MAGAZINES

[DELTABRAT]

Hello Ladies of AKA and SF's and Gentlemen:

I posted this topic in our forum and wanted to get you all's opinion on this.

I was wondering if anyone reads Oprah's "O" Magazine. If not, then why?

Also, what are some magazines that you enjoy reading. I LOVE to read magazines that enlighten and uplift us as Black women and was wondering if anything else is out there besides Ebony,Essence, Jet (all of which I love).

Just wondering.

Thank you.


[This message has been edited by DELTABRAT (edited September 22, 2000).]

[AKAtude]

Delatbrat, wonderful topic! I do have a subscription to "O" and Essence as well as Heart and Soul, a health and fitness magazine geared towards us which is published bi-monthy. The most recent issue has Vivica Fox on the cover.

I last subscribed to Ebony about two years ago. I felt the magazine was lacking in substance. It seemed more like a "brag book" for lack of a better terminology.

I have heard of another magazine called "Honey", but have yet to pick up a copy to review it.

Originally posted by AKAtude:
I have heard of another magazine called "Honey", but have yet to pick up a copy to review it.

I received a few issues of Honey for a free trial last month and to me, it too lacked substance in my opinion. I kindly wrote CANCEL on the bill invoice and sent it back promptly. I guess it takes time to build up a reputation, but overall the magazine doesn't stand out to make you want to buy. Some magazines are made for looking at pictures while waiting for your hair appointment and others are for reading. To me Honey is a "oh look who's on the cover magazine." But try it out and see if you like it.

[darling1]

I was so upset that I couldn't get the first issue of 'O' with Camille Cosby. I simply love this magazine and I am so glad that Oprah decided to put it out there. Everypage is filled with something to inspire and encourage you. It is a wonderful tool to help you focus and center yourself. The articles are positive and thought provoking. There are some 'exercises' in each issue as well that I have yet to try but I will be doing so immediately. I suggest that everyone purchase the latest issue and see for yourself!!!!

As much as I want to support all of 'my' magazines they all don't have substance and lack quality. I read one issue of Honey and was quickly turned off by it. Too ghetto fabulous!!! Ebony.....has too much fluff. It used to be a quality magazine many years ago. Heart and Soul is always good but I wish they would add some more issues...lol. Has anyone checked out B Smith's magazine?? I am partial to Martha Stewart so I am not sure if Barbara can change my tune. Can someone sway my opinion????

[AKAtude]

I did pick up the first issue of B. Smith's magazine, but didn't really care for it much so I didn't subscribe. However, that is not to say someone else may not like it. It seems I'm the only one around here who cares for the new Boyz II Men cd. So, I better say read it for yourself and don't take my word for it.

[DELTABRAT]

Thanks ladies for your replies (keep 'em coming). I LOVE Oprah's magazine. As Darling 1 put it and AKAtude, the articles are very inspiring and encouraging for women of ALL races and ethnicities. I literally read the magazine from cover to cover.

Honey is definitely a "flip through while at the beauty salon" magazine. It's real Vibe-ish...to me and lacks true substance.

Who saw Essence's cover and story on Lil Kim this month? Do you think she looke 110% better without her butt and breasts spread all across the cover?

Thanks AKAtude for the Heart and Soult tip. I too have read that although I don't subscribe. It is not really fitness oriented enough for me.

It's odd because my boyfriend and I are health fanatics and we both find that Black magazined tend to focus on preventive health (which is VERY important) vs. TRUE FITNESS. So the articles are like "How to take your own blood pressure, etc., etc." These topics are important in our community but dag. Pick up an issue of the Competitor and it's all about marathons/triathlons, etc., etc. Those things are equally important to our community because We DON'T EXERCISE!!!!!

Okay, sorry I am venting in your forum. I had to say that.

Is anyone feeling me?

Code is another magazine that is essential for fashion-saavy men *yum *
Does anyone read Code?

I will pick up the B. Smith mag as well and check it out.


PEACE

[This message has been edited by DELTABRAT (edited September 25, 2000).]

[Steeltrap]

Essence is making some changes. From WWD.com:

Memo Pad: Sister Sister... Send a Card
SISTER SISTER: A year after Angela Burt-Murray returned to Essence to be editor in chief, her September issue, fronted by Beyoncé in glittery Giorgio Armani, is the first sign of the magazine repositioning itself with a major increase in fashion and beauty coverage.

Burt-Murray knows firsthand the struggles of previous attempts to capture the fashion magazine market for women of color: she worked at the now-defunct Honey, and was at Time Inc. when it put the pricy Essence sibling Suede on an indefinite "hiatus" in 2005, after only three issues. She and her new fashion director, Agnes Cammock, steadfastly deny Essence's newfound fashion focus is a way to capture some of Suede's buzz and potential fashion advertising without the price-tag — despite the fact that Cammock was Suede's fashion director. "We haven't really taken a look at the things that Suede had taken a look at," said Burt-Murray. "It doesn't have anything to do with Suede."

Despite the protests, some of the haute/hip-hop sensibility Cammock displayed in Suede is already evident in Essence's September front of the book and fashion well, though not so much as to alienate the traditionally older Essence reader.

Cammock said the fashion coverage, beginning in this issue, will compare with Marie Claire and Glamour's high-low mix of bargains up front and upscaling in the well. "That's the way women of color have been dressing for years," she said.

A New York Fashion Week gala with Sean "Diddy" Combs (who, perhaps not coincidentally, is named a top 10 best-dressed black man in the September Essence) and Iman will kick off the magazine's first significant foray into fashion, as well as the Museum of the City of New York's "Black Style Now" exhibit.

All glitz aside, Essence's new top staffers point out the magazine can still fill a vacuum in reaching black women, be it in covering beauty products or a different approach to body image. "We're probably the only women's magazine that can put a fuller woman on the cover and not have it be a detriment to the newsstand," said Burt-Murray, who said the three covers of full-figured comedienne Mo'Nique, most recently in July, have been top sellers. Overall, Essence's newsstand sales were up 7.8 percent on the newsstand in the first half of this year to 259,423, according to figures filed with the Audit Bureau of Circulations.
— Irin Carmon

The bolded part is interesting, simply because we are more likely to accept larger women. There is no way in crispy hot hell that a Vogue could put Camryn Manheim on a cover without backlash, and Anna Wintour would die a thousand deaths before that would happen.

[lovelyivy84]

Wonderful idea- especially the beauty focus! The real reason I buy Essence is because it's the ONLY place that has good beauty tips for black women. I would probably buy it more often if they expanded that coverage.

I dont really care for the expanded fashion coverage though- just the hair and makeup please.

[Marie]

Originally Posted by Steeltrap

The bolded part is interesting, simply because we are more likely to accept larger women. There is no way in crispy hot hell that a Vogue could put Camryn Manheim on a cover without backlash, and Anna Wintour would die a thousand deaths before that would happen.

True, plus I think that we perceive Essence differently. I know that I think of it more as a lifestyle magazine than a fashion magazine. I don't really compare it to Vouge or Marie Claire. As such, I hope that this new fashion focus doesn't take away from the other valuable content that Essence has to offer.

[WenD08]

i'm w/Marie on this. Essence addresses us as Black women in all areas-emotionally, physically, mentally, financially, etc. i'd rather it not turn into the Black Marie Claire. i love clothes and for that fashion mag "fix", i've got that covered.
besides, i hope it's not trying to be like Suede since it failed an all

[rho4life]

i don't want essence to change TOOO much. It sits comfortably next to my glamour and cosmo and my Aurora and Consumer Reports. I read a dif mag based on what sort of info i'm looking for that day.