Canadian From West Indies to Edit Essence Spinoff
Suzanne Boyd, editor-in-chief of Canada’s Flare magazine and twice named to Canada’s best-dressed list, has been lured south by Essence Communications Partners to steer a new fashion and beauty magazine on to the newsstands, the Toronto Star reports.
“A spin-off of Essence lifestyle magazine for African-American women, the as-yet-unnamed book is positioning itself as a cross between Vogue and InStyle for women of colour.
“‘There’s a lot of room there, especially in the fashion context,’ enthuses Boyd, a native of Halifax who grew up in the West Indies. Her father hails from Dominica and was studying civil engineering at Dalhousie University when he met Boyd’s mother, a Jamaican nursing student, in Quebec city.
“Boyd, as is well-documented in the Star’s annual Canadian best-dressed list, is a fashionista par excellence. But she also has remarkable charisma and a relentless work ethic. It’s a sure-fire combination not lost on Essence, or its much larger partner,” Star fashion editor Bernadette Morra writes, following up with a q-and-a with Boyd.
In the New York Post, gossip columnist Keith J. Kelly writes that, “The 40-year-old fashionista . . . is the hottest editor to come out of Canada since Bonnie Fuller, who has edited YM, Marie Claire, Glamour, Cosmopolitan, Us and now Star and the American Media tabloids.”
Posted January 7, 2004
Who Will Put Out Revived Vanguarde Magazines?
If Honey and Savoy magazines, the Vanguarde publications shut down in November, are revived, as Media Life magazine reports is in the works, one big question is who will do the reviving.
When Vanguarde filed for protection from bankruptcy, CEO Keith Clinkscales also left the company.
Savoy’s editor-in-chief, Ron Stodghill, told Journal-isms today that “I passed up” the opportunity to help revive the publication, though “I’m still very much supportive of that group,” meaning those who remain at Vanguarde; “I think we proved that the market is there.” Stodghill, who came from Time magazine, said he is finishing up a book on the 1996 slaying of prominent Atlanta entrepreneur Lance Herndon, which looks at the city?s black jet set — and going out on job interviews.
Selwyn Seyfu Hinds, the executive editor, who came from The Source hip-hop magazine, said he, too, had “conversations with the principals about joining the effort,” but could not become involved in the revival, either. “I’m using the time to get some writing done: finishing a book with Wynton Marsalis and writing two documentary projects for Russell Simmons. So I’m putting off the decision as to when, how and where I re-enter the magazine world,” he told Journal-isms.
Managing Editor Carla Williams is working as an editor of BlackAmericaweb.com. “Like everybody else who’s been there, I’m listening to what the principals have to say,” she told Journal-isms.
Jeff Bercovici, a staff writer for Media Life, on Tuesday quoted Joe Sarachek, managing partner at Triax Capital Advisers, who is overseeing Vanguarde?s restructuring, as saying, “It?s our current intention to get Honey and Savoy cranked up as soon as possible. The market seems to have real interest in a stand-alone reorganization.?
“The two magazines will then be put on the block for sale,” Bercovici continued.
“The company?s third title, Heart & Soul, will not resume publishing but could end up being sold, at least in name, as part of a deal involving the two active titles, or sold separately. ‘We?re entertaining offers to purchase all or some of the assets,’ Sarachek acknowledges,? Bercovici wrote.
Last month, Paul D. Colford reported in the New York Daily News that Vanguarde’s biggest severance claim was from Stodghill, at $194,192, and that Provender Opportunities Fund II, run by lead investor Provender Capital Group, had a secured claim of $1.75 million, covered by Vanguarde’s assets.
AOL Reportedly Interested in BlackVoices.com
“The nation’s leading Internet service provider, America Online, is in negotiations to purchase BlackVoices.com from the Web site’s owner, Tribune Co. A deal could be announced before the end of January,” Ken Smikle reported today for Target Market News.
“The Tribune Co. had planned to simply shut down the wholly-owned division at the end of last year but delayed action when AOL, a division of TimeWarner, expressed interest.
“Though BlackVoices.com remains an active Web site, most of the employees have already been laid off or have taken a hiatus until the company’s future is decided. Tribune is attempting to find positions for some staffers within its newspaper business,” the story continued.
As might be expected during delicate negotiations, the parties would say little to Journal-isms today about a potential deal.
