Vibe Magazine Wins 2002 NMA Award

Vibe magazine, which was founded by the legendary Quincy Jones, won the 2002 National Magazine Award in the category of General Excellence in its circulation division (400,000 to 1,000,000). The urban themed magazine beat out The New Yorker, Jane, Gourmet and Wired. Under the direction of Emil Wilbekin, who has been editor-in-chief of the magazine […]

Vibe magazine,

which was founded by the legendary Quincy Jones, won the 2002 National Magazine

Award in the category of General Excellence in its circulation division (400,000

to 1,000,000). The urban themed magazine beat out The New Yorker, Jane, Gourmet

and Wired.

Under the direction of Emil Wilbekin, who has been editor-in-chief of the magazine

since August 1999, this is the magazine’s first win in the General Excellence

category. Vibe has been nominated for a National Magazine Award seven times

in its nine-year history. “Winning this award is not only an honor, but recognition

of the magazine’s accomplishments and the prominence that hip-hop has achieved

in American culture," Vibe’s publicist Leah Watkins told AllHipHop.com

The National Magazine Awards, the industry’s

most prestigious award, honors excellence and encourages vitality as determined

by the American Society of Magazine Editors (ASME). The General Excellence category,

the most prominent award, honors a magazine for achieving its editorial objectives.

"Hip-hop gives people of color a voice. It is the new rock and roll. Vibe

excels at showing how hip hop interacts with the culture as a whole; with movies

and fashion and other elements," Watkins added.