by Jonathan Arkin
Publisher and alumna Linda Johnson Rice helped kick off the first Dean’s Forum of the year at USC Annenberg on Sept. 4, as she joined Dean Ernest J. Wilson III, students and faculty for a discussion on diversity in the media and the future of African American publishing.
The forum, part of the Black Student Welcome Week and held in conjunction with the Center for Black Cultural and Student Affairs, also featured questions and comments from communication professor Christopher Smith, director of the Johnson Communication Leadership Center.
Dean Wilson introduced Rice – who holds a B.A. in journalism from USC Annenberg – as “a good friend, a colleague and a trustee of this university. She is extremely well qualified. We are extremely proud to say that Rice is an alumna of USC.”
Rice, who is the publisher and CEO of Johnson Publishing Company, began by expressing her gratitude to her father John H. Johnson, a media pioneer who founded both Ebony and Jet magazines in the middle of the 20th century – a time, Rice said, that was not noted for its opportunities for African Americans in the media.
“My father always saw great opportunities for African Americans,” Rice said. “He saw that they were underserved in the media and felt that this was a niche that he could fill. When he started, there weren’t any places for young black people to work.”
She also recalled that when other children went out to play after school, she would go out “to work in the office” of her father.
“I remember my father telling me…it comes back to having a really great drive and being tenacious and not letting go, no matter what people say you can’t do,” she said. “That is what really catapulted the magazine. They built a really tremendous success story. We’ve been able to chronicle the most important things that have happened to Black people over the past 60 years.”
An optimistic Rice admitted that despite not being an easy time for publishing, she sees a rosy future for the medium.
“Publishing is hitting a bit of a plateau,” she said, describing some of the Johnson Publishing brand diversity – including products as varied as cosmetics and greeting cards – in addition to the loyalty of its writers, some of whom leave for other companies yet inevitably return. “But there’s a lot of growth in the business. On the publishing side, there’s still a lot of growth opportunity in the company. We think of ourselves as our own house.”
Smith said that traditionally, many ethnic immigrants move away from their ethnic media as they “mainstream” into society but that this is not the case for African Americans, who embrace ethnically distinct media even as they move on to less stratified lives. He described the Johnson Center as a place both “designed to foster a new generation of leaders” and as a hub for thinking through how race and ethnicity is, and he thanked Rice for her contributions to building the Center.
“To open up all the resources of Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, the University at large, to take advantage of everything we offer [to students]…with the help of Linda Rice Johnson, we know that we’ll be able to do that.”
In discussing the “black perspective,” which Rice said had to remain the exclusive domain of black writers, Smith asked her what she would tell students who might want to tell stories from that perspective in other media structures.
“You have to be able to anticipate your story very well,” Rice said. “As the tides shift, we are still shifting with the African American perspective. Our relevancy is our heritage. We have that black perspective.”
Overall, Rice was thankful for the success of Johnson Publishing’s main periodicals and some of their offshoots – particular the brand equity of the Jet and Ebony names both in print and online. And once the floor was opened to discussion, some at the forum were surprised that her story was not peppered with more professional and personal accounts of hardship and misery.
“We have publishers come and tell us such sad stories,” said communication professor Jonathan Taplin, a regular presence at the Dean’s forums. (“Oh, I have those too,” Rice said, to laughter). “How have you been able to keep the brands going, when so many publishers are ready to shoot themselves?”
Rice answered by pointing to the faith and diversity of her readership.
“I think we have tremendously loyal readers,” she said, “a loyal following, and we are multigenerational. But this is not a fun time in publishing. It’s a very challenging time. At the same time, we’ve never veered from our core premise – it’s both ‘aspirational’ and inspirational – we want to inspire black people.”
Rice mentioned that the changing face of publishing did not deter her from following that original credo of her company under her father. The challenge, she said, was to bring in younger readers “yet not alienate the fundamental” as she continues to put out product in a rapidly narrowing print medium.
“Some people embrace change, and some people don’t,” said Rice. “I don’t believe print in magazine form is going away. I think we will survive. Sitting in front of a computer and writing out a blog is great, but somebody’s got to be out there in the street talking to people and reporting on those people.”
She added that there are more opportunities than ever in publishing for young African American journalists; and that despite the competition from other black periodicals such as Essence, the climate is healthy.
“I think the landscape is right for all of us,” Rice said. “There’s room for more. Our competition is basically time and attention, in an environment of believability…a certain trust.”
One of the students gathered at the forum asked Rice if there was room at her company for incoming interns and young writers - perhaps from her alma mater?
“Even though the economic times are tight, we have internships in all different areas now,” Rice said. “We also have them in corporate communication, public relations – we’re constantly looking for people…It’s been great to watch young writers and editors grow…to be part of the Annenberg School and to offer jobs, funding – I’m absolutely thrilled to be here to share some of my thoughts and ideas with you.”
Rice elicited more laughter when she described the meetings over choosing the recent “25 Coolest Brothers” for the cover of a recent issue.
“[It’s] part of the fun of being in the media business,” she said. “If you had sat through our media meeting choosing those 25 coolest brothers…Mmmm.”
Dean Wilson encouraged young journalists of color to get involved and ask questions, and he also expressed his concerns over the continuing importance of race and ethnicity in our society, which he said is changing.
“Yet we still live in a society where the life chances for people of color are not equal with others,” he said. “And that’s an issue we continue to grapple with. Without a media that’s fully represented, then democracy suffers. Unless you are in the room where decisions of the allocation of resources are made, then your input is limited. Addressing this is a top priority of this School, and will remain a top priority while I am Dean.”
