Ebony Reported Up for Sale or Investment

Updated September 28

Company Says, "We Are Exploring a Range of Options"

Johnson Publishing Co. is not denying an online report from Newsweek that the company is seeking a buyer or investor for Ebony magazine. Spokeswoman Wendy E. Parks told Journal-isms on Sunday, "As we’ve indicated previously, we are exploring a range of options to support our core media business."

Johnnie L. Roberts wrote Friday for Newsweek, "Now it appears Johnson Publishing’s chairman and CEO, Linda Johnson Rice, has reached what must have been an agonizing decision: Johnson Publishing is seeking a buyer or investor for its flagship publication, Ebony, in an effort aimed at securing the survival of the nation’s oldest magazine devoted to African-American life. It’s unclear whether the company’s other properties, including Jet, would be part of a possible sale.

"According to media and investment executives familiar with the developments, Chicago-based Rice, the daughter of Ebony’s legendary founder, the late John H. Johnson, has approached, among others, Time Inc., Viacom, and private investors that include buyout firms.

"Nothing has yet resulted from any of Johnson Publishing’s overtures, however."

Parks told Journal-isms that while the company is exploring options, "we are not in discussions with Time Inc. and Viacom."

Johnson Publishing advertised for an editor in chief for Ebony early in the year, but has not filled the position. Bryan Monroe resigned in April as vice president and editorial director at Johnson Publishing, and eventually Ebony creative director Harriette Cole assumed the additional title of acting editor in chief.

Last week, the Media Industry Newsletter reported that Ebony’s advertising pages were down 40.1 percent for the year to date, to 485, with consumer magazines overall posting a 20.1 percent drop.

• Richard Prince with Keith Murphy, XM Satellite Radio: The Urban Journal (pt. 3) [Sept. 26]

Honduras Coalition Backs Off Crackdown on the Press

In Honduras, "The de facto government backed off Monday from its attempt to shut down protests and limit free speech after congressional leaders warned that they would not support the measure," Elisabeth Malkin and Ginger Thompson reported for the New York Times.

"The revolt by Congress, the first public crack in the coalition that ousted President Manuel Zelaya three months ago, showed that the de facto president, Roberto Micheletti, faces limits on his power to crack down on dissent.

"In an extraordinary televised news conference Monday evening, Mr. Micheletti asked for ‘forgiveness from the Honduran people’ and said he would ask the Supreme Court to lift the decree ‘as quickly as possible.’

"The Micheletti government announced the decree Sunday night, imposing sweeping restrictions on civil liberties. The decree allowed the government to shut down broadcasters and ban unauthorized public meetings, and let the police detain suspects without warrants.

"Early Monday, masked police officers took over a television station and soldiers formed a barricade around a radio station, shutting down two media outlets that had been the principal voices of opposition to the June 28 coup that ousted Mr. Zelaya." [Sept. 28]

• Reporters Without Borders: Last freedoms suspended leaving media at mercy of total shutdown

Film Critic Elvis Mitchell Owes Uncle Sam $500,000

"When U.S. border guards stopped film critic Elvis Mitchell at the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel last year and found Cuban cigars and $12,000 cash stashed in a cigar box, the Highland Park native explained he was afraid of banks," Robert Snell wrote Thursday for the Detroit News.

"With good reason, since the IRS could seize the money if it were in a bank account. Public records show the IRS has filed tax liens against Mitchell, a Wayne State University graduate and former Detroit Free Press movie critic, for more than $500,000 in delinquent taxes.

"The federal government tried to seize the cash because it is illegal to cross the border with more than $10,000 of undeclared money.

"Mitchell, host of ‘Under the Influence’ on Turner Classic Movies, wrote for the Free Press in the 1980s before launching a career reviewing films for The New York Times. In 2007, he played himself in an episode of HBO’s ‘Entourage.’

"After the April 2008 border imbroglio, Mitchell agreed to forfeit $6,120, according to U.S. District Court records."

When Mitchell quit the New York Times in 2004 because his colleague A.O. Scott was named chief film critic, Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr.¬† described Mitchell as "certainly the most powerful black film critic in history, full stop,’ according to New York magazine.

"He’s bigger than life, or at least bigger than most print journalists, a road show of pop-culture exuberance who makes the rounds of TV shows, film festivals, and lecture appointments, hobnobbing with stars and industry figures," Carl Swanson wrote for the magazine.

With director Timothy Greenfield-Sanders, Mitchell collaborated on¬†"The Black List," composed of dramatic portraits of some of today’s most fascinating and influential African-American icons," including Sean Combs, Toni Morrison, Colin Powell, Chris Rock and Al Sharpton, among others. It was sold to HBO.

Employers who use freelance writers usually do not withhold taxes, and for the writer, those tax obligations can add up. Mitchell has not commented publicly on his tax situation. [Sept. 28]

Guild Supports More Tax Exemptions for Journalism

The Newspaper Guild has not been called upon to testify in congressional hearings on the financial plight of newspapers, but the union supports greater use of tax exemptions and creating a hybrid of a nonprofit and for-profit corporation known as an L3C, Newspaper Guild President Bernie Lunzer told Journal-isms.

