To Our Readers

A Front-Row Seat to History

No vote of confidence is more important to us than the ones we get from our 4 million subscribers. We also get recognized in other ways, such as when the American Society of Magazine Editors last week named our 9/11 coverage the best single-topic issue of the year. Produced in 36 hours and mailed to all subscribers, the issue was designed to be a time capsule of that horrific day, a vivid chronicle that people could read years, decades from now and immediately understand what 9/11 meant. Below are a few other awards that we're especially proud of.

A TERRIBLE DAY, A GIANT STORY, A GIFTED WRITER

When you start writing for TIME, you learn that there's you and then there's Nancy Gibbs. She is a rare combination of workhorse and poet, one who can quickly digest information, then deftly contextualize it. The attacks "assume[d] our faith rests on what we can buy and build," she wrote in the hours after Sept. 11, but "that has never been America's true God." Last week the Society of Professional Journalists recognized Gibbs with its award for best magazine writing. It was a bittersweet moment for all who worked on the piece, but we are proud of her achievement.

PUBLIC-SERVICE REPORTING THAT CLEARS THE AIR

Journalists must be fair and right, but sometimes the two goals conflict. For instance, how does one cover the "debate" over global warming after it's clear the world is getting warmer? With our April 9, 2001, cover on potentially disastrous climate change, Jeffrey Kluger and Michael Lemonick set a new standard for writing on the issue. Lemonick laid out overwhelming evidence that temperatures are rising, while Kluger showed how U.S. policy has to change to avert calamity. A year later, their efforts have won the Overseas Press Club's award for best reporting on the environment.

SOME OF OUR BEST STORIES ARE TOLD WITH FEW WORDS

Each week our graphics team weaves art and words with such skill and clarity that engineers could almost use their images to raise a sunken sub or keep the Tower of Pisa from falling. This year TIME has won eight Malofiej Infographics Awards, including a rare Gold prize for "Raising the Kursk." The Society for News Design, which gives the prizes, cited chief Jackson Dykman and his staff.

WHEN TRAVELING MEANS MORE THAN FREQUENT-FLYER MILES

Most travel correspondents can't do much more than find a palatable mai tai. But Alex Perry, who joined TIME ASIA primarily as a travel writer last year, turned out to be different. He not only asked to cover the Afghan war but became one of the first journalists to reach Mazar-i-Sharif after it fell. He was the only reporter to stay at the Qala-i-Jangi fort when prisoners rioted. Now the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund has named Perry the first recipient of its War Correspondents Award. Perry deserves a vacation, and he surely knows where to take one.