Take a Look at Matter’s Two ASME-Nominated Stories

On being finalists for two National Magazine Awards.

Journalism is a strange business. You look at the work you do and feel proud — but still envy the work of others. Or you look at the numbers, and you see they’re all going up — but are you really making progress? That goes for almost every outlet, although we feel it keenly at Matter given the kind of slightly-insane, often-weird, always-ambitious journalism we publish.

But then, once in a while, you get a bit of feedback that feels different, bigger: A really satisfying hit, or a nod from your peers.

And so we were delighted and a little amazed when Matter received two nominations in the 2015 National Magazine Awards, also known as the Ellies, also known as the Oscars of the Magazine Publishing World™. Being finalists puts us against some titanic competitors: The Atlantic, Harper’s, New York magazine, TIME. But for an insurgent publication with a tiny staff who work exhaustingly hard and often feel like lunatics, it’s a big deal. And that the nominations come for two of our most difficult, dangerous, edgy stories? Even better.

So, here they are. Take a look, enjoy the reads, and good luck to them, and all the other finalists.

Nominated for:

Public Interest

Honors magazine journalism that illuminates issues of national importance

By Luke Malone, with illustrations by Simon Prades

Nominated for:

Feature Photography

Honors the use of original photography in a feature story, photo-essay or photo portfolio

By Matthieu Aikins, with photographs and video by Sebastiano Tomada

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