"We understand that any kind of public support is viewed with concern, but believe that it may be necessary during this ‘difficult period’ we’re in," Lunzer said. "Even achieving broader non-profit latitude is a huge plus, and sadly there are those who will fight it."

Sen. Benjamin L. Cardin, D-Md., and Rep. Carolyn Mahoney, D-N.Y., have introduced the ‘Newspaper Revitalization Act of 2009,’ legislation that would allow community and metropolitan papers to become nonprofit 501(c)(3) organizations similar to public broadcasting.

On slate.com, Jack Shafer wrote a piece last week headlined, "President Obama! Stiff-arm that ‘save the newspapers’ legislation!"

"I was disappointed in Slate for writing a piece against having any public support," Lunzer said. "I think they misunderstand. Speaking for the Guild, we are seeking support for journalism, and not newspapers."

According to the Nonprofit Law Blog, "The low-profit, limited liability company, or L3C, is a hybrid of a nonprofit and for-profit organization. More specifically, it is a new type of limited liability company (LLC) designed to attract private investments and philanthropic capital in ventures designed to provide a social benefit. Unlike a standard LLC, the L3C has an explicit primary charitable mission and only a secondary profit concern. But unlike a charity, the L3C is free to distribute the profits, after taxes, to owners or investors."

Lunzer said, "It appears now that the folks pursuing the L3C concept (including the Guild) will try to join forces with Cardin. Even though we’re told anything that expands tax-exempt status will be looked at negatively, we think there’s a chance. We’re trying to educate folks in the administration that media needs support right now, even though we’ve all heard even Obama say there won’t be such help. We’ll be careful to keep a strong firewall from any help though – no one in the U.S. wants government putting direct pressure on what gets written." [Sept. 28]

• William F. Baker, the Nation: How to Save the News

Biden, Clyburn Open TV One’s Sunday Talk Show

The TV One cable channel debuted its African American alternative to the overwhelmingly white Sunday talk shows with a lively hour hosted by journalist Roland Martin and featuring Vice President Joseph Biden, House Majority Whip James Clyburn, D-S.C., and a panel of black commentators.

Various segments of "Washington Watch with Roland Martin" discussed top issues of the day – the war in Afghanistan, health care, the reported suggestion by the Obama administration that Lt. Gov. David Paterson of New York not run for reelection – and made news in unexpected ways.

In a segment called "Web Watch," Smokey Fontaine, content officer of Interactive One, a corporate cousin of TV One, disclosed that the Target Corp. had removed from a Bronx, N.Y., store a watermelon soda product featuring a pigtailed black girl eating the fruit. A Target official went online to react to the outrage expressed on BlackPlanet, another Radio One Internet division.

Fontaine also reported on a BlackPlanet poll showing that 75 percent of African Americans opposed sending additional troops to Afghanistan, contrasting it with an AOL.com poll of the general population that put its figure at 53 percent.

In the opening segment, Biden told Martin, "I am confident we are going to get a health care bill that meets our criteria," and said 85 percent of what the administration wants has been agreed upon in Congress. "I’ve never seen a time when we’ve been this close," he said, adding that as in football, the final yardage is the hardest.

In an interview with Clyburn, the South Carolinian called for a "civilian surge" rather than more troops in Afghanistan. "See what we can do to get the Afghans to do for themselves," he said.

The panel of journalists and commentators also debated Afghanistan, as well as the role of race in the health care debate.

Martin stood, similar to the way he often does on CNN, before Washington Post National Editor Kevin Merida; syndicated columnist and author Deborah Mathis; Robert Traynham, Washington bureau chief for the Comcast network and Philadelphia Tribune columnist; and Armstrong Williams, Washington Times columnist and commentator. It was a return to grace for Williams, who was caught up in scandal in 2005 when his company was paid $240,000 by the Education Department in connection with the Bush administration’s "No Child Left Behind" initiative.

In one of several assertive moments, Mathis declared that at age 56, she had become pessimistic that America would ever have a conversation about race that "gets deep and dirty in it."

April Ryan, correspondent for American Urban Radio Networks, reported briefly by telephone from Pittsburgh, site of the G-20 summit.

In May, when it introduced its fall programming, Black Entertainment Television announced a 30-minute program, "The Bottom Line," saying, "Each week, BET News will rise above the clutter of cable chatter and get to ‘The Bottom Line’ on Black America’s most pressing issues. A diverse panel of our most prolific writers, thinkers, teachers and cultural icons will provide vital insight and analysis."

Spokesmen for BET, which once offered such regular fare as "BET News" and the Sunday news discussion "Lead Story," did not respond to inquiries on whether "The Bottom Line" is still in its plans.

