The venerated John H. Johnson’s genius and historic contribution can be summarized succinctly. The founder of Johnson Publishing Company tossed the post-World War II generation of blacks a life raft of self identity and self- love as they swam against the treacherous currents of virulent racism, cross-cultural terrorism and oppressive Jim Crowism. Ebony and Jet offered a mental, spiritual and sociological safe haven for America’s outcast citizens, expertly nursing and bandaging up our battered psychics after our sense of humanity had been trampled by America. The countless anecdotes of black achievement and repeated affirmations of mahogany-hued beauty imbued a much needed sense of pride in a society that proclaimed we had no rights with which Caucasians had to respect.
That was then. Ebony/Jet once filled the canyon-sized void for the African -American of mid-Century 1900s who were treated like refugees in their own country. Unfortunately for Ebony/Jet, the current generation of young and middle-aged African-Americans receives sustenance and cultural nourishment from a plethora of outlets and sources. This generation aspires for celebrity at least as much as bona fide success. They want to be titillated as well as educated. They want to be engaged in a variety of new methods that mostly don’t include picking up and reading a magazine. The current generation are mostly communicating and learning through the ever-growing, ever-present social media. Ebony never fully cultivated these cultural touchstones nor procured a legion of loyal followers on their website.
What has happened to Ebony/Jet is the equivalent of black universities, black hotels and black businesses that became extinct after desegregation inspired blacks to pour into previous hostile hotbeds of mainstream Americana. The Hip Hop generation didn’t need to be injected with dosages of self esteem. Paradoxically, they came packing with ample quantities of esteem, if not downright hubris. So when readers’ palates were no longer satiated with fluff and needed more substance, and when black stars like Denzel and Whitney and Will Smith and Michael Jordan and Michael Jackson were starting to be featured on the cover of mainstream publications, and when other publications like Essence and Vibe and Source rose in prominence in the 1980s and 90s, they began to encroach on the territory that Ebony and Jet once monopolized. Johnson Publishing never replaced the shares of the marketplace they surrendered to newer, hipper and equally dynamic publications.
Moreover, Ebony/Jet missed an entire generation of black consumers. They never busied themselves, until it was too late, with trying to attract the generation that subscribes/listens/watches Vibe, Source, Honey, BET, TV One, etc. Ebony never diversified its portfolio through a cable channel or satellite to keep its brand in the forefront of people’s consciousness.
Byron Allen’s media holdings boast a plethora of TV shows that appeal to the younger demographic across cultural lines. This is space that Ebony/Jet should have occupied and harnessed. For better and for worse, the world has moved into an age where print is not going to be the last arbiter of news and culture.
Johnson Publishing should have never combined Ebony and Jet magazines onto one online site. The two entities performed different functions in the black marketplace and should have marketed themselves separately in this space. Jet perhaps should have become a Bossip, TMZ, www.theroot.com or a blog. They could have expanded the concept of the Jet Beauty of the Week on the web. They could have started Ebony Man online that would cater to the crop of young men the way Dime Boys, XXL, or Smooth magazines.
Ebony was an undisputed goliath that chose to implement changes too late to make an impact. — terry shropshire
