Is Black Press Losing Its Significance within the Black Community?
Late bills were piling up on freelancer Zerline Hughes' kitchen table in Washington, D.C. The $3,000 check Ebony Magazine owed the mother-of-two was nine months overdue. In frustration, she took to social media and started the hashtag #Ebonyowes and exposed the company.
Hughes, a Howard University graduate, studied journalism and aspired to work for black-owned publications. Her experience with her school newspaper, The Hilltop, and the Los Angeles Sentinel in her hometowng gave her insights into the role of the black press and its financial struggles.
"I had taken black press courses at Howard and that's where I was taught the importance of keeping black outlets alive and full of content," she said. "After college I was well aware that the budgets are different at black-owned publications because they are smaller. They're small businesses in many situations."
When signing a freelance contract with Ebony, an editor told her upfront that it would take up to 90 days to process payment for her "Black Love in Hollywood" piece and other future published articles. She agreed to the terms but wasn't pleased that it ultimately took nearly a year to get compensation for the ten articles she published for the magazine.
In February, black-owned private equity firm, Clear View Group that owns Ebony Magazine, agreed to pay dozens of freelancers nearly $80,000 to settle a lawsuit over unpaid work.
"I knew going in that it was going to take some time to get paid," said by Hughes, but she never imagined that it would take nearly a year to get her first payment.
Publications nationwide have struggled financially, since audiences are opting to consume news from various apps and websites, oppose to purchasing a traditional newspaper.
Financial setbacks have faced the black press since it was established in the 1900s, but the digital shift in the last decade has intensified their financial burdens.
According to the Pew Research Center data, numerous black-owned newspapers have seen their circulation drop since 2006.
Average Circulation for Black-Owned Newspapers
In the last decade, prominent black-owned media companies like Vibe Magazine, Black Entertainment Network (BET), and Essence Magazine have been sold.
The ownership changes have led some journalists and experts to question whether black media remains an authentic space, after some black-owned companies have sold their company to white owners.
The black press was launched solely because black people in the 19th century were frustrated with white people controlling their narrative. Now centuries later in a different social and economic climate, the roles are reversing back.
Black Press' History of Financial Problems
Jake Oliver Jr. took a long pause and grimaced when asked why he was no longer the chairman for his family's publication, The Baltimore Afro-American paper. As he tilted his head and cracked a smile, he said, "Well you know the board thought we needed a younger person to connect to the millennials."
His cousin, 50-year-old Francis Murphy Drapper, who is 20 years younger than Oliver, was named chairman in February.
Oliver stared at the table and said in a low pitch, "I respect the board's decision to promote Francis and I will do whatever is necessary to better the company, even if it takes me stepping down after serving as the chair for 32 years."
The Baltimore Afro-American paper, also referred to as "The Afro," is the longest running black-owned, family-owned newspaper in the nation. The publication has dealt with financial issues since its launching over 125 years ago, but the digital era and social media forced them to make drastic decisions.
"More than ever, its been a challenge financially because everybody is so concerned with their phones and social media," Oliver said, "Folk don't care about purchasing the newspaper anymore."
To alleviate certain financial responsibilities, The Afro sold their three-leveled office complex located in the heart of Baltimore City for a smaller suite on the outskirts of Baltimore City.
Oliver said, "Nowadays we don't need that much office space. In the old days everybody had to come in the editorial office, everybody had desktops, now most of the writers don't even come in. They work from their Macbooks at home."
For over 125 years, The Afro has committed to covering local news, national and international news that interests the black community.
The Afro's managing editor Kamau High said," Our target audience is definitely black people, but we don't just limit our coverage to just black people, we report on newsworthy stories that pertains to all races. But of course we do make sure to focus on reporting on black stories that wouldn't necessarily be reported in the mainstream media."
The Afro covers stories in local news, sports, politics and feature stories profiling successful and prominent African-Americans. They have reported on stories ranging from the police brutality death of Freddie Gray, historic Olympic performance of gymnast Simone Biles and Maryland's mayoral race.
Due to the digital era, The Afro has had a circulation of under 20,000 and has used its social media presence to attract most of its audience.
The Afro has over 600,000 followers on Facebook, 4,000 followers on Instagram and over 10,000 followers on Twitter.
Baltimore native, Kendra Hawkins said, "I haven't bought a newspaper in probably over five years because I receive all of my news content from online. The Afro posts all of their articles on Facebook and that's how I keep abreast about on what's happening in Baltimore."
Hawkins said, "It's disappointing that news stations typically don't report on news in Baltimore City, unless it has to do with something negative."
The Afro's editors are pleased with their strong social media presence, but the newspaper still struggles financially because advertisement is significantly cheaper when it's purchased from a digital platform.
An ad purchased for the newspaper on average sells for several thousand dollars; digital ads, several hundred dollars.
"So while everyone needs a website in 2018, it can often be a money losing proposition and the black press in particular does not really have a lot of leeway to lose money," High said. "Really no one does, but the black press in particular can't."
It's been difficult for black press to convince enough advertisers that the black market is a "viable economic outlet" and their ads will be seen by a large volume of people.
