The 2009 Magazine of the Year trophy goes to COSMOS. L to R: Wilson da Silva (editor), Kylie Ahern (publisher), Geoff Hird (chairman, Publishers Australia).

SYDNEY: COSMOS scooped the top honours at Australia's annual Bell Awards for publishing excellence, taking out the coveted Magazine of the Year trophy and six others.

The 2009 awards, given annually by the magazine industry association Publishers Australia, were held on November 13 before at Doltone House at Darling Island Wharf, in Sydney.

Judges said COSMOS "displayed a commitment to publishing excellence and innovation," and "provided more ways for its readers to meaningfully interact with the content … [and] embraced new ways of marketing itself to its readers, including the use of relevant social media and cause marketing."

Clearly connected with its readership

They also said COSMOS "was able to demonstrate success on metrics including subscriptions, readership and engagement."

The awards, across 25 categories, acknowledge the talent, expertise and outstanding achievements over the past year of print and online publications. They're judged by a panel of 21 independent industry specialists and academics drawn from advertising, publishing, marketing, editorial, online and audit agencies such as Nielsen and Circulations Audit Board.

COSMOS also won Best Consumer Magazine and Best Publisher, with judges saying the team behind it "clearly demonstrated success in all that they do. Product extensions through engagement with schools and government, and the use of social media initiatives such as Hello From Earth, were very clever.

"Their content and design is very friendly despite covering complex issues," they added. "and clearly connected with its readership community, providing content that plays a meaningful role in their lives."

Top in analytical writing and digital engagement

Deputy Editor John Pickrell picked up the Best Analytical Writing for "Oceans of Acid", a feature on the damage climate change is wreaking on the Great Barrier Reef. This is the third year in a row COSMOS has taken out this category.

Best Digital Engagement Strategy went to the magazine's innovative Hello From Earth website, a Science Week initiative in which people were asked to submit messages to be transmitted to Gliese 581d, the nearest Earth-like planet outside our Solar System with the potential to support life.

Launched by Australian Science Minister Kim Carr, it had the support of the CSIRO and NASA, who transmitted the message from the Canberra Deep Space Communications Complex in August.