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  • Amy Barnett to Join EBONY as EIC

    J'Sticks 3:32 pm on June 2, 2010 | 1 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: Amy Barnett, Ebony Magazine

    A little birdie is told J’Sticks that Amy DuBois Barnett (formerly of Honey & Teen People magazines) is now the EIC of magazine. For months now EBONY has been trying to make the right moves to stay alive in this harsh publishing market. There was the announcement that they would be focusing more on the web (this month’s cover with Niecy Nash features a masthead that only lists digital staffs but not editorial).

    Black Politics On The Web posted this “official statement” today:

    “I am extremely pleased to bring Amy DuBois Barnett on as part of the new leadership team,” said President and CEO Linda Johnson Rice. “She brings with her a wealth of experience, a keen journalistic eye and solid editorial judgment, which will serve well to help redefine the EBONY brand within the ever-changing marketplace.”

    Barnett is a Brown University graduate and also has a M.F.A degree in creative writing from Columbia University. She is the author of Get Yours: How to Have Everything You Ever Dreamed of and More, an NAACP Image Award-nominated book for Black women.

    “EBONY has always represented the best of African-African achievement, society and culture, and I couldn’t be more honored to be at the helm as we enhance this icon for the 21st century,” said Barnett. “I’m excited to bring the EBONY brand to multiple media platforms and to engage new audiences who will surely be moved by its resonant, provocative and authoritative perspective on today’s African-American experience.” The new appointment will replace Harriette Cole as acting Editor-in-Chief and Creative Director.

    Discuss

     

  • Why Freelancing is Now a Poor Man's Job

    J'Sticks 6:23 pm on January 12, 2010 | 0 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: Freelancers, No Money

    Freelance writing’s unfortunate new model

    With many outlets slashing pay scales, the well-written story is in danger of becoming scarce. The hustle is just beginning for new and seasoned freelancers.

    By James Rainey

    The list of freelance writing gigs on Craigslist goes on and on.

    Trails.com will pay $15 for articles about the outdoors. Livestrong.com wants 500-word pieces on health for $30, or less. In this mix, the 16 cents a word offered by Green Business Quarterly ends up sounding almost bounteous, amounting to more than $100 per submission.

    Other publishers pitch the grand opportunities they provide to “extend your personal brand” or to “showcase your work, influence others.” That means working for nothing, just like the sailing magazine that offers its next editor-writer not a single doubloon but, instead, the opportunity to “participate in regattas all over the country.”

    What’s sailing away, a decade into the 21st century, is the common conception that writing is a profession — or at least a skilled craft that should come not only with psychic rewards but with something resembling a living wage. (More …)

     

  • A Good Read: The LA Times on Tina Brown

    J'Sticks 10:00 am on January 12, 2010 | 0 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: LA Times, The Daily Beast, Tina Brown

    THE WEB

    A low-key Tina Brown stares down a new beast, daily

    A queen of old media resolves to profitably adapt it to what’s new.

    By Robin Abcarian
    …Tina Brown has never been one for self-doubt. A precocious magazine editor who breathed new life into the fusty Tatler (at age 25), Vanity Fair (at 30) and the venerable New Yorker (at 38), Brown’s success was notable for many things, among them the envy it inspired and her prodigious talent for self-promotion. And then came Talk, the magazine, book and entertainment venture that was supposed to secure her place in the cultural firmament, starting with the scandalously decadent launch party she threw at the foot of the Statue of Liberty in August 1999…
    …For the past 15 months, she has presided over the Daily Beast, the newsmagazine-style website she created for her friend, Internet mogul Barry Diller.

    The site’s growing readership suggests that she has been able to translate her trademark blend of intellectual depth and fascination with the shallows of pop culture to the Internet. But the big question looms: Can she help Diller figure out how to bring high-end advertisers to high-end consumers in a profitable way?…

    Read the Full Article

     

  • Esquire on Jay-Z = Epic Fail

    J'Sticks 8:15 pm on January 11, 2010 | 0 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: Esquire, Jay-Z, Slate,

    jay-esquire

    Someone over at Esquire thought it’d be cool to write about Mr. Empire State. Can’t fault them there. He’s coming off a big year. But then they went and gave the writer, Lisa Taddeo, the greenlight to cover him this way:

    “Jay-Z is black black. He is old-school double-dark-chocolate-chunk black. He is black the way Labatt is blue. He is not white black, Barack black, like our president. Or the kind of black that doesn’t curse and deplores the n-word, the genteel black, like Oprah. He is, arguably, the first black-black guy to cross over into Oprah-land and Bill Clintonworld without making the Oprah-sized no-look-back forward flip that means you’re selling not necessarily your soul but perhaps something fleshier, a little more external.”