In its inaugural show, Martin declared "Washington Watch with Roland Martin" to be in the tradition of the first African American newspaper, Freedom’s Journal, which declared at its 1827 founding, "’We wish to plead our own cause. For too long others have spoken for us.’"

The scarcity of African Americans on the Sunday talk shows was documented in 2006 by the National Urban League in a study, "Sunday Morning Apartheid."

On the mainstream networks, the only African Americans listed for appearances Sunday were Paterson on "Meet the Press" and Juan Williams, a regular panelist on "Fox News Sunday."

The TV One show airs at 11 a.m., repeating at 5 p.m., both times Eastern.

• Frederick Cosby, BlackAmericaWeb: Clyburn: WH’s Handling of Paterson ‘Sophomoric’
• William Douglas, McClatchy Newspapers: Is Obama the only black official in D.C.? On Sunday shows, it seems so

Obama’s Speech to Black Caucus on C-Span Web Site

Viewers who turned to C-Span Saturday night to see President Obama speak at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s gala banquet were disappointed.

The public-service network delayed airing the event until Sunday night, C-Span spokesman John Cardarelli told Journal-isms. However, a video of Obama’s half-hour speech, in which he promoted his policies in inspirational cadences reminiscent of his talk at the NAACP’s centennial celebration in July, has been posted on the C-Span Web site.

Obama told the audience to raise their children to aim high, naming several careers they should seek other than "ballin’ or rappin’," though he neglected to include work in the media. Instead, he concluded with, "I want them to aspire to be the president of the United States of America."

Caucus members "and several thousand of their supporters wrapped President Obama in a warm embrace at a gala banquet Saturday night, as Obama reminded the crowd of the initiatives he has enacted in the early months of his presidency," Michael A. Fletcher wrote in the Washington Post.

"Those gathered in the banquet room at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center jumped to their feet and erupted in loud applause as Obama, accompanied by first lady Michelle Obama, took the stage to strains of ‘Hail to the Chief.’

"The 42-member caucus feted Obama, a former colleague, as a returning hero, even though since becoming president he has not always embraced its brand of progressive politics."

One person who didn’t make it inside was syndicated morning radio host Tom Joyner, who said he was denied entry by the Secret Service. "I was tardy to the party," he told listeners on Monday.

No word on why C-Span did not broadcast the event live. However, Fox News Channel did air the speech in real time, a spokeswoman confirmed. [Sept. 28]

Are Journalists of Color Covering Statehouses?

Last Wednesday, Chris Cillizza of the Washington Post asked readers to name the best political reporter(s) from each state.

On Monday, Cillizza wrote that his list was nearly complete. "We’ve aggregated them and the partial list of top political scribes is after the jump," he said. "We are still missing several states, however. Among them: Alaska, Arizona, Hawaii, Kansas, Kentucky (the great Pat Crowley has moved on), Louisiana, Maryland, Montana and Wyoming."

So far, it’s difficult to identify any journalists of color who made the cut. In addition to the intrinsic value of covering the governor and state legislature and being good at it, statehouse beats are key stepping stones to the higher-profile jobs covering national politics. Each should include a diverse cadre of journalists, even though, as the American Journalism Review reported this year, there has been "a staggering loss of reporting firepower at America’s state capitols."

Cillizza writes that there’s still time to make a nomination. "Don’t see a reporter listed below that should be? The comments section is open for business." [Sept. 28]

[Update: The list was completed and posted at 1:59 p.m. Eastern time on Tuesday. Still difficult to identify any journalists of color.]

Could Be Pop Culture Is Out of Things to Rebel Against

Leonard Pitts Jr., the syndicated Miami Herald columnist, had what might be the last word on the Kanye West incident this month at the MTV Music Video Awards.

"Some have suggested this incident, along with Serena Williams’ tennis court meltdown and Rep. Joe Wilson’s boorish behavior in a joint session of Congress, signals a loss of American civility," Pitts, a former music writer, told readers last week.

"Maybe it does. But I feel it also suggests a popular culture that has run out of things to rebel against. Think about it: Everything those city fathers and angry men of six decades ago feared has come to pass and then some. The black kids are making babies with the white ones, status quo died of natural causes, and penis jokes are at home on prime-time TV. What was once the outrageous is now the everyday.

"As popular music’s ability to shock has declined, its attempts to do so have only become more naked and needy. From Britney kissing Madonna on MTV to Janet Jackson’s bared breast at the Super Bowl to West’s serial episodes of juvenility, pop musicians now give us stunts that seem more desperate than truly dangerous.

"What else can we expect in an era that accepts ungraciousness and ungratefulness as synonyms for courage and rebellion?"

[Sept. 28]

• Cary Clack, San Antonio Express-News: The W’s need civility refresher
• Emil Guillermo blog: Serena, Kanye, Joe Dub‚Äîoutbursts galore, and race is the subtext; And guess who‚Äôs missing? The Asian American victim
• Jason Whitlock, Kansas City Star: It‚Äôs hard for kids to reject hip hop culture