Lucy Dunhill, Craig Mackie, Chloe Thompson & Andrew Wilkinson, New Scientist,
New Scientist Ltd
Fleur Britten, Sunday Times Style, News UK
BEST EDITORIAL ASSISTANT
WINNER: Jake Wilson, Match of the Day, Immediate Media Co
Daniel Graham, BBC Countryfile, Immediate Media Co
Megan Shersby, BBC Wildlife, Immediate Media Co
Elizabeth Kennedy, Harrods Magazine, Harrods Ltd
Melissa Lawford, High Life, Cedar Communications
BEST DEPUTY
WINNER: Laurence Mozafari, DigitalSpy.com, Hearst Magazines UK
Gemma Charles, Campaign, Haymarket Media Group
Hannah Hudson, Cedar Communications
Lydia Slater, Harper’s Bazaar, Hearst Magazines UK
Glen Mutel, National Geographic Traveller (UK), APL Media
Jaimie Kaffash, Pulse, Cogora
Jenny Ross, Which? Money, Which? Ltd
THE 2018 FIONA MACPHERSON NEW EDITOR
WINNER: James Waldron, C+D, UBM
HIGHLY COMMENDED: Claire Hodgson, Cosmopolitan.com/UK, Hearst Magazines UK
Tom Rowley, Healthy For Men, The River Group
Patrick Galbraith, Shooting Times & Country, Time Inc. UK
Beth Kennedy, The Pharmacist, Cogora
Rory Boland, Which? Travel, Which? Ltd
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Many thanks to the following for supporting the 2018 BSME Talent Awards:
A pair of tickets for BluesFest at the 02 on 26th October when performers include Robert Plant and Van Morrison
A Briggs & Riley Sympatico Bronze suitcase exclusive to Harrods and guaranteed for life
A Byonik facial - as relaxing as a facial but with medical grade results
An amazing Philosophy hamper worth over £280
A Sweaty Betty All Sport Backpack
A cut and blow dry at one of Taylor Taylor’s London Salons
On Wednesday 23 May at the Citizen M, Tower Hill, the BSME hosted a panel discussion about music magazines, entitled ‘The Rise and Fall and Rise of Music Mags’, with Richard Williams (MM, OGWT, Blue Moment), Jo Frost (Songlines) and Phil Hebblethwaite (Former editor/publisher of The Stool Pigeon, freelance music journalist (BBC Music, The Quietus).
Music magazines are resilient. Despite the proliferation of websites and blogs that can easily embed audio and video files, there is still something special about the appeal of reading about music on the printed page. Look in any mag store (high street or indie), supermarket rack or music shop and you will see dozens of titles – much-loved printed magazines that cover almost every genre. Mags that appeal both to nostalgia and to their readers’ appetites for the next big thing. There are weeklies such as Kerrang! and monthlies including Uncut, Q, Mojo, Mixmag, all with substantial circulation figures.
Add to this titles such as Blues & Soul, DJ Monthly, Maverick, fRoots, Jazzwise, Songlines, relative newcomers such as Long Live Vinyl and Electronic Sound and titles that go back generations, including Jazz Journal (launched in 1946) and The Musical Times (est. 1844). Most genres are covered by at least one print mag.
There are also consumer magazines such as What Hi-Fi and Hi-Fi Choice, the industry weekly Music Week, classical music journals such as Gramophone, Opera, BBC Music magazine and titles focused on the challenges of learning and creating music: Guitar Techniques, Guitar and Bass, Sound on Sound, Future Music, Music Teacher, and so on. The Wire continues to document a dizzyingly wide span of contemporary innovation, while indie title Brick looks at hip-hop with a photographer’s eye. And that’s before we even get on to the topic of fanzines and fiercely local music mags.
These magazines may have little in common apart from a commitment to print and an obsession with music. But maybe that’s enough. All print magazines have to fight their corner of the media landscape. Though the music business is not the cash-stuffed behemoth it seemed to be in the days of the weekly ‘inkies’ (MM, NME, Sounds, Record Mirror, etc.) or the eras of Smash Hits, The Face, Jockey Slut and Straight No Chaser (which recently made a comeback), people continue to love music. Buying magazines about the music they love remains part of the picture.
After an inauspicious start, the growth of podcasts has been one of the content stories of recent times with 24% of UK adults having listened to them in 2017!
But how do you make them work for your title? What content do you need? Who should you get to do them? What equipment do you need to make them work?
Heat’s Lucie Cave chaired a panel of podcast experts to offer insight and answer all of your questions on Tuesday, 6 March at the Which? offices. Sharing their views at this exclusive BSME event were: Empire podcast host Chris Hewitt, David Hepworth from the A Word In Your Ear podcast and Jo Elvin, editor of YOU Magazine and host of the Is it Just Me? podcast.
A bit about our panel…
DAVID HEPWORTH
Legendary music journalist, presenter, writer and publishing industry expert and analyst who has launched several successful British magazines including Q, Heat, Empire and The Word.
Ten years ago he wrote the billing on iTunes for a podcast which said "David Hepworth and Mark Ellen and kindred spirits talk about music and related matters and laugh until they cry."
278 episodes later, the magazine from which it was launched has long gone but the billing is still the same and the podcast soldiers on in the shape of a live event which takes place in a pub in Islington and is subsequently a podcast. Recent guests have included Armando Iannucci and Danny Baker.
JO ELVIN
Award-winning former editor-in-chief of Glamour and incoming editor of YOU magazine, presenter and keynote speaker.
Co-hosted with James Williams, it’s the podcast where they put the trivial front and centre of the conversation. Is it just me who wants to make group dinner outings illegal? Or has a completely different personality, depending on who I’m with at any given moment and it is just me who has absolutely no clue what I’m doing with my life?
Each week Jo and James are joined by a celebrity guest to debate the unimportant matters that somehow really do matter. A lot. Guests have included Jameela Jamil, Suranne Jones, Davina McCall, Graham Norton and Jennifer Saunders to name a small few!
CHRIS HEWITT
The award-winning writer, broadcaster and Associate Editor of Empire (and Empire film podcast host!)
The Empire film podcast – which gets up to 100,000 downloads a week – covers reviews, news and interviews with the world’s biggest filmmakers and actors. Previous guests include Robert de Niro, Harrison Ford, Meryl Streep, Armie Hammer, Tom Hiddleston, Hugh Jackman, Jodie Foster, Jeff Goldblum, Stanley Tucci, Margot Robbie, Sir Ridley Scott, Tom Hanks, Sir Patrick Stewart, Michael Fassbender, Anne Hathaway, Daniel Radcliffe, Denzel Washington and Michelle Williams.
LUCIE CAVE
The event was be moderated by Committee member and Editorial Director of Heat and Bauer Adventure.
