Tami wonders if Ebony and Jet, which are in dire financial straits, should be saved.
The argument that they matter because of their historical import shouldn’t be too easily dismissed. But that feeling of familiarity and cultural obligation, of supporting these publications because they’re black publications has essentially been their business models for their entire runs, even as the media landscape changed in cataclysmic ways.
In terms of functionality, they don’t do anything so superlatively (or even competently enough) that it would make me, an admitted magazine junkie, ever seriously consider buying them. At this point, you’re more likely to find thoughtful and well-researched journalism/essays on issues that affect black people — por ejemplo, here, here, here or here — in mainstream publications than you are in either of them. They’ve completely ceded that space. They’re just not very good magazines by most measures.
What do you think?