MAGAZINES: Ebony at 50

MAGAZINES: Ebony at 50
▪ 1996

      It was 1945 and World War II had ended when the premiere issue of Ebony magazine hit the newsstands in November. The brainchild of Johnson Publishing Co. founder John Johnson, Ebony (so christened by Johnson's wife) was the second publication to evolve from the company that had begun just three years earlier with $500 and a dream. As a 24-year-old newspaper editor in 1942, Johnson borrowed the money to produce Negro Digest, the flagship publication of his fledgling company. The magazine chronicled a sampling of events taking place within the black community that went largely unreported by the mass media. Three years later Ebony, a sister publication, was born.

      "Ebony," explained Johnson, "was founded to project all dimensions of the Black personality in a world saturated with stereotypes. . . . Blacks needed positive images to fulfill their potentialities." Never intended as a black version of such weeklies as Time or Newsweek, Ebony was a monthly with a photo-editorial format and was designed to infuse a much-needed sense of self-esteem into the black community by illustrating in words and pictures the varied accomplishments of the African-American populace, thereby replacing negative images with positive ones. In the 50 years from the magazine's inception, it annually claimed the number one position as the most widely circulated and popular magazine of its kind.

      Ebony's original press run was 25,000 copies (but another 25,000 copies had to be quickly printed in order to meet demand). By 1995 Ebony was available in more than 40 countries, reported a monthly circulation of two million copies, and gauged its overall monthly readership at 11 million people. Linda Johnson Rice, Johnson's daughter, served from 1987 as president and chief operating officer of the corporation, which had annual revenues in excess of $250 million in 1995 and reached, through its publications, more than half of all African-American adults across a broad spectrum. Rice once remarked, "I guess we have been successful and have been number one for so long that I believe fundamentally we must be doing something right."

      In addition to the magazine's focus on family, relationships, fitness, and finances, Ebony had over the years featured articles written by such well-known figures as first lady Eleanor Roosevelt, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, and poet Gwendolyn Brooks. In keeping with this tradition, the magazine's 50th-anniversary issue contained articles written by Coretta Scott King, Maya Angelou, and four U.S. presidents, including Bill Clinton. (ANTHONY L. GREEN)

* * *


Universalium. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем решить контрольную работу

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Ebony Bones — Nom Ebony Thomas Naissance Londres Pays d’origine  Royaume Uni Activi …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Ebony Ayes — Female adult bio photo= |birth= birth date and age|1962|1|28 [http://www.iafd.com/person.rme/perfid=EAyes/gender=f Ebony Ayes] , Internet Adult Film Database.] location= death= birthname= measurements= (as of 2000): 36JJ 26 38 (91 66 97) height=… …   Wikipedia

  • List of magazines by circulation — Magazines This is a list of magazines by circulation. A magazine s circulation is the number of copies it distributes, on average, for each issue. Today, the most widely distributed magazine in the world is the Watchtower Announcing Jehovah s… …   Wikipedia

  • List of United States magazines — This is a list of magazines from the United States.For a complete list, see .Agriculture* Bovine Veterinarian * Citrus Vegetable * Dairy Herd Management * Dealer Applicator * Drovers Magazine * The Grower * Hoard s Dairyman * The Packer * Porker… …   Wikipedia

  • Dan Burley — (November 7, 1907, Lexington, Kentucky October 29, 1962, Chicago, Illinois) was an American pianist and journalist. He appeared on numerous network television and radio shows in the US and had two radio shows of his own on WWRL Radio in New York …   Wikipedia

  • Michael DeMond Davis — (January 1939–November 13, 2003, age 64) was a Pulitzer prize nominated journalist and a pioneer in African American journalism, opening the doors for many African American writers. Davis authored Black American Women in Olympic Track and Field… …   Wikipedia

  • Chicago — Pour les articles homonymes, voir Chicago (homonymie). 41° 52′ 57″ N 87° 37′ 51″ W …   Wikipédia en Français

  • America's Next Top Model, Cycle 5 — Promotional photograph of the cast of Cycle 5 of America s Next Top Model Format Reality TV Created by Tyra Banks …   Wikipedia

  • Spirit (comics) — The Spirit redirects here. For the live action adaptation, see The Spirit (film). For other uses, see Spirit (disambiguation). Spirit Cover detail, The Spirit #6 (Feb. 1975), Warren Publishing. Art by Will Eisner and Ken Kelley …   Wikipedia

  • John H. Johnson — Infobox Person name = John H. Johnson image size = | caption = known for = Chairman and CEO of Johnson Publishing Company birth date = Birth date|1918|01|19 birth place = Arkansas City, Arkansas death date = Death date and… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”