David M. Granger

David Granger (born October 31, 1956)^[1] was named editor-in-chief of Esquire Magazine in June 1997. Since his arrival, the magazine has entered its most successful era. Between 1998 and 2016, Esquire was a finalist for 72 National Magazine Awards, the industry's highest honors, and won 17, including the award for General Excellence in 2006. In 2004, the magazine received four National Magazine Awards, the most of any magazine in America. And in 2009, it won three, again the most of any magazine. Granger is also the editorial director of Popular Mechanics magazine.

Education

Granger has a Masters degree in English from the University of Virginia and a B.A. from the University of Tennessee.

Early career

After graduate school, Granger held positions as executive editor of Adweek and Mediaweek; he worked on the launch of The National Sports Daily and served as its executive features editor; he helped launch Sports, Inc., the Sports Business Weekly, and worked as an editor at Sport Magazine and Family Weekly prior to that.

Before becoming editor-in-chief at Esquire, Granger was the executive editor at GQ for nearly six years.

Multi-media expansion

Esquire has also been expanding the limits of its medium. In the fall of 2008, the magazine published an issue that merged digital technology with a mass-produced print product for the first time, embedding an electronic paper display in its 75th anniversary issue cover. In the first half of 2009, it created a stir by, first, putting a window in its cover and then, three months later, creating the first-ever “mix n match” cover of a magazine. And in December 2009, Esquire created the first Augmented Reality issue of a magazine ever. Esquire’s applications for the iPad have been deemed “groundbreaking” and the magazine won the first ever National Magazine Award for mobile editions in 2011.

In 2006, Granger oversaw the launch of Esquire’s Big Black Book, the twice-a-year “style manual for the successful man.” It recently celebrated its fifth anniversary.

In 2013, Esquire partnered with NBCUniversal to launch a new television network, the "Esquire Network", available in more than 70 million households. And in 2015, Esquire entered the spirits business by partnering with Jefferson’s Bourbon to release a pre-made cocktail, the Esquire Manhattan.

In late 2014, Granger and Senior Editor Tyler Cabot launched Esquire Labs, a skunkworks for experimentation in the business of narrative. Early projects include editorial collaboration with Medium, the launch of Esquire Classics and the creation of a complete digital archive of Esquire.

Awards

Esquire has been honored with numerous awards over Granger’s tenure. The Society of Publication Designers named Esquire Magazine of the Year in 2001 and it was a finalist for the award again in 2005, 2006, 2008 and 2010. It has been listed as one of America’s Most Important Magazines, by the University of Missouri School of Journalism. In 2004 and again in 2010, Granger was named the magazine industry’s Editor of the Year, by Advertising Age and Adweek, respectively. He was recently awarded the Missouri Honor Medal for contributions to journalism.

References