Emerge (magazine)
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''Emerge'' was a monthly
news magazine A news magazine is a typed, printed, and published magazine, radio, or television program, usually published weekly, consisting of articles about current events. News magazines generally discuss stories in greater depth than newspapers or new ...
that was published from 1989 to 2000. Its primary focus was on issues of interest to
African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...
s. In 2000, ''
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'' said ''Emerge'' was "the nation's best black newsmagazine for the past seven years" the ''
St. Louis Post-Dispatch The ''St. Louis Post-Dispatch'' is a regional newspaper based in St. Louis, Missouri, serving the St. Louis metropolitan area. It is the largest daily newspaper in the metropolitan area by circulation, surpassing the '' Belleville News-Democra ...
'' described it as "the premier source for intellectual discussion on issues affecting African-Americans", and the ''
New York Amsterdam News The ''Amsterdam News'' (also known as ''New York Amsterdam News'') is a weekly Black-owned newspaper serving New York City. It is one of the oldest newspapers geared toward African Americans in the United States and has published columns by s ...
'' wrote that "it had no rival for cutting edge news for and about the black community". The magazine was headquartered in Washington, D.C.


History

Wilmer C. Ames had the idea for ''Emerge'', which he envisioned as a general interest magazine for upwardly mobile African Americans. He was the majority owner of Emerge Communications, the magazine's publishing company.
Time Inc. Time Inc. (also referred to as Time & Life, Inc. later on, after their two onetime flagship magazine publications) was an American worldwide mass media corporation founded on November 28, 1922, by Henry Luce and Briton Hadden and based in New ...
owned 19.5 percent of the company and other investors, including
Black Entertainment Television Black Entertainment Television (BET) is an American basic cable channel targeting Black American audiences. It is the flagship channel of the BET Media Group, a subsidiary of Paramount Global's CBS Entertainment Group. Originally launched ...
(BET), together held 29.5 percent. Ames planned to publish the first issue of ''Emerge'' in October 1988 with an initial circulation of 150,000. Publication was delayed when one of the investors failed to produce the funds it had promised. The magazine launched instead in September 1989. In its first issue, Ames described ''Emerge''s target audience: "As the collective effort of the Civil Rights Movement dissolved legal racial barriers, sustained individual efforts have resulted in a growing list of 'firsts' in achievement as black professionals have pushed to new heights and into new fields.... ''Emerge'' is a magazine designed to meet the needs of this new, affluent generation, a generation that assumes different kinds of responsibilities along with the new opportunities and freedoms it enjoys." The ''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...
'' noted that ''Emerge'' was competing against "stalwart publications" that already served the black middle class, such as ''
Ebony Ebony is a dense black/brown hardwood, coming from several species in the genus '' Diospyros'', which also includes the persimmon tree. A few ''Diospyros'' species, such as macassar and mun ebony, are dense enough to sink in water. Ebony is fin ...
'', ''
Essence Essence () has various meanings and uses for different thinkers and in different contexts. It is used in philosophy and theology as a designation for the property (philosophy), property or set of properties or attributes that make an entity the ...
'', '' Jet'', and '' Black Enterprise''. Ames told the ''Los Angeles Times'' he hoped ''Emerge'' would "complement", rather than replace, those magazines. At the end of its first year of publication, ''
USA Today ''USA Today'' (often stylized in all caps) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth in 1980 and launched on September 14, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headq ...
'' wrote that ''Emerge'' had a paid circulation of 105,000, with 50,000 issues distributed free to members of black professional organizations and fraternities—"although not the same 50,000 each month". The magazine's publisher, Donald Anderson, said that about 30 percent of those who received free copies went on to subscribe. ''USA Today'' described the readers of ''Emerge'' as "the underserved upper-middle class segment of the audience, the Cliff and Claire Huxtables", referring to the affluent couple from ''
The Cosby Show ''The Cosby Show'' is an American television sitcom created by (along with Ed. Weinberger and Michael J. Leeson) and starring Bill Cosby that originally aired on NBC from September 20, 1984, to April 30, 1992, with a total of 201 half-hour e ...
''. ''Emerge'' readers had a median age of 45 and an average annual household income of $71,000. More than three-quarters owned their homes, 86 percent had attended or graduated from college, and 45 percent had post-graduate degrees. In May 1991, BET bought Time's stake in Emerge Communications. Although the terms of the deal were not announced, Time said it had made a profit on its $1.5 million investment. After the transaction, BET owned "close to 70 percent of the magazine". Ames died in 1992, and George E. Curry replaced him as ''Emerge'' editor-in-chief. He felt the magazine had lost its focus on news, and he made changes to restore it. Drawing African-American journalists from the top newspapers in the United States, Curry replaced the magazine's staff. In July 1994, BET announced that ''Emerge'', which it said had "never broken even", would cease publication unless an investor or buyer came forward. The publisher estimated that an investment of $4 to $5 million over three to four years was necessary. The following month, MettersMedia Network purchased a 55 percent stake in the magazine for $2.8 million. During the first nine months of 1994, newsstand sales of ''Emerge'' increased 46 percent, and Curry told the ''
Bay State Banner ''The Bay State Banner'' is a weekly newspaper primarily geared toward the readership interests of the African-American community in Boston, Massachusetts. Distributed free of charge, it was founded in 1965 by Melvin B. Miller, who remained the ...
'' in February 1995 that the magazine's circulation might double over the next two years. ''Emerge'' unexpectedly stopped publication in June 2000. ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...
'' said its circulation was 170,000, "more than most political magazines".


References


Further reading

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Emerge African-American magazines Monthly magazines published in the United States News magazines published in the United States Defunct magazines published in the United States Magazines established in 1989 Magazines disestablished in 2000 Magazines published in Washington, D.C.