Publisher of iconic black magazines files for bankruptcy

[left-of-center2012]

https://www.apnews.com/b4a6800689a045a0b4c703385983b6c1

CHICAGO (AP) — Johnson Publishing Co., owner of the iconic Ebony and Jet magazines that helped changed the negative image of black people portrayed by U.S. media, filed for bankruptcy liquidation Tuesday in a federal court in Chicago.

In announcing the Chapter 7 bankruptcy petition, the company said it was “caught in a tidal wave of marketplace changes and business issues which, despite exhaustive efforts, could not be overcome.” The issues included the bankruptcy of a major retailer that carried its Fashion Fair Cosmetics line, a “costly recall” of products and increasing competition from digital rivals, the company said.

John H. Johnson founded the company in 1942 when he launched Negro Digest with a $500 loan from his mother. The magazine summarized newspaper articles about black life. Key to the company’s growth was Ebony magazine, founded in 1945 and patterned after Life magazine, one of the nation’s leading magazines at the time. The average monthly circulation of Ebony was around 2 million for a time in the 1990s, making it the largest magazine catering to blacks.

After reporting revenues in the hundreds of millions in the 1990s, the company’s fortunes began to decline after Johnson died in 2005 and magazines in general began to struggle as advertisers moved to alternative media.

[marble falls]

1. Very, very sad news. I hope someone will pick this up out of bankruptcy and continue publishing.

[sinkingfeeling]

2. How sad. Seems like everything from my younger days has

gone bankrupt.

[qwlauren35]

3. Jet was fun.

Jet was the companion magazine. I remember reading about the beautiful high society weddings, the obituaries, the Jet photo of the week.

It seemed like everyone subscribed except us. So I had to go to someone else's house to read it, or sneak a peek at the grocery store.