Yesterday, the Society of American Business Editors and Writers announced that FORTUNE journalists had won five of its 2017 “Best in Business” reporting awards and were honorable mentions in two more—a tally far more than any other magazine’s.
As the many thousands of you who read this newsletter know, I’ve written a few times recently about our FORTUNE Brainstorm Health conference, which kicks off in Laguna Niguel, California, in just 10 days. And I’ve discussed many of our other conferences as well, from our Global Forum to our CEO Initiative to our annual Most Powerful Women Summit. We’re (justifiably, I think) proud of their individual missions, and of the deep, hands-on engagement to problem solving that each of them brings.
Over the past year, of course, I’ve highlighted a number of breaking stories on our robust website, Fortune.com, where our well-sourced digital reporting team never stops reporting—and where our superstar digital editor, Andrew Nusca, never stops working. Ever. (Someone really should talk to him about that.)
But as critical as such platforms are, we’ve also been reporting stories in an old-fashioned medium—and in an old-fashioned way—for the past 88 years. That medium, of course, is our print magazine. And the latest honors from SABEW—which is to say, from our peers in business journalism across the realms of newspapers, magazines, and the web—are testament to how vital this flagship is.
And so, if you’re not already a subscriber, please take a moment to become one—to join us in our reporting mission. Here’s a link. You can get a year of FORTUNE delivered to your doorstep for less than a week’s worth of cappuccinos. If you are a subscriber, then please consider giving a gift subscription to someone who ought to be. They’ll thank you for it. (And so will I.)
Below are seven reasons—laid out by my tireless colleague Andrew Nusca yesterday on Fortune.com—why you should. (I’m repeating his summaries, for the most part, here.)
1) “Whatever It Takes to Win,” by Jen Wieczner—a 2017 SABEW winner for markets coverage, which digs into the sophisticated and sometimes controversial tactics used by Paul Singer’s wildly successful hedge fund, Elliott Management.
2) “Welcome to Tomorrow Land,” by Vivienne Walt—a 2017 SABEW winner in International Reporting: a dispatch from Estonia, the tiny cutting-edge European country that has become a 21st century model for technology.
3) “The Last Railroad Tycoon,” by Shawn Tully—a 2017 SABEW winner in the Travel/Transportation beat. Shawn’s profile of Hunter Harrison, the late, mysterious railroad tycoon and turnaround artist, is a tale for the ages.
4) “The Billion-Dollar Loophole,” by Peter Elkind and in collaboration with ProPublica (edited by ProPublica’s legendary Nick Varchaver)—a 2017 SABEW winner in the Banking/Finance category. This investigation into the Republican tax plan reveals that many of the biggest tax-avoidance schemes have been left untouched—and how a cottage industry has sprung up to cash in on one of them.
5) “Can AT&T Retrain 100,000 People?” by Aaron Pressman—a 2017 SABEW winner in the Management/Career category—takes us inside the enormous telecommunications company as it tries to chase the future and yet, somehow, not leave its employees behind.
6) “Blockchain Mania!” by Robert Hackett and Jeff John Roberts— which received an honorable mention in the Technology category: an explanation (one that you actually understand) for why businesses everywhere are so captivated by blockchain technology.
7) “A Boom with a View,” Erin Griffith’s wonderful, sharp-eyed column on the Silicon Valley worldview and on tech’s impact on society, received an honorable mention in the Commentary/Opinion category.
Again, please take a moment to keep this kind of thoughtful, probing journalism going: Become part of FORTUNE’s subscriber family. Thanks.
This essay appears in today’s edition of the Fortune Brainstorm Health Daily. Get it delivered straight to your inbox.
