The American Society of Business Publication Editors (ASBPE) hosted an online celebration May 13 to honor its 2021 National Azbee Award winners, highlighting winners in the Overall Excellence division. ASBPE also recognized this year’s Stephen Barr Award winner, Young Leader Scholars and the inaugural Diversity Fellows.
Top Azbee honors
The following are the Overall Excellence winners for the 2021 Azbees:
Pharma Manufacturing from Putman Media received the 2021 Magazine of the Year award for the 10 or More Issues per Year group. According to Azbee judges’ feedback, this publication is “a real page-turner,” even for those outside of the pharmaceutical industry. It features great writing and story choices. In 2020, the publication reported on the pandemic and production issues in the pharmaceutical industry.
IR Update from National Investor Relations Institute (NIRI) received the 2021 Magazine of the Year award for the 9 or Fewer Issues per Year group. According to Azbee judges, IR Update features strong, in-depth reporting on the legal and regulatory shifts impacting the investor relations community. In 2020, the publication tackled tough issues such as racism, gender pay gap and the pandemic.
BioPharma Dive from Industry Dive received the 2021 Website of the Year award. According to judge feedback, BioPharma Dive features a strong website that featured good coverage on the pandemic and other issues of interest in 2020. The website features top-notch reporting and writing, and the publication provides its readers with a variety of special projects on topics of interest to them.
IDG Communications’ CIO magazine received the 2021 Multi-Platform Package of the Year award for its “2020 State of the CIO” package. According to Azbee judges, this project made good use of video, social media and topical articles to communicate survey findings and forecasting. It incorporates pull quotes, charts and graphics that guide readers through the copy.
IDG Communications’ CIO magazine also received the 2021 Social Media Account of the Year award. According to judge feedback, the publication’s LinkedIn page is “impressive” with frequent, informative posts as well as videos. The page has garnered a large audience over the last year.
Young Leader Scholarships
ASBPE announced recipients in its annual Young Leader Scholarship program, this year recognizing three journalists under age 30 with at least two years’ experience in B2B media. The three recipients are Danielle Hess, senior reporter at Hotel News Now (CoStar Group); Jessica Mathews, associate editor at Financial Planning (Arizent); and Erica Mixon, content marketing manager at Blumira.
Diversity Fellows
ASBPE launched an inaugural Diversity Fellowship award. This year, four B2B professionals were recognized, including Chris Gaetano, staff writer and blogger for Trusted Professional (NYSSCPA); Ruksana Hussain, a freelancer and founder/publisher of Traveler and Tourist magazine; Asia Martin, staff writer at Wealth Management (Informa); and Davina Van Buren, a freelance B2B writer, editor and sole proprietor of DvB Media Inc.
Stephen Barr Award winner
During the online celebration, ASBPE interviewed and then surprised Rich Daly, former senior editor of hfm magazine.
Daly received the Stephen Barr Award for his December 2020 cover article, “Where did our sickest patients go?” According to the ASBPE Foundation, which distributes this award, Daly’s article was very timely and offered development on one of the biggest concerns in the health care finance business.
This was the 18th annual Stephen Barr Award, named for one of ASBPE’s most honored journalists. Stephen Barr died of cancer in 2002 at the age of 43. Unlike other awards in the organization’s Azbee Awards competition, this award honors an individual’s writing across its feature writing categories, especially work that shows inventiveness, insight, balance, depth of investigation and impact on readers. A check for $500 accompanies the award, endowed by Stephen Barr’s parents and administered by the ASBPE Foundation.