Koch Industries Fault Ellie Nomination for "New Yorker"

Koch Industries has written ASME to object to the nomination of Jane Mayer's New Yorker story "Covert Operations" for a National Magazine Award in Reporting. The letter is posted on the Koch Industries website. Here is ASME's reply to the letter:


April 22, 2011

Mark V. Holden, Esq.
Senior Vice-President, General Counsel and Secretary
Koch Industries, Inc.
4111 East 37th Street North
Wichita, KS 67220

By Email

Dear Mr. Holden:

Thank you for your letter regarding Jane Mayer’s story “Covert Operations,” published in The New Yorker on August 30, 2010.

As the sponsor of the National Magazine Awards since 1966, ASME deliberately eschews any attempt to influence the decisions of the judges who choose the finalists and winners. I can assure you that when the awards are announced on May 9, the winner of the 2011 National Magazine Award for Reporting will have been chosen by an impartial panel of experienced journalists.

Sincerely,

Sid Holt
Chief Executive


As ASME members know, the National Magazine Awards judging took place on March 1 and 2, more than six weeks before ASME received the Koch Industries letter. The five articles nominated for Reporting were:

Harper’s Magazine
Roger D. Hodge, Editor
For “The Guantanamo ‘Suicides,’” by Scott Horton
March

The New York Times Magazine
Gerald Marzorati, Editor-in-Chief
For “The Desert War,” by Robert F. Worth
July 11

The New Yorker
David Remnick, Editor
For “Covert Operations,” by Jane Mayer
August 30

Rolling Stone
Jann S. Wenner, Editor and Publisher
Will Dana, Managing Editor
For “The Runaway General,” by Michael Hastings
July 8-22

Virginia Quarterly Review
Ted Genoways, Editor
For “Digging Out,” essay and photographs by Elliott D. Woods
Fall

The winner and other finalists will be honored at the National Magazine Awards dinner on Monday, May 9, at 583 Park Avenue in New York City. A limited number of tickets is still available. Click here to register.