• Contact Us
  • Events calendar
Entering Swellesley
Pinnacle, Wellesley

The Swellesley Report

More than you really want to know about Wellesley, Mass.

  • Advertise
  • Contribute
  • Eat
  • Wellesley Square
  • School news
  • Private schools, sponsored by Riverbend
  • Camp
  • Kids
  • Top 10 things to do
  • Business news
  • Embracing diversity
  • Seniors
  • Letters to the editor
  • Guidelines for letters to the editor
  • Fire & police scanner
  • Worship
  • POPS Senior Profiles
  • Deland, Gibson Insurance Athlete of the Week
  • Raiders sports schedules & results
  • Live gov’t meetings
  • Events
  • About us
  • Wellesley’s Wonderful Weekend
 
Needham Bank, Wellesley
Write Ahead, Wellesley

Ebony/Jet exec in Wellesley talks about publishing, Obama

February 19, 2009 by Bob Brown Leave a Comment

lindajohnsonriceweb

Linda Johnson Rice, CEO of Johnson Publishing (Ebony, Jet, etc.), says cover images of the Obamas have been a boon to newsstand sales of her company’s magazines, though the business is undergoing a reorganization to address a lot of the same challenges other publishing companies are facing these days.

Johnson Rice delivered the annual Quintessence Day lecture at Wellesley College in celebration of the “most perfect manifestation of black womanhood.” Her daughter Alexa, a student at the college, introduced her mom to those in attendance.

Johnson’s lecture was essentially a sales pitch for Johnson Publishing, a business that her late father launched more than 6 decades ago and now includes not only magazines and web sites, but also fashion shows, cosmetics and entertainment businesses. It was interesting to hear about the company’s assorted multimedia and digital ventures, including the digitization of back issues via a Google partnership. Johnson Rice said that “no form of communications has ever replaced another” but that the dynamics of how to make money off the different forms has changed.

obama_ebony_magazine-jan_opt

What really got the crowd going, though, was a review of recent Ebony covers and their newsstand sales numbers. The January collector’s edition with Barack Obama on the cover sold over 400,000 copies whereas the 200,000s is more average. She pointed to a recent cover featuring a shirtless Chris Brown (the singer recently making headlines for alleged abuse of his girlfriend) as being the most disappointing seller of late, proving itself to be a stretch for the magazine. A sneak peek at the April edition: Beyonce is on the cover.

Things got more interesting during the Q&A. Johnson acknowledged that being CEO can be lonely, as people never tell her that she’s doing a great job, only if she’s doing “a crummy job.”

Asked about whether Johnson Publishing might consider a magazine for “people our age” as one student put it, Johnson Rice said doing something online would be much more likely given that a physical magazine probably wouldn’t sell. Asked about what the company might look like in 10 years, Johnson said she wouldn’t be surprised to see the word “Publishing” replaced by something like “Enterprises” since the “moniker ‘publishing’ might be a little dated.”

Johnson Rice said Ebony is unabashedly an upbeat magazine and is celebrating President Obama’s victory. (She noted that Johnson Publishing has a proud history of being out in front on key African-American issues, and that Jet even broke the notorious Emmett TIll story.) That recent record-setting January issue with Obama on the cover actually features a picture of Obama with Johnson Rice inside, and she notes that her company’s building provided a backdrop to the Obama victory celebration in Chicago on election night. One student asked about whether Ebony, once the Obama honeymoon is over, will take a more critical look at the president. The magazine probably won’t, but bloggers on the EbonyJet.com website probably will, Johnson Rice said.

She said her circulation director would love to have Obama and/or his family on the cover every issue. While Ebony won’t go in that direction, it will head back to that well for sure, she said.

Johnson Rice said that Obama’s election has made her more in demand among media from around the world. Asked about whether increased attention to African-American issues by the global media will put more pressure on Johnson Publishing, Johnson Rice said it will require her team to work harder to maintain its edge, and that that’s not a bad thing.


image_print

Filed Under: Wellesley College

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Advertisements:

Linden Square, Wellesley
Wonderful Wellesley, Lockheart
Write Ahead, Wellesley

Tip us off…

Please send tips, photos, ideas to theswellesleyreport@gmail.com

Advertisements

Wellesley Square, Wellesley Merchants
Wellesley, Jesamondo
Fay School, Southborough
Sexton test prep
Feldman Law
Wellesley Theatre Project
Beacon Hill Athletic Clubs, Wellesley
Volvo
Prepped and Polished Boston Tutoring and Test Prep
Cheesy Street Grill
Admit Fit, Wellesley
Mature Caregivers
charles river chamber
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
Never miss a post with our free daily Swellesley Report email
Name: 
Your email address:*
Please wait...
Please enter all required fields Click to hide
Correct invalid entries Click to hide

You can subscribe for free, though we appreciate any contribution that supports our independent journalism.

Most Read Posts

  • Sign up now for summer camp in Wellesley (and beyond)
  • Friday is letters-to-the-editor day on The Swellesley Report
  • UU Wellesley Hills to install & celebrate new minister
  • Wellesley Public Schools news: Last day is official; Advisory won't investigate; Evolutions showcase
  • Taylor Swift Makes a Triumphant Return to Gillette Stadium

Click on Entering Natick sign to read our Natick Report

Entering Natick road sign

Upcoming Events

May 30
7:00 pm - 8:15 pm

Memorial Day observances in Wellesley

Jun 3
9:00 am - 10:00 am

Hemlock Gorge & Echo Bridge guided walk

Jun 4
8:00 am - 1:00 pm

Schofield 5k, Fun Run and Fun Fair

Jun 4
9:00 am - 3:00 pm

Hazardous Household Waste & Document Destruction Day

Jun 6
7:00 pm - 9:00 pm

2023 Wellesley Democratic Town Committee Caucus

View Calendar

Recent Comments

  • Ellen on Wellesley Rec to make pickleball rec to schools, NRC
  • Agility on Wellesley’s Cliff Estates gets its turn with proposed condo development
  • Ken O'Connor on Wellesley Dumps Standards-Based Grading
  • not-a-gardener on An hour in a Wellesley garden—it’s up to us to eradicate the dreaded garlic mustard
  • Mary Bowers on Wellesley’s Wonderful Weekend Veterans Parade honorees

Links we like

  • Danny's Place
  • Great Runs
  • Jack Sanford: Wellesley's Major League Baseball Star
  • Tech-Tamer
  • The Wellesley Wine Press
  • Universal Hub
  • Wellesley Sports Discussion Facebook Group
Deland, Gibson, Wellesley
  • support swellesley
  • swellesley reach ad
Rick Cram, leader

© 2023 The Swellesley Report
Site by Tech-Tamer · Login