IDG, ALM Lead Neal Award Winners

NEW YORK—IDG and ALM Media dominated the field at the 54th annual Neal Awards, announced during a luncheon ceremony here today at the Waldorf=Astoria.

IDG's CSO won the Grand Neal for an article entitled "Red Gold Rush." IDG won seven Neal Awards in all, including PC World's Techlog for "Best Staff-Written Editorial," a category in which it was competing against itself-all three nominees were owned by IDG.

ALM, which had been nominated for 12 Neals, won five.

Individual award winners included Hanley Wood editorial director Boyce Thompson, who won the 2008 Crain Award for editorial excellence in business media, and DVM Newsmagazine editor-in-chief Daniel Verdo, who won the 2008 McCallister Editorial Fellowship.

"The job of the editor is changing," American Business Media president Gordon Hughes said. "I don't have to tell you that."

"As an editor, you're under pressure to tell the truth," said Thompson, noting that revenue in the residential housing industry has plummeted in recent years but "[Hanley Wood] haven't been hurt nearly as badly."

Harry McCracken, vice president and editor-in-chief of IDG's PC World (and one of three judges for the Crain award), was honored with the Timothy White award for upholding editorial standards and integrity. Said McCracken: "It's your job as an editor to earn and keep the trust of the readers. Period."

Curiously—or perhaps indicative of the volatile state of the print business—no awards were given in the category of "Best Startup Publication."

The full list of finalists, winners in Bold:

Class A: Up to $3M in ad/circ revenue

Best single article

CSO-IDG/CXO Media
IP Law & Business-ALM Media
IP Law & Business-ALM Media

Best subject-related series of articles

Affordable Housing Finance-Hanley Wood
Editor & Publisher-Nielsen Business Media
Rubber & Plastics News-Crain Communications

Best staff-written editorials or opinion columns

Financial Week-Crain Communications
Geriatrics-Advanstar Communications
Produce Business-Phoenix Media Network

Best department

Developer-Hanley Wood
Drovers-Vance Publishing
Editor & Publisher-Nielsen Business Media

Best how-to article or subject-related series

EMS-Cygnus Business Media
Firstline-Advanstar Communications
Surgical Rounds-Ascend Media

Best news coverage

Clean Technology Investor-Financial Information Services
CSO-IDG/CXO Media
Financial Week-Crain Communications

Best single theme or special issue of a magazine or newspaper/news tabloid

CSO-IDG/CXO Media
Plate-Marketing & Technology Group
residential architect-Hanley Wood

Best single issue of a magazine

Affordable Housing Finance-Hanley Wood
Editor & Publisher-Nielsen Business Media
Millimeter-Penton Media

Best single issue of a newspaper/news tabloid

Financial Week-Crain Communications
Waste News-Crain Communications

Class B: Up $3M to $7M in ad/circ revenue

Best single article

Contemporary OB/GYN-Advanstar Communications
Corporate Counsel-ALM Media
Corporate Counsel-ALM Media

Best subject-related series of articles

Corporate Counsel-ALM Media
DVM Newsmagazine-Advanstar Communications
Truckers News-Randall-Reilly

Best staff-written editorials or opinion columns

Commercial Carrier Journal-Randall-Reilly
The Journal of Family Practice-Lebhar-Friedmann/Dowden Health
Overdrive-Randall-Reilly

Best department

EC&M-Penton Media
Government Computer News-1105 Media

Best how-to article or subject-related series

Counselor-Advertising Specialty Institute
The Gourmet Retailer-Nielsen Business Media

Best news coverage

DVM Newsmagazine-Advanstar Communications
DVM Newsmagazine-Advanstar Communications
The Packer-Vance Publishing

Best single theme or special issue of a magazine or newspaper/news tabloid

Counselor-Advertising Special Institute
Heavy Duty Trucking-Newport Communications Group
U.S. Banker-SourceMedia

Best single issue of a magazine

American Spa-Questex Media Group
Heavy Duty Trucking-Newport Communications Group
Photo District News-Nielsen Business Media

Best single issue of a newspaper/news tabloid

Convenience Store News-Nielsen Business Media
Government Computer News-1105 Media
Legal Times-ALM Media

Class C: More than $7M in ad/circ revenue

Best single article

The American Lawyer-ALM Media
CRN-United Business Media
Registered Rep.-Penton Media

Best subject-related series of articles

Adweek-Nielsen Business Media
Builder-Hanley Wood
PC World-IDG/PC World Communications

Best staff-written editorials or opinion columns

Computer World-IDG/Compterworld
Computer World-IDG/Compterworld
PC World-IDG/PC World Communications

Best department

The American Lawyer-ALM Media
CFO-CFO
PC World-IDG/PC World Communications

Best how-to article or subject-related series

Builder-Hanley Wood
CIO-IDG/CXO Media
The Progressive Farmer-DTN

Best news coverage

Builder-Hanley Wood
CIO-IDG/CXO Media
Engineering News-Record-The McGraw-Hill Companies

Best single theme or special issue of a magazine or newspaper/news tabloid

The American Lawyer-ALM Media
The American Lawyer-ALM Media
Builder-Hanley Wood

Best single issue of a magazine

The American Lawyer-ALM Media
CFO-CFO
Meetings & Conventions-Northstar Travel Media

Best single issue of a newspaper/news tabloid

Nation's Restaurant News-Lebhar-Friedman
Nation's Restaurant News-Lebhar-Friedman
Travel Weekly-Northstar Travel Media

Class D: No revenue breakdown

Best start-up publication

No awards given

Class E: Traffic-Fewer than 100,000 unique visitors/mo.

Best Web site

GreenSourceMag.com-The McGraw-Hill Companies
LegalTimes.com-ALM Media
ThePacker.com-Vance Publishing

Best online article or series

No awards given

Best blog

BackStage.com-Nielsen Business Media
DDIMagazine.com-Nielsen Business Media
Jewelers' Circular-Keystone Online-Reed Business Information (JCKOnline.com)

Class F: Traffic-100,000 to 500,000 unique visitors/mo.

Best Web site

Architectural Record-The McGraw-Hill Companies (ArchRecord.com)
Engineering News-Record Online-The McGraw-Hill Companies (ENR.com)
Workforce Management Online-Crain Communications (Workforce.com)

Best online article or series

Architectural Record-The McGraw-Hill Companies (ArchRecord.com)DesignNews.com-Reed Business Information
Millimeter Online-Penton Media (DigitalContentProducer.com)

Best blog

EDN.com-Reed Business Information
Television Week Online-Crain Communication(TVWeek.com)
Workforce Management Online-Crain Communications (Workforce.com)

Class G: Traffic-More than 500,000 unique visitors/mo.

Best Web site

Computerworld.com-IDG/Computerworld
Forbes.com-Forbes.com
PCWorld.com-IDG/PW World Communications

Best online article or series

Computerworld.com-IDG/Computerworld
Forbes.com-Forbes.com
NetworkWorld.com-IDG/Network World

Best blog

Computerworld.com-IDG/Computerworld
InformationWeek.com-United Business Media
PC Magazine Online-Ziff Davis Media (PCMag.com)

Grand Neal Award

CSO-IDG/CXO Media ("Red Gold Rush")