“I’d feel uncomfortable confirming or denying,” said Kenn Turner, who, as reported in December, was recently promoted to senior vice president and general manager for key audiences for AOL; those audiences being African Americans, Latinos and small businesses.
“It’s not something I would comment about,” said Gary Weitman, spokesman for the Tribune Co.
Barry Cooper, CEO of BlackVoices.com, said only that “it is true that we have severed some [non-editorial] employees as we continue to look for the right strategic partner. That process is continuing and we’re optimistic that we’ll be successful.”
Is Suicide by Hanging Appropriate for Photo?
In its year-end review, the Washington Afro-American reprises its photo of a local black man who hanged himself from a tree.
Editor Talibah Chikwendu writes of that story, which leads the Afro’s list for 2003:
“One of our most talked about stories of the year was that of 23-year-old Ayelegen Sogen, who was found hanging from a tree in northwest D.C. We were the only news outlet in the area to cover the story and carry the photo of Mr. Sogen being removed from the tree.
“23-year-old Ayelegen Sogen, was found hanging from a tree at approximately 8:30 a.m. Oct. 11, by a pedestrian in the 400 block of Longfellow Street, N.W.
The use of the photo — with its images of lynchings — raises policy questions about coverage of suicides and identification of suicides as such. At the Washington Post, for instance, the general guideline is that the paper take note of the suicide in a brief or a story if the act creates a public disruption, such as jumping in front of a subway car, City Editor Gabriel Escobar said.
“They said from the beginning that it was a suicide,” Escobar said. “It does not fit the general description of when we focus on this kind of tragedy.”
The Afro year-end review piece did not mention that Sogen’s was a suicide. Chikwendu declined to speak for publication.
ESPN’S Latino Channel Debuts Tonight
“With a live telecast of a Spanish-language ‘SportsCenter’ from Mexico City, followed by the Warriors-Mavericks game in Dallas, another round-the-clock sports network will tip off tonight,” writes Steve Zipay in Newsday.
“ESPN Deportes, the first 24/7 Spanish-language sports network, is targeting a specific group of fans who executives believe are being bypassed: the nearly 40 million Hispanics in the United States.
“The network won’t simply simulcast games: Each event will have its own on-site production team with Spanish-language interviewers, graphics and commercials. There will be plenty of live events: NBA games on Wednesday and Friday nights, NFL, MLS and Major League Baseball games, the UEFA Champions League of European soccer, Mexican winter league baseball, Wimbledon, the French Open, boxing and the Indy Car Series,” said Lino Garcia, general manager.
ESPN Deportes has with more than 100 staffers from ESPN International and the company’s U.S. headquarters in Bristol, Conn., contributing, Zipay wrote.
Spanish Paper is “Judaism With a Latin Flavor”
“Editor Miriam Ventura expected phone calls about Tora Tropical, a new Spanish-language Jewish newspaper that launched last week,” writes Ernie Garcia in the Journal News, which serves Westchester, Rockland and Putnam counties in New York. “She didn’t think she would have to give basic history lessons.
“‘People were calling and asking how Dominicans or Cubans could be Jews,’ said Ventura, a Dominican immigrant, referring to the Jews’ expulsion from Spain in 1492, their subsequent covert lives in Hispanic countries and her homeland’s willingness to accept Jewish refugees in the 1930s. ‘People ignore 500 years of history and how Jews arrived in Hispaniola.’
“Launched to coincide with with start of Hanukkah, Tora Tropical: Judaismo con sabor latino, is a free, 16-page tabloid that will publish four times a year and whose debut issue addresses Jews’ presence in the Dominican Republic, among many other topics. The paper’s English name is Torah Tropical: Judaism With a Latin Flavor.”
N.C. Paper Knocked for Following the Money
A group of prominent black leaders and politicians is warning that a nonprofit, low-income housing initiative will collapse unless the News & Record in Greensboro, N.C., “ends its ‘negative publicity’,? the newspaper reports.
?’The newspaper is intent on destroying this organization,’ declared state Rep. Earl Jones, also a Greensboro Democrat.
“News & Record Editor John Robinson defended the newspaper?s coverage of Project Homestead.
“Project Homestead has built about 700 houses for low- to moderate-income people in Greensboro and about 300 elsewhere in the state.
“The agency came under increased scrutiny this past fall, when the city ordered an audit of its finances after a News & Record story cited expenses of almost $600,000 in 2000-2001 for telephone and travel, including a Caribbean cruise taken by King and other Homestead executives, and legal and accounting costs of about $700,000 in 2001,” the story said, referring to the agency’s founder and president, the Rev. Michael King, who was found dead Dec. 6.
