Update, 9:30 a.m., Tuesday, May 21: On May 20, the City and Regional Magazine Association announced that Jeannette Cooperman won for Writer of the Year, Tom White won Designer of the Year, and St. Louis Magazine won best Feature Design for its service package “Best Doughnuts in St. Louis.”
Of Cooperman’s work, the awards video noted, “This is fearless reporting. Cooperman’s ambitious stories are often about difficult subjects. She writes with nuance and restraint. Her writing is engaging and engrossing, stories that start fast and never once let up.”
White was recognized for his work being “consistently strong and varied in stylistic approach,” as well as his ability to “create decorative typography and use the space in each article to create a look that is well-organized and consistent. Whether it’s poster-style or modern design, he proves himself as one of the best.”
Original story:
The City and Regional Magazine Association recently announced the finalists of its annual national magazine awards. St. Louis Magazine was named a finalist in six categories, including Excellence Online, Writer of the Year, and Designer of the Year, among others.
A host of accomplished judges—from the likes of The Atlantic, Fast Company, Harvard Business Review, National Geographic, The New York Times, Oxford American, Sports Illustrated, Time, and The Washington Post, as well as Missouri School of Journalism professors—selected the finalists. SLM was among just a dozen publications that placed in six or more categories. The winners will be announced at CRMA’s annual conference in mid-May.
In the meantime, here’s a brief look at the categories in which SLM is a finalist.
Excellence Online: Stlmag.com
Last year, we published a popular ballot guide in the lead-up to the 2018 midterm. As deputy editor Amanda Woytus wrote, “We tried to write the simplest-ever election guide. Then we realized we were up against a record-breaking ballot.” We also offered a helpful explainer about Missouri’s trio of medical marijuana ballot initiatives. Staff writer Jeannette Cooperman’s long-form print feature sharing the 100-year history of The Muny was enhanced with a behind-the-scenes video, immersive design, and now-and-then photos. For our “50 Reasons to Love St. Louis Now” feature, we invited readers to share why they love the city with a series of custom-made Instagram quizzes. And readers consistently inform our print coverage: For Design STL‘s Best Dressed feature, for example, readers submitted photos of stylish St. Louisans and voted on their faves, with the top vote-getters honored at a reception.
Writer of the Year: Jeannette Cooperman
Cooperman’s among the best and brightest minds in the magazine media industry today. But don’t take our word for it—those are the words of Folio, which named her to its prestigious Folio: 100 list in 2017. The award-winning staff writer’s versatility (and volume of work) is breathtaking. Last year alone, she wrote about a St. Louis woman who was sentenced to life in prison with virtually no evidence, a debutante who joined the circus and married a cowboy, a small municipality’s struggle to pull itself together, changing attitudes about midwives, a group of explorers who’ve experienced adventures you might read about in a Jules Verne novel, and the NRA’s outspoken Dana Loesch. And that’s just the stories that were more than 5,000 words. In 2017, Cooperman won CRMA’s Profile category for her revealing look at Eric Greitens, long before The New York Times wrote about the story and noted, “Cooperman wondered presciently if he was perhaps ‘too good to be true and hiding some dark flaw no one can find.’”
Designer of the Year: Tom White
From last year’s very first issue, you might have noticed some design changes. That’s because White, a previous Designer of the Year finalist, had been working on an update for several months leading up to 2018. “The cover underwent a slight facelift,” he says. Some graphic elements—such as colors, rules, page slugs, and folios—were also redesigned and simplified to evoke a more modern, sophisticated mood. The departments also saw a major overhaul, with all of them moved to the front of the book. “It creates a more intuitive and, hopefully, more enjoyable experience for readers,” White says. The judges agreed.
Profile: Jeannette Cooperman, “The Making of Dana Loesch”
Spread Design: Tom White, “The Making of Dana Loesch”
The opening layout of the October 2018 feature, a disassembled gun, perfectly complements the headline, “The Making of Dana Loesch.” Cooperman spent countless hours reporting on the NRA’s controversial spokesperson and working to strike a balance in the writing. “I sweated every minute of this profile,” she says. “We’re all torn apart like a game of Red Rover these days, and the media are often complicit. But how do you write calmly and fairly about somebody who’s made a career out of polarizing people—and won’t agree to be interviewed? Loesch is fascinating, sharp-witted and sharp-tongued, passionate in her beliefs… I did my best and braced for the worst, but the reaction—from all sides—was remarkably civil.”
Feature Design: Tom White, “The Best Doughnuts in St. Louis”
Among the reasons we love working at a city magazine: the incredibly wide range of stories. One minute, we’re writing about the NRA. The next, doughnuts. White’s playful design perfectly matched the mood of our dining team’s feature on some of St. Louis’ most beloved establishments. The result: around a baker’s dozen of pages filled with grease, sugar, and deliciousness.
