The Johnson Publishing family is experiencing economical distress which has caused a shake-up of the magazine staff starting with the dismissal of Bryan Monroe. Monroe was brought into the black magazine empire as the editor of both Ebony and Jet simultaneously, something that had never been done before. Linda Johnson-Rice, the daughter of the late founder John Johnson, brought Monroe on the team as editorial director in 2007.
Monroe as well as others on staff at the magazines have been told that their jobs were being eliminated, yet they could reapply for positions within the company. It appears that Monroe’s spending had to be ”reigned in” during this tough economical time for all businesses right now. The moves he made for the magazines were groundbreaking and exciting, like scoring the first Obama interview after he was elected, but the moves were costly and ads and newsstand sales weren’t intercepting the mounting debt.
In Richard Prince’s Journal-isms a “staffer” was quoted saying, “For a lot of black folks Ebony was still seen as a magazine for your grandparents or parents.” Read here to keep abreast of the situation over at Johnson’s. They’ve served us for many years and we should show our support and concern however we can.
February 3rd, 2009 at 6:24 am
I am still waiting to see a gay and/or lesbian couple in there magazine. If they have please let me know.