Philly Magazine Starts Year-Long Race Series
“Prompted by the vastly divergent way Philadelphians reacted to the bugging of the Mayor’s office and the recent election, Philadelphia Magazine is launching a unique series about the city’s complex race relations — telling stories about race as it is lived in Philadelphia and introducing one side of the racial divide to the other, with a view toward becoming a conduit to bridge the gaps of understanding,” a news release says.
“Spearheaded by Editor-in-Chief Larry Platt, the launch of Tales of Two Cities marks the debut of Penn Professor and noted author Michael Eric Dyson as Writer at Large, who will be a contributor to the series.
“Additionally, with an eye toward continuing the discussion on race outside the pages of the magazine, throughout the coming year Philadelphia Magazine will co-host with the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, free, open to the public, discussions on race. The first event is slated for Tuesday, January 13.”
N.Y. Times’ Mike Freeman Joining Indy Star
Mike Freeman, a sports reporter for the past 10 years at The New York Times, is joining The Indianapolis Star as a sports columnist later this month, the Star reports. Freeman replaces C. Jemal Horton, who is now listed as editor-in-chief of the Politicsports.com Web site, and based in North Carolina, Star Sports Editor Jim Lefko told Journal-isms.
Freeman starts at The Star Jan. 12 and his column will debut later that week, the Star said.
“Freeman, 37, covered the NBA and NFL at The Times, and most recently did features, enterprise and investigative reporting. In July, he first reported allegations of academic fraud involving Ohio State running back Maurice Clarett,” the Star said.
“I really want to write a column, I want to do it full time and Indianapolis is a great sports town,” Freeman was quoted as saying.
Freeman is married to USA Today sports reporter Kelly Whiteside.
George Curry Runs Dissents on Same-Sex Column
As reported Dec. 19, 10 gay African American journalists challenged a column on same-sex marriages by George E. Curry, editor of the news service serving the black press. Now Curry has turned over space on his own Web site to those who disagreed with the column.
Curry tells Journal-isms that he also plans to run a column next week by Kai Wright of City Limits and BlackAIDS.Org in New York, and one of the 10 journalists, that makes the arguments for same sex marriages/civil unions.
Entravision Chairman to be Honored by RTNDF
The Radio and Television News Directors Foundation is honoring Entravision’s Walter Ulloa at its 14th Annual First Amendment Awards Dinner for his work on behalf of press freedom, along with Sens. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, and Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and NBC’s Andrea Mitchell, RTNDF announces.
“Walter Ulloa has been chairman and CEO of Entravision since its inception in 1996. The company is one of the nation’s largest Spanish-language broadcasters and is the top affiliate group of the Univision television network. Ulloa has more than 24 years’ experience in Spanish-language television and radio. He is a member of the board of directors of the Weingart Center Association, a human services organization dedicated to ending poverty and helping individuals break the cycle of homelessness, and the UCLA Board of Governors,” the release says.
N.Y. Times Book Review Favors Male Authors
“The New York Times Book Review overwhelmingly favors books and book reviews written by men, according to a new study from Brown University,” reports Cynthia Cotts in the Village Voice.
“Over the course of a year, the study reveals, 72 percent of all books reviewed in the NYTBR were written by men, and 66 percent of all reviews also carried a male byline. In other words, the most influential venue in the publishing world showcases male authors and reviewers by an average of two to one.
“Book Review editor Charles McGrath finds the evidence of bias unconvincing, much to the chagrin of Brown adjunct professor Paula Caplan.
“The study was compiled by Caplan, a clinical psychologist and author who specializes in women’s studies, and Mary Ann Palko, a psychotherapist in private practice,” Cotts continues.
Abu-Jamal’s Campaign Ends Before It Begins
Until recently, Mumia Abu-Jamal and Leonard Peltier were running — from their cells — as Peace and Freedom Party candidates in California’s March presidential primary.
Abu-Jamal, a former president of the Philadelphia Association of Black Journalists, has been on Pennsylvania’s death row since 1982, when he was convicted of fatally shooting a police officer.
Peltier is serving two life sentences for the murders of two FBI agents on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota in 1975.
However, Patt Morrison reports in the Los Angeles Times, Abu-Jamal was pulled from the candidate list “at the last minute by his own party.”
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