ESSENCE magazine Declares Its Black Employees Merely Window Dressing: Who's the Bigger Fool?
Wednesday, July 13, 2011 at 7:00AM The Blogmother From the Department of Stating the Obvious, ESSENCE magazine recently released a statement saying that it's Black employees were merely window dressing. When I read it, I had to do a double take because surely they wouldn't be so brazen as to say that their Black employees are there merely for appearances.
Surely ESSENCE brain trust would not have come together to release a public statement that although a White male will be making all of the important decisions, the Black folk on staff would be doing the work. Surely ESSENCE, in response to online criticism, would have issued a statement that didn't reek of desperation and disarray inside TEAM ESSENCE!
But they did... oh yes they did!
Before we go further, I don't have any problem hiring non-Black people to do work for me. The issue for me isn't that ESSENCE has hired a White man to run its business operations, they apparently have had White managing editors in the past, My issue is ESSENCE thinks Y'ALL are stupid.
Backstory:
While I was busy with Blogging While Brown, apparently a disgruntled ESSENCE employee/ former employee revealed that ESSENCE had hired a White man as its managing editor. According to Journalisms:
The item by Yannique Benitez began, "If the rumor is true, this won't be the first time that Essence employed a white person in an economy where blacks are hit hardest by unemployment. Just last year the magazine came under fire for hiring Ellianna Placas as [its] fashion director. Now, Michael Bullderdick will serve as the Managing Editor, according to writer Christelyn Karazin."
Karazin's piece, dated Thursday and appearing on beyondblackwhite.com, was headlined, "Source Exclusive: Essence Magazine Hires a White Dude to Run the Place."
Source: Journalisms
In response to the criticism or the race of its managing editor, the ESSENCE brain trust got together to issue the following statement:
White gave Journal-isms this statement on Tuesday: "Michael is responsible for production and operational workflow. He has no involvement in editorial content."
Um. Erm. Hmm. Saywhaaa? Let me read that again:
White gave Journal-isms this statement on Tuesday: "Michael is responsible for production and operational workflow. He has no involvement in editorial content."
Um Erm Hmm. I was right the first time. They said what I think they said. Let me translate "Let us assure you that we will continue to allow our Black employees pick out the pretty pictures."
Bless their hearts. To think that they are in the business of communication and that's the best they could do.
I mean seriously, Mr. Bullderdick can't make ESSENCE worse than it already is... you can't fall off the floor. I mean afterall, most of the dreck that drove many of us away from ESSENCE was cranked out by Black women who are anti-Black-women.
Good luck Mr. Bullderdick! Might I suggest that your first order of business be to end ESSENCE magazine's association with any contractor or employee that contributed to THIS ARTICLE encouraging Black women to exploit sex trafficking in order to catch-a-man!
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Reader Comments (11)
Wait. So, how can a managing editor not have any involvement in editorial content of the magazine? I work in the newspaper industry and managing editors typically oversee the content of what goes into a product. I'm sure the magazine industry isn't much different...
That's total bullshit if you ask me. I'm glad I've stopped reading Essence many years ago...
I really liked reading Essence magazine in the past. I would buy it every month. I have stopped buying the magazine because it is not worth the price anymore. There are so many "real" topics that they can feature yet each magazine is filled with features about celebrities. I think they are being lazy or cheap over there. Essence used to have some really interesting articles. Now, they so many features about celebrities in place of real articles. Plus, some of the advise they give is horrible. Essence will have to change before I buy there magazine again.
Bye Bye Essence...you have put the final nail in your coffin. It was nice knowing ya and I hope Susan L Taylor is having the last laugh!
3 comments?
Essence should be worried they have reached a point of indifference. You know what men say when women stop complaining you know its a wrap
@blkchik there are only three comments here, but the post is being shared widely on facebook. And there is a more vibrant discussion on the fan page. But yeah, three comments... we may have done our work.
Wow. Just when you think Essence can't sink any lower....
I saw the writing on the wall way back when Essence was purchased by Time Warner.
While Essence has taken a nose dive into the abyss of mediocrity and no longer seeks to serve their audience well, I do think that Ebony has done a great job of reinventing itself. Amy Barnett has done a great job in making the magazine more relevant and doing more in-depth reporting on issues that impact black Americans. They also actually employ black people as writers and as part of their staff. While they still have lots of the usual suspects on the cover and tend to promote some of the usual patriarchal thinking that's endemic to (black) American life, I do think they're headed in a more progressive direction. I'm going to become a subscriber for the first time in my life.
I wonder if this hiring a white male as managing editor of a black woman's magazine is some kind of desperate effort by the owners of Essence to try to save it? Or is it just the owners' final and ultimate expression of contempt for black women? Or perhaps improvement of the quality of the magazine will be an unintended consequence of the owners' actions? The only thing that interests me about Essence magazine is to see how this will all play out.
Maybe he won't be as anti-black woman as the previous editors have been....I guess we will see.
Why is it that black people are surprised about this. Didn't we understand that that essence is now owned by whites. What did people think? I don't get the shock in the statement they made. Essence is a white magazine with a black face. It was no longer for black women the moment they signed the dotted line.
I don't understand why black people have to be fools and sell everything. No other race sells their major businesses to whites. As a matter of fact they really don't sell any of their business to whites. They keep it in their race so that their race has power and they have a voice.
Come on black people learn to sell to other blacks. It is not about the money all the time iI is about the power and the voice that you can't get anywhere else None of the other publications voice our opinions. They don't care.
Everyone owns their own magazines, newspapers, TV stations, etc. You don't own anything. And when it is owned by others, it still is not yours.
Many blacks need a serious lesson in business, economics, race building and they need to look how other races are doing it.