Oliver said it's been a two-step challenge with partnering with advertisers.
"First you have to convince them that black folks have enough money and are important enough to be more spoken to." Oliver said. "The second thing is to convince them that utilizing the outlet that the black press represents is a viable, meaningful and effective way to get their message disseminated."
Black Press' History of Financial Problems
In the 19th century, stories that pertained to African-Americans were rarely covered in newspapers. Black people were treated as if they were non-existent, until a group of freed black slaves, and editors, Samuel E. Cornish and John B. Russworm, from New York City took it upon themselves in 1827 to create their own newspaper titled, "The Freedom's Journal."
"In their first issue, they made it clear that their mission was to plead their cause because for too long others had spoken for them," says E.R. Shipp, a Pulitzer Prize winner and tenured professor at Morgan State University. She says that even centuries later black press remains the outlet that black people trust.
With the launching of "The Freedom's Journal," black people finally found a designated space and platform that was devoted to reporting on stories that related to and affected the black community.
"There is something current in our society that requires black people to have a separate space to plead their causes and speak their truths," said Shipp. "Especially since mainstream media has a tendency to wait to discuss the contributions of black people until Black History Month."
Shipp believes mainstream reporters visit black communities seeking stereotypical stories that discuss, "poverty, HIV/Aids, violence and high blood pressure."
Black media would often be the only medium where black people could read stories information that represented their demographic.
"Jet magazine, was almost like a second mom to me, it educated me on historical movements and provided me with life tips that I now pass down to my own children."
Growing up in Washington, D.C. in 1960s Anne Sloan and her family were longtime Ebony subscription holders.
"I will never forget the coverage on women rights movement that Fannie Lou Hammer led in the 1960s in Mississippi. That coverage made me into the feminist I am today," said by longtime Jet subscription holder, Anne Sloan.
Despite black media's influence to the black community, black-owned media has struggled to sustain the business financially, ultimately forcing some black owners to sell their ownership rights.
To run a black-owned business, "You need capital and often times in the black community that capital has not been available at the right place or right time," Shipp said.
Working for Essence Magazine
The responsibility of producing content that can relate to black women of all ages, shapes and economic status' on a national level was a hefty, yet exciting task for former Essence Editor, Audrey Edwards. She worked on and off at the publication for over 37 years.
Essence Magazine was founded in 1970 by Edward Lewis, his mission for the publication was to produce content that would provide black women with authentic, informative and inspiring content. The publication has a readership of over 8 million people.
As the managing editor and contributing writer for Essence magazine from 1997 to 2017, Edwards wrote 11 cover stories and hundreds of articles for the magazine. She has done front-page stories on celebrities such as Oprah Winfrey, Tyler Perry, Janet Jackson, Gabrielle Union, Tracey Edmonds, Steve Harvey, Janet Jackson, Taraji P. Henson.
Having the opportunity to report on Hollywood's biggest stars didn't just solidify her as a notable writer, but gave her "amazing joy, inspiration, and pride" to go to work every day and report on such influential individuals in the black community.
Edwards didn't just limit herself to working for black-owned publications. During her extensive career, she was also the editor for white-owned publications that targeted white woman such as, "Redbook Magazine," "Fairchild Magazine," and "Family Circle Magazine."
Edwards said during her more than three decades at Essence, she never recalls a time where the company faced financial issues or struggled to pay their employees. She attributes Essence's financial success to its loyal audience and owner Edward Lewis' commitment to running a profitable business.
She enjoyed her time at Essence, but it wasn't perfect by any means. Edwards said, "It wasn't until working at Essence, where I was constantly reminded that I was a dark skin woman." Colorism was often a practice other black editors and writers participated in at the publication.
Colorism is a practice that displays a prejudice or discrimination against individuals with a dark skin tone. The act of colorism is typically an act committed by people of the same ethnic group.
When selecting candidates who would be on the cover, one of Edwards' fellow editors who was also a black woman used to say," We need to make sure that we find somebody as dark as Audrey to be on the cover to make sure the really dark skin women don't complain."
Edwards said, the tone her co-worker used when discussing the topic of dark skin women was often condescending and rude. Even though Edwards was very comfortable in her identity, she said, "I would be lying if I said I wasn't bothered and made self-conscious a few times when these comments were made."
Although, Edwards co-workers often discussed including darker woman on the cover, they still sometimes would reject pitches for darker colored candidates.
Edwards said in 2003, they were looking for someone to put on their February cover and one day she saw entertainment show host for "Extra", Tracey Edmonds in the movie, "Soul Food" and quickly realized that Edmonds embodied the beauty, resilience and intelligence Essence promoted.
Tracey Edmonds is brown skin and when Edwards pitched this to the rest of her editorial team, one of her co-workers said, "She is way too dark, I don't want her." It took a long time, but Edwards eventually convinced her that Tracey Edmonds was worthy for the cover.
Work was everything Edwards could have imagined or yearned for in terms of opportunities and salary. However, she would sometimes get frustrated with dealing with other black women editors at Essence, who would participate in colorism and choose certain cover stories strictly based off of the subject's appearance oppose to their story.
