National Geographic made headlines recently for winning a National Magazine Award in reporting. The win was considered something of a coup, given that National Geographic is famous for its photography, but not necessarily for its prose, yet it beat out heavyweights including The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, and Vanity Fair. (Another shout-out should be given to local heroes Ted Genoways and the staff of the Virginia Quarterly Review for their win in the Single-Topic Issue category, and their nominations in the Photojournalism and General Excellence categories.)
But I would like to turn your attention to National Geographic’s online excellence. The ASMEs are all well and good, but the Webby Awards were also recently announced; while National Geographic did not win in the People’s Voice category for which it was nominated for its “Your Shot” feature, it should have. The “Your Shot” element of the site invites anyone—amateur photographer, professional, beginner—to submit a favorite photograph online. The magazine’s photo editor then selects 12 photographs each day (“The Daily Dozen”) and publishes them on the website, while the best of the Daily Dozen is published each month in the print magazine. Going back through the Daily Dozen archives is like traveling around the world with a multiplicity of traveling companions, each with a perspective that can teach you something. Moreover, none of these people are Bill Allard-style pros (go here), so it’s a perspective that really puts the “Hey, I could do that” impulse within healthy, inspiring reach.