    To make matters worse, they highlighted the above text for dramatic affect. Before you go thinking that it’s only black people who are thinking WTF other’s have sounded off on Esquire missing the mark.

    Slate.com

    The Unbelievably Bad Metaphors in Esquire’s Profile of Jay-Z


    The Village Voice

    On the Esquire Profile of Jay-Z That Is Making the Rounds Right Now

    Oh and Happy New Year.

     

  • If It's Not Broke, Don't Fix It, Or Else

    Christopher Nelson 7:05 am on December 15, 2009 | 2 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: Akeya Dickson, , copy editing, cultural sensitivity, error and correction, hip hop, newspapers, Public Enemy, reporting and editing, Washington Post

    A number of journalism outlets have discussed an error and subsequent correction which steamed from an article written by Washington Poststaffer Akeya Dickson. 

    In her article Dickson refers to Public Enemy’s song “911 Is A Joke”. A copy editor unaware of the song and it’s discussion of the emergency telephone number, assumed 911 should have referred to the 9/11 terror attacks. The change in the article led to some confusion, and criticism of the reporter.

    You can read about the fallout here. One of the things I find most interesting about this is as Dickson puts it, the disconnect between generations. She correctly states that the divide must be bridged, and that there’s a lot of work which must be done if we aim to have culturally sensitive reporting.

    Also, what do you think of the Post’s policy of assigning collective blame for errors, which some say unfairly impacts those who don’t directly causes errors in the publication?

     

    • shine222bmw 9:11 pm on December 15, 2009 Permalink

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    • ctmogtsu 5:25 am on January 16, 2010 Permalink

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  • Journalist May Have Penned Black "SATC"

    Christopher Nelson 2:53 pm on December 11, 2009 | 3 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: "Bitch is the New Black", "Sex and the City", African-American books, book, dating, Helena Andrews, journalist turned author, literature, relationships, romance,

    Journalist turned author Helena Andrews may have penned a black version of "Sex and the City"

    Journalist turned author Helena Andrews may have penned a black version of "Sex and the City"

    Helena Andrews may be the latest journalist turned author turned screenwriter who makes it big, and this time Andrews could make it big in Hollywood.

    A new Washington Post article highlights Andrews decision to take her personal odyssey with the dating life in D.C. very public. The article begins, “Helena Andrews is 29, single, living in D.C., and might be the star of a black “Sex and the City” — stylish, beautiful and a writer desperately in search of love in the city.”

    So check out what Andrews told The Post about her decision to write her memoir “Bitch Is The New Black”, the impetus behind the endeavor, and how it’ll soon be turned into a movie by the creator of Grey’s Anatomy.

     

    • shine222bmw 9:12 pm on December 15, 2009 Permalink

      oh that’s cool! I found a great dating site http://meetmillionaire.com where you have the opportunity dreaming about dating a millionaire and make it true! u don’t have to be a millionaire.but u can meet one.I think everyone need to meet some miracle if you are looking for a wealthy lifestyle or looking for a businness partner!

    • Aiden Thompson 1:35 am on May 24, 2010 Permalink

      Hey can someone point a good website about How find the perfect dating partner?*;`

    • Ava Green 12:40 pm on August 30, 2010 Permalink

      dating is both an art and a skill, it also takes a lot of practice to have a perfect dating experience~;:

  • NYT's Color Style Guide (Really?)

    J'Sticks 3:21 pm on December 9, 2009 | 4 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: Color, Gift Guide, Holidays, , Race, Style Guide

    imanbeauty190 asianfaces2190

    Of Color | Stylish Gifts

    By SIMONE S. OLIVER

    Somali fashion, do-it-yourself henna kits, children’s books that draw inspiration from the lives of Barack Obama and Sonia Sotomayor: it’s not hard to find gifts created for and by people of color this holiday season. Here are some possibilities.

