Winner: Memphis magazine

In 1976, Downtown was declining and Beale Street was a ghost town; Elvis had but a year to live, and a Memphis-based company called Federal Express was turning five years old.

And a few months before the bicentennial, a magazine called City of Memphis made its debut.

Thirty-one years later, Memphis magazine (it was renamed in 1977) is still the chronicler of the Bluff City, its people, places and history and was voted by readers as Most Meritorious Magazine.

A revamp of the magazine in 2006 was symbolic of the city itself, says editor Mary Helen Tibbs. The feedback on the new look was “overwhelmingly positive, which was a wonderful surprise,” says Tibbs. “People don’t always like change, but the time had come for the city magazine to reflect the change the city itself had undergone.”

Tibbs cites the readers themselves as being the reason for the magazine’s continuing evolution and success. “It means a lot for us to know that our readers are being both informed and entertained by the work we do.”

Finalists: Memphis Sport; Mid-South Golfer/RSVP (tie)