"A Triumph of the Newsmagazine's Craft"

By James Kelly, Managing Editor

In an age when noisy posturing too often substitutes for reasoned debate and brash opinion trumps hard fact, we try to offer the kind of in-depth reporting, cool-minded analysis and vivid photography that readers will find authoritative and compelling. You are the ultimate judge of how well we meet our goals, but it is also rewarding when our peers in journalism judge us to excel at what we do. The American Society of Magazine Editors did just that last week when my colleagues and I received two Ellies, one for General Excellence and the other for our special issue last September on Hurricane Katrina, which the judges called "a triumph of the newsmagazine's craft." Overall, they said, "TIME keeps reinvigorating its role as a newsweekly and demonstrates its relevance and importance in a changing media world."

Viewed from a certain angle, the Alexander Calder--designed stabile resembles an elephant; viewed from any angle, an Ellie is the most prestigious prize that a magazine can win.

As if winning two of them were not enough for one week, we also held our second annual TIME 100 dinner, marking the most influential people in the world. (That's Stephen Colbert holding a copy of the special issue with our 2006 list.) Paul Simon and the Dixie Chicks performed, and Senator John McCain, Katie Couric, Wynton Marsalis and Pakistani activist Mukhtaran Bibi toasted those who had influenced them. Nearly 100 Influentials were on hand that evening, including U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Ralph Nader, Will Smith, George Lucas, Nobel laureate James Watson, Bill Belichick and Dr. Andrew Weil. We also attracted such political opposites as Bill O'Reilly and Al Franken, which I like to think proves my point that TIME is an honest broker of the news, whether it be in the magazine or on TIME.com

o Time Warner president and COO Jeffrey Bewkes and CNN's Paula Zahn

o Power couple Marc Anthony and Jennifer Lopez with Mayor Michael Bloomberg

o Mukhtaran Bibi of Pakistan

o Eva Wanjiku Muraya of Kenya with Time Inc. chairman and CEO Ann Moore and Queen Rania al-Abdullah of Jordan

o Daddy Yankee with the Swarovski crystal award each honoree receives

o Frederic de Narp of Cartier with Ralph and Ricky Lauren

o TIME managing editor James Kelly with the U.S. Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice

o Time Warner chairman and CEO Richard Parsons and Senator John McCain

o Paul Simon

o Sean (Diddy) Combs embraces Martha Stewart

o TIME president and worldwide publisher Edward McCarrick with honoree Will Smith

o Consumer advocate Ralph Nader with Time Inc. editor-in-chief John Huey

o Comedian Stephen Colbert toasts and roasts his fellow honorees

o Rain, Korea's musical sensation

o Al Franken and George Lucas

o Emily Robison, Natalie Maines and Martie Maguire of the Dixie Chicks

o Bill O'Reilly of Fox News

o Tom Freston, president and CEO of Viacom, and musician Wynton Marsalis

o Katie Couric