attached mail follows:
Black Publishing Company Closes Doors, Three Magazines <www.afro.com/content/anmviewer.asp?a=1188&z=1>
December 3, 2003
By George E. Curry-- NNPA Editor-in-Chief
Washington (NNPA) - Vanguarde Media has filed for bankruptcy,
killing Savoy and two other magazines, throwing more than 75
full-time employees out of work and leaving fewer places for
Black writers, photographers and illustrators to showcase their
work. This is the same company that shut down Emerge, Black America's
newsmagazine, and BET Weekend, a Sunday supplement that was second
only to Ebony magazine in circulation, to make room for Savoy,
a new feature-oriented publication that targeted the Black middle
class. Keith Clinkscales, the CEO of Vanguarde, made the unexpected
bankruptcy announcement to magazine employees during a meeting
in New York two days before Thanksgiving.
In a statement issued later that day, Clinkscales said: "Today
Vanguarde Media regrets to announce a decision to cease publication
of Honey, Savoy and Heart&Soul magazines and to liquidate the
assets of the company. While this is no easy decision for any
of us, our most recent efforts at securing funding proved unsuccessful,
and we are no longer able to sustain operations."
All three magazines had a respectable number of readers. Honey
had a paid circulation of 387,999; Heart&Soul, 359,215, and Savoy,
302,070, according to a national auditing agency. Advertising
revenues in the magazine industry have declined in recent years,
forcing many magazines to decrease the number of pages they produce,
merge or go out of business. In the case of Vanguarde, its financial
woes were compounded by the decision to simultaneously publish
three, and sometimes four, struggling magazines. At different
times, the magazines were redefining themselves, confusing some
readers, turning off long-time subscribers while attracting some
news ones.
Some journalists worry that raising capital for new publications,
already a difficult task, may become harder in the wake of Vanguarde's
failure. Yanick Rice Lamb, the former editor-in-chief of both
Heart&Soul and BET Weekend, said new Black magazines can succeed
if they are infused with what she calls "patient money." Lamb
explains, "Investors must understand that it may take a while
before a magazine breaks even or turns a profit. You hear so
many stories of entrepreneurs starting magazines that are under-financed
and investors pulling the plug prematurely. Magazine publishing
is a capital-intensive business, and it's not for the faint-hearted."
Lack of sustained funding was only part of Vanguarde's difficulties.
{Emerge}, {BET Weekend} and {Heart&Soul} were owned by Black
Entertainment Television until 2000.
At the time, unknown to the public, BET head Robert L. Johnson
was positioning his company to be sold for $3 billion to Viacom.
In the process, Johnson transferred operational authority over
some of his subsidiaries to others. BET's magazine division was
placed in the hands of Clinkscales, who had recently formed Vanguarde
Media with the goal of quickly building an African-American media
conglomerate.
When BET was eventually sold, Viacom did not buy its magazines,
restaurants or other non-television properties. Clinkscales closed
Emerge and BET Weekend shortly after taking over in 2000 and
changed the focus of Heart&Soul. According the industry experts,
Clinkscales' strategy was to make inroads into Essence's older
readership with Heart&Soul and capture part of its younger audience
with Honey. Lamb disagrees with that strategy.
"Under Vanguarde, Heart&Soul evolved from a health and fitness
magazine to a lifestyle publication with some health and fitness
in it," she recalls.
"What made Heart&Soul unique from the outset was its focus on
healthy living, specifically health and fitness.It was the clear
leader and authority in this area, which is why so many other
publications scrambled to enhance their health and fitness editorial
along with pursuing advertisers in these categories."
Florestine Purnell, managing editor of Emerge, says it was also
a mistake to close the only national Black newsmagazine. "The
Black community supported Emerge," she said. "Like most political
magazines, it did not have huge circulation numbers, but its
circulation was larger than the better-funded and better-promoted
Nation, New Republic and Weekly Standard magazines. Emerge and
BET Weekend were closed to make way for Vanguarde's new products."
Along the way, Vanguarde bought Impact magazine, an urban music
trade magazine that Clinkscales thought could attract companies
that normally advertise in Black Enterprise magazine. Bleeding
financially, Clinkscales quietly closed Impact after it had no
impact.
Lamb, who now teaches journalism at Howard University, says Vanguarde's
collapse does not mean Black readers are disinterested in quality
magazines. "Readers want more, not less. They always have. We
don't have a critical mass of magazines with variety and depth.
A few years ago, I thought we were moving in that direction.
As of late, we've had a lot of the same-old, same-old. For example,
we have a disproportionate number of entertainment magazines."
More than 17,000 consumer magazines are published in the United
States, according to the American Society of Magazine Editors.
Only four Black national magazines - Ebony, Jet, Essence and
Black Enterprise - have been around at least a quarter of a century.
Purnell, of Emerge, fears the closing of Vanguarde might send
the wrong signal to serious African-American readers. "Black
readers will be confused, as well as surprised and saddened by
this development," she says. "They'll be confused because of
the promises made to them, which some felt were not realized.
They were told to expect content that was relevant to the intelligent,
upwardly mobile African-American readers. A lot of former Emerge
subscribers who were sent Savoy were disappointed to get a 'life-style'
magazine. Now they won't even get that. The sad part is that
readers come up empty-handed again, so they may also be angry."
Lamb and Purnell agree that a Black newsmagazine can still be
successful if properly funded, aggressively promoted and given
enough time to grow its circulation. "The need for a cutting-edge
news magazine is greater than ever," Purnell states. "It's crucial
that Black America have a publication that gives voice to the
crucial issues and developments in these troubled times. The
mainstream news magazines may touch on the issues that are important
to African Americans, but there is a need for a publication that
gives full attention, and a swift kick when necessary, to decision
makers and policies that impact the Black community."
mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
This email was cleaned by emailStripper, available for free from
http://www.papercut.biz/emailStripper.htm
------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~-->
<FONT COLOR="#000099">Buy Ink Cartridges or Refill Kits for your HP, Epson, Canon or Lexmark
Printer at MyInks.com. Free s/h on orders $50 or more to the US & Canada.
</FONT><A HREF="http://www.c1tracking.com/l.asp?cid=5511"><B>Click Here!</B></A><FONT COLOR="#000099">
</FONT><A HREF="http://us.click.yahoo.com/mOAaAA/3exGAA/qnsNAA/Bf.olB/TM"><B>Click Here!</B></A>
---------------------------------------------------------------------~->
___________
Disclaimer:
Please note that views and opposing views expressed in Africa-Politics forum are the right of individual contributors. Mutual respect for people's views is key in this forum. Freedom of speech and expression is our guiding principle.
--------------------------
To Subscribe, send an email to:
Africa-Politics-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
To Unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
Africa-Politics-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
------------------------------
Africa-Politics forum is professionally managed by Martin Akindana in collaboration with FASTRAC International. FASTRAC International is a Political Consultancy firm and a division of FASTRAC Corporation LLC. Silver Spring, MD, USA.
Martin Akindana is a Political Strategist & IT Consultant.
Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
___________________________________________________
mAliLink: Forum de discussion Malien
http://www.malilink.net
Copyright (c) mAliLink