I don’t know what the future of print publications/magazines will be, but they might want to look into a redesign and stronger web presence for those of us who still like the shiny things, cool layouts and pretty pictures.

But I gotta say: these are very bad arguments.

You’re suggesting that people should support a product that they’re pretty familiar with — and still don’t like — because they might miss it when it’s gone. Um, okay. You’re sort of making my point again, which is that the reason often given for why we should support it is out of some kind of obligation, and not an actual affinity for the magazine itself.

Also, I have no idea where you’re getting the idea that Ebony serves as the training ground for the tens (hundreds?) of thousands of black journalists/shooters in the U.S. Of the many, many fellow NABJ members I know, none of them have worked for Ebony (although coincidentally, I met in passing the young lady you mentioned who left the Globe for Ebony about a week before she was set to make the jump). This idea just isn’t true.

But okay. Could you specifically shout out one of those “pretty damn good” stories that we missed out on?

quality’s been improving. greatly. some of those stories are actually pretty damn good, but you’ld never see them unless you read the mags. and what’s keeping you from seeing those stories is the idea that there aren’t good stories there to begin with. so it’s chicken or egg.

really, we do need to support. i suspect we’d miss it if it went away.

and, vogue’s fascination with black people will wear thin again. i don’t really think we’re in the space where black people are really mainstreamed yet. also, i’m with the person who says that black magazines give black writers and photographers a good shot.

sure you can work at newsweek, but once you get tired of covering mostly white folks, you can dip over to ebony to cover somebody else.

i’m not sure but i’ve found myself reading trace, colures, arise, clam

i’m still not sure what it is, but i also stopped reading the source, vibe, vogue, elle

there is a lack of design/sophistication. there would need to be a serious overhaul for me to pay attention

I think this sort of falls under the same category as HBCUs. If a black institution can’t make weight, then its blackness isn’t enough reason to save it. There are so many great news orgs that are going under right now, it’s heartbreaking…but like you said, Ebony and Jet are not great.

I know I’ll miss Jet, especially, if it goes under, but that’s more out of nostalgia than anything. My dad, who feared I was losing my blackness in the racially diverse area of California where I grew up, used to make me read it every week, and then he’d ‘test’ me on what was in it. And when I’m home, I still flip through it out of habit. But it’s seriously just like a yearbook… some interesting tidbits here and there, things that evoke a smile or a frown, but nothing of substance.