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.
