Ebony
Ebony
Published by the Johnson Publishing Company, Ebony has the largest circulation of any African-American periodical. Founded in 1945, it grew out of an attempt by publisher John H. Johnson to please two staff members who wanted to start an entertainment magazine, Jive. Johnson agreed to a three-way partnership on the project, but the two staffers were unable to put up money, so Johnson assumed full ownership. Johnson changed the style of the proposed magazine into one whose philosophy would be to highlight the positive side of African-American life, emphasizing black pride and achievements rather than oppression and poverty. Recognizing the widespread appeal of photos, Johnson planned a monthly glamour magazine on glossy paper, in the style of the popular weekly Life, filled with pictures of prominent and successful blacks. The new magazine, which Johnson named Ebony (after the beautiful and strong black wood), was planned during World War II, but because of paper restrictions, the first issue did not appear until November 1, 1945. Johnson had pledged to accept no advertisements until circulation reached 100,000; the magazine was an immediate success and the first ads appeared in the May 1946 issue. By May 1947, when Ebony became the first African-American periodical large enough to be audited by the Audit Bureau of Circulation, its circulation had reached 309,715. Despite its prestige and large circulation, however, poor advertising revenues made it unprofitable until Johnson secured advertising contracts from white firms previously reluctant to purchase space in African-American publications.
Ebony has drawn some criticism over the years for the showy, escapist nature of its features and its emphasis on the activities of wealthy blacks, although the magazine took a more activist direction starting in the era of the civil rights movement. Over time, the magazine has added sections on cooking, health, and gossip. The enormous success of Ebony has inspired numerous competitors over the years, and the magazine has had numerous spin-offs, including the periodicals Ebony Man, the now defunct Ebony Jr., the Ebony Fashion Fair traveling fashion show, and the syndicated television program Ebony/Jet Showcase.
In the 1990s the magazine's circulation was about 1.9 million, of which 12 percent were white, and Ebony was distributed in some forty countries, including many in Africa. African-American stars came out in force in 1996 to celebrate fifty years of the magazine in a TV special titled Celebrate the Dream: 50 Years of Ebony Magazine.
Ebony presented a redesigned look and new features with its issue of July 2003, the journal's first major update in more than two decades. Circulation in 2004 was estimated at about 1.6 million.
See also Black World/Negro Digest; Jet ; Journalism
Bibliography
Graves, Earl. "Johnson Celebrates 50th," Black Enterprise 23 (November 1992): 26.
Jackson, Jesse. "Growing Up with Ebony. " Ebony 51, no. 1 (November 1995): 50th anniversary issue.
Johnson, John H., and Lerone Bennett Jr. Succeeding Against the Odds, Chicago: Johnson Publishing Co., 1989.
greg robinson (1996)
Updated by publisher 2005