Emerge Magazine put on hiatus

By Roland S. Martin, Inside.com
November 25, 2003

This story originally appeared on Inside.com in 2000.

The new owners of Emerge Magazine announced today they are suspending its operations and will broaden its focus during a re-launch of the monthly publication as early as 2001.

Staffers of Emerge Magazine, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, were told this morning of the changes by officials from Vanguarde Media, which assumed control of the monthly publication this month after forging an agreement with its former owner, Black Entertainment Television.

Emerge, an issues-oriented magazine that targeted upscale blacks, had a circulation of 150,000 but was losing as much as $1 million annually, Vanguarde officials said

Roy Johnson, editorial director of Vanguarde, said the poor financial state of the magazine, coupled with its low circulation, led the company to explore a different direction for the publication.

"We reiterated to them that this is about building the best products that we can to give Vanguarde its best possible opportunity for success, and we look forward to each of them contributing to that success in their own way," he said.

Johnson said staffers weren't crying at the announcement, saying they were more relieved "because now they know" the status of the critically acclaimed magazine.

Ever since Vanguarde and its CEO, former VIBE publisher Keith Clinkscales, linked with BET's Robert Johnson to assume control of the company's magazine assets, speculation was rampant as to what he had planned for the magazine.

Emerge's editor-in-chief George E. Curry, alluded to the uncertainty in his column in the June issue, which features the former H. Rap Brown on the cover.

Curry said he expected changes "but neither I nor my staff knows what those changes will be."

"Change can be good or bad," he said in the June issue. "If change means Emerge will finally be aggressively marketed to increase our readership, then we will be better for it. But if change means that Emerge will not have the same cutting-edge focus it has become known for, then you, the readers, will ultimately determine whether the decision to change was good or bad."

Curry also said the unstable atmosphere has made it hard to keep staffers, noting that two had recently left the publication.

In an exclusive interview with Inside.com, Curry, 53, says he is disappointed in the actions of Vanguarde, but says he wasn't surprised.

"I knew June would be my last editor's column," he said.

Curry says the downfall of Emerge was a failure to adequately market the magazine to a wider audience. He said if the magazine was marketed in outlets beyond BET's cable channel, they would have been able to lure more advertisers and increase circulation.

When Emerge came onto the national landscape 10 years ago, there were no black magazines dedicated to the news and issues affecting African Americans. Major black magazines like Black Enterprise was focused solely on business, while Ebony was the standard-bearer for lifestyles and entertainment.

But Emerge was able to fill a void by looking at critical issues such as healthcare, the Supreme Court, affirmative action and police brutality. Uncompromising in its approach -- some considered it too rigid -- the magazine hit hard against people like Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas (one issue portrayed him as a lawn jockey, a demeaning stereotype of African Americans) to the Rev. Jesse Jackson, and even Minister Louis Farrakhan. The magazine even caused some controversy by reporting annually on the number of African Americans who failed to graduate at NCAA institutions.

Also, at a time when diversity was being assaulted in newsrooms across the country, Emerge was able to raise the awareness of news issues and put them in the context for the average African American. The magazine won more than 40 awards during its time, including 

The 30-year journalist says he is committed to a national black news magazine focusing on issues vital to African Americans.

"I think there is room for a lot of different kinds of magazines, and I think that a magazine like Emerge should be in that mix," he said. "You don't have to do one at the expense of the other. I know from the seven years that I've been here that there's an audience for it. We have a staff, and what I'm going to do at this point is look at some potential investors. If I can get some venture capitalists interested, I'm going to start my own."

In a prepared statement, Clinkscales said the decision to put Emerge on hiatus was not made lightly.

"Emerge represented a hallmark in African-American publishing," Clinkscales said.  "However, a new editorial strategy will give us a unique opportunity to reach a broader readership and improve our business prospects.  Our goal is to publish an entertaining magazine with insightful commentary that will inform and empower our communities."

Johnson says as a friend of Emerge's late founder Wilmer Ames, he's confident the company will move forward with the original vision "of a smart lifestyle magazine that reflects the sensibilities of its audience.

"The new publication will a more inviting approach to the issues, personalities and trends important to blacks," he said.

Curry bit his tongue at the assertion of a magazine like Emerge becoming a lifestyles publication.

"I'm going to do them a favor and not say anything about that," he said. "They are entitled to do whatever they feel is their vision; my vision must happens to be quite different. They have a view that they apparently want to do something softer. They think that's what America needs; we'll see. I'm not wishing them ill will. 

"I know the seven years that I have been here have been the most kind of my career. I worked for Bob Johnson for seven years and he gave me free reign to run the magazine in a professional manner. He never tried, even when we did controversial stuff, to tone it down, and he allowed me to recruit and pay for the staff in an excellent operation. Its been a great seven years; I wish it had been longer. But now I'm still committed to this idea, and if it's not done here, I'll have to do it somewhere else."

Johnson said talks are ongoing regarding the status of BET Weekend, as well as discussions on how to broaden and increase circulation at Heart & Soul, a health lifestyle magazine for black women.