The Color of the Magazine Industry

Folio: The Magazine for Magazine Management, May 1, 2004 by Susan Thea Posnock

Even at Vanguarde, advertising wasn't the problem. In fact, from 1997 to 2002 African American titles measured by the PIB grew in revenues by 67 percent.

"JOBS FOR WHITE FOLKS"

In the meantime, top advertisers such as Procter & Gamble, General Motors and McDonald's are making a huge push to reach Hispanics and other minorities. "In the past many advertisers treated diversity as good community relations, not as a serious business initiative," says Notarianni. But when 35 percent of consumers buying particular cars are minorities, carmakers can't afford not to woo them.

This new reality in the ad business will force magazines to diversify, says Sallie Mars of McCann-Erickson Worldwide, chair of the Diversity Committee of the American Association of Advertising Agencies. "Clients want to have ad agencies that have diverse populations, and ad agencies have to select suppliers whose employee base is diverse."

"If I'm Nike or Reebok and I'm trying to reach the youth demographic, I need ideas that resonate with the consumer," says Vibe president Kenard Gibbs. "If you can't come up with any ideas because you don't have anyone in marketing that can relate to this multicultural audience, advertisers don't have a need for you." To be fair, some magazine companies have made commitments to hiring more minority candidates. Time Inc. is ahead of the game with a workforce that is 25 percent multicultural. "We publish magazines to all levels of American society, and our magazines should reflect our readers and our staffs should reflect our readers," says Peter Vincent, vice president of human resources.

Over the past five years, the company has beefed up efforts to recruit and retain minority employees. Time also has affinity groups that target Black, Hispanic, gay and lesbian, and Asian American employees on staff. Internships that start with college students provide a feeder pool into the Logan B.A. program, which targets recent graduates.

Traditional "White" magazines geared toward youth culture seem to be evolving fastest. For instance, Teen People hired managing editor Amy Barnett away from Honey magazine prior to the demise of Vanguarde. Gibbs and Vibe editor Mimi Valdes say mainstream mags have started to poach multicultural talent from the magazine. "We've lost people to magazines from Marie Claire to Teen People to Rolling Stone," says Valdes.

Clearly, the majority of popular magazines are not there yet. "The Time Inc. folks are way ahead of the pack," says Suzanne W. Peck, a diversity consultant and instructor at the Media Management Center at Northwestern. But, she says, the industry is making progress - slowly.

But the results have been disappointing. Nanette Dillard, founder and publisher of Travel Beyond Borders, a travel mag that targets African Americans believes careers in advertising, editorial, circulation and other areas of the magazine business would make sense for many talented young minorities. But, she says, they seem not to consider the field. "In many cases, they think of those as jobs for White folks, and they can't wrap their heads around the idea of ever becoming an editor or a publisher." The exceptions have been niche ethnic magazines like Vibe, Essence, Latina and Ebony that address minority audiences and attract minority talent.