    This could be a case of when “keeping it real goes wrong”. Sure we all shop and knowing what to get for the holidays is key but making a separate list for people of color instead of incorporating it in the rest of the guide is a bit much…

     

    • Trent F. 3:48 pm on December 9, 2009 Permalink

      Are there any people of color working at the New York Times? If so, what are their thoughts on this? I mean, seriously, this is ridiculous.

    • Benjamin Hall 9:04 pm on May 19, 2010 Permalink

      A Life Coach is sometimes very necessary so that we do not loose our way in our lives.*.,

    • Bryan Jenkins 1:59 pm on July 25, 2010 Permalink

      a life coach is sometimes needed if you sort of lost direction in your life.`~,

  • VIBE Unveils Relaunch Covers

    J'Sticks 11:02 am on December 3, 2009 | 1 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: Chris Brown, Drake, , Relaunch,

    vibe-chris_brown_relaunch_issuevibe-drake_relaunch_issue

    After going under in June, VIBE was acquired by new investors , rebranded and relaunched in just a few months.

    Yesterday, they debuted their cover – a split between new rap sensation DRAKE and problem posterchild Chris Brown.

    What do you think?

     

  • Essence Lays Off Digital Team [Updated]

    J'Sticks 3:52 pm on November 4, 2009 | 10 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: Essence Magazine,

    After relaunching their website last week, Essence magazine laid off its web team today citing budgetary reasons.

    “They told us it was downsizing,” says one Essence employee. “We’re very confused. We worked so hard for the relaunch.”

    Another insider tells J’sticks: “This is normal practice. Companines relaunch with new [site] schemes that allow them to do more with less, then they cut staff.”

    In addition to letting go of the web team, Essence also let go of some magazine staffers.

    Update:

    The site’s managing editor, Emil Wilbekin, is still on staff. Steven Psyllos, deputy editor for Essence.com remains as does the photo editor.

    Otherwise the ENTIRE web team is gone, appx 12-15 ppl.

    4 cuts from Essence staff include: Fashion Assistant,Work & Weath Assistant, one of 3 deputy editors and a special projects director who’s been with the magazine since the 70s.

     

    • Tina E Clark 12:33 pm on November 5, 2009 Permalink

      I think it was only a matter of time.. Their readership has aged with the magazine so they should do something different to reach a younger generation.

    • james m thomas 12:55 pm on November 5, 2009 Permalink

      This doesn’t surprise me, essence needs to reinvent themselves somehow. most readers want to read garbage and that’s whats selling.

    • Vanessa Wesley 12:58 pm on November 5, 2009 Permalink

      The people need to start businesses for themselves, market a product that people want and need, my website makinmoneywithvanessa dot info has the product and people are makin 10 to 20 thousand a month this is big essence is old technology

    • Sole Sistah Sheila 2:13 pm on November 5, 2009 Permalink

      They should start their own magazine and use the knowledge they have to benefit themselves.

    • Lyzabeth 8:53 am on November 6, 2009 Permalink

      I am overjoyed! That Web site is one of the worst run in the biz. My good friend applied for a position there and big surprise, received no response to her resume — mainly because they are not big on hiring the best and brightest over at Essence. RIP. Emil, you’re next!

  • Seattle's Stranger: Hooters = Niggers

    RL Nave 3:03 pm on October 5, 2009 | 0 Permalink | Reply

    hooto-nig

    “Seattle’s Only Newspaper” sent a self-proclaimed feminist reporter to cover the grand opening of a local Hooters Family Restaurant. Not surprisingly, she was appalled. Equally appalling, though, was the following analogy used to illustrate the restaurant’s offensiveness:

    It’s like—a friend pointed out later—if someone opened a restaurant called Niggers, and the all-black waitstaff dressed like slaves and step ‘n’ fetched you platters of watermelon, and when it was your birthday they were all, “Jump-down-turn-around-pick-a-bale-of-cotton!” and brought you a cake in the shape of a bale of cotton. And racists could go! And indulge their desire to be publicly racist under the guise of a fun-loving theme restaurant! Niggers! It’s all in fun. It really is like that.7

    Except it isn’t like that at all.  Other than that, the piece was OK.

    http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/news-flash-i-didnt-like-hooters/Content?oid=2358440

     

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