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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.

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  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

   
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  Esquire on Jay-Z = Epic Fail

  J'Sticks 8:15 pm on January 11, 2010 | 0 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Esquire, Jay-Z, Slate, The Village Voice (2)

  

  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.

   
• 

  NYT's Color Style Guide (Really?)

  J'Sticks 3:21 pm on December 9, 2009 | 4 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Color, Gift Guide, Holidays, New York Times (5), Race, Style Guide

  

  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…

   
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  VIBE Unveils Relaunch Covers

  J'Sticks 11:02 am on December 3, 2009 | 1 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Chris Brown, Drake, Magazine (2), Relaunch, Vibe (5)

  

  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?

   
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  Essence Lays Off Digital Team [Updated]

  J'Sticks 3:52 pm on November 4, 2009 | 10 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Essence Magazine, Lay Offs (2)

  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.

   
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  Bloggers To Come Clean Starting Dec 1

  J'Sticks 1:37 pm on October 5, 2009 | 1 Permalink | Reply
  

  FTC: Bloggers must disclose payments for reviews

  (AP) – 3 hours ago

  PHILADELPHIA — The Federal Trade Commission will require bloggers to clearly disclose any freebies or payments they get from companies for reviewing their products.

  It is the first time since 1980 that the commission has revised its guidelines on endorsements and testimonials, and the first time the rules have covered bloggers.

  But the commission stopped short Monday of specifying how bloggers must disclose any conflicts of interest.

  The FTC said its commissioners voted 4-0 to approve the final guidelines, which had been expected. Penalties include up to $11,000 in fines per violation.

  The rules take effect Dec. 1.

  Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

   
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  BREAKING NEWS: Conde Nast Shuts Down Several Titles

  J'Sticks 12:40 pm on October 5, 2009 | 4 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Conde Nast, Folding (2), Magazines (6)

  Call it Black Monday over at Conde Nast.

  J’Sticks has learned that the publishing powerhouse has shut the doors of several magazines today including Gourmet, Cookie and Bridal magazine.

  Story Developing…

   
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  Tea Party Anyone?

  J'Sticks 10:30 am on September 24, 2009 | 0 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Healt Care Reform, politics (2), Protests, Racism (3), Tea Parties

  

  We’re still trying to understand the end game of these tea party protests (and how they aren’t considered racist).

  
  

  • Smart Girl Politics: Founding Sisters of the Tea Party movement

  • GOP is right to release its wrath

  • The 10 Most Offensive Tea Party Signs

  • Tea parties have serious decisions to make if they are going to effect change

  • Rev Perryman says enough! No racism at tea parties