Is Johnson Publishing's Ebony Magazine Up For Sale?

Is Ebony Magazine up for sale? I realized that something was terribly amiss when the Ebony Fashion Fair, which has been a glamorous social event in dozens of U.S. cities for 50 years, was suddenly canceled by Johnson Publishing, the parent company of Ebony Magazine. The company, which was founded by the late John H. Johnson, cited a lack of corporate sponsorship due to the economic quagmire. It has been a tough year for publishing company on a whole due to layoffs, closures and so on. According to media reports, it appears that Johnson Publishing's chairman and CEO, Linda Johnson Rice, has reached an agonizing decision -- sell the magazine that has been an integral part in the lives of African Americans for decades. It is unclear whether the company's other publications, including Jet, would be part of a possible sale. Where are all the black multimillionaires? Why not form a consortium and be the purchaser of this storied publication?

Ebony Magazine covers (Newsweek Magazine)

According to media and investment executives familiar with the developments, Chicago-based Rice, the daughter of Ebony's legendary founder, the late John H. Johnson, has approached, among others, Time Inc., Viacom, and private investors that include buyout firms. Time Inc., the world's largest periodical publisher, already owns Essence, a monthly lifestyle, beauty, and fashion magazine for African-American women. Viacom, meanwhile, owns BET (Black Entertainment Television), which has clearly not lived up to its ideals. BET has become a joke. It would be a real shame if the last African American publishing company loses its autonomy and becomes a part of a bigger company that will undoubtedly change the focus and the face of the magazine.

According to one top magazine executive, Johnson Publishing is requiring potential bidders to sign a confidentiality agreement to access the company's financial information, a standard practice in the dealmaking world. One publishing executive familiar with the situation said that Rice, given the magazine's historical significance and its deep roots in her family, hopes to remain an integral part of it. This suggests she prefers to woo a partner rather than sell the magazine outright. In any case, a purchase by a mainstream media company or publisher—a move that would end African-American control—might cause a stir in some quarters of the African-American community, as was the case with Viacom's acquisition of BET. And Ebony's woes would appear to dash hopes that African-American-owned or -oriented media would see a big lift in the marketplace with the election of Barack Obama, the nation's first African-American president. Ebony landed the first post-election print interview with the president-elect and his wife. Rice is a close member of the Obamas' Chicago social circle.

The historic Ebony has fared worse than average amid the industry's woes. In fact, Ebony's advertising pages and ad revenues have declined in each of the last three years, even during periods when the industry was flat to positive. Among the 243 magazines tracked by the Publishers Information Bureau, ad pages plunged an average of 28 percent, with revenues falling by 21 percent, in the first half of 2009 compared with the same period a year earlier. But Ebony's decline was sharper, as advertising dived almost 35 percent, dragging revenues down almost 32 percent, to $18.8 million from 2008's $27.7 million. And the deterioration of Jet magazine, Ebony's sister publication, was even more severe—about 40 percent in ad pages and revenues. Source: Newsweek Magazine

I am sure that this isn't what John Johnson would have ever envisioned for his magazine. He founded what would become the largest African-American owned publishing company in 1942 with a $500 loan backed by his mother's furniture. Three years later he began publishing Ebony, which became a staple in many black households across the globe. Johnson, who died in 2005, once said, "Ebony was founded to project a dimension of the black personality in a world saturated with stereotypes. We wanted to give blacks a new sense of somebodiness, a new sense of self-respect." It's a shame that this company, which has given so much hope to many African Americans, even the fabulously wealthy among us, is looking for a purchaser.

I must admit that I stopped reading Ebony a long time ago because I did not like the focus of the magazine and I didn't find many of the topics of interest to me. I suspect that many may have felt the same way, as evidenced by the sharp drop in subscriptions. The sad commentary is that Ebony seems to have lost it voice. I much prefer to read Black Enterprise magazine. Johnson Publishing should have grown significantly over the years, but instead it did not really seem to step out of its comfort zone and acquire other African American media related entities. They could have diversified by purchasing BET, for example. It is sad that such an institution took such a myopic view of its place in the media publishing industry and is now dying a slow death.