PROGRAM SUCCESS – SEPTEMBER 2010
PAGE 25
Desiree Rogers named
CEO of Johnson Publishing
Plans expansion for Ebony,
Jet Magazines and
Cosmetics Line
BY SANDRA GUY
Guest Comunist
Desiree Rogers, President Obama’s former White
House social secretary, said Tuesday after being
named CEO of Johnson Publishing Co. that she
intends to expand Ebony and JET magazines’
licensing and website presences, and grow the
Fashion Fair cosmetics line. Linda Johnson Rice,
daughter of the company’s founder who held the
CEO title, will remain as chairman. The two
women are good friends.
Rogers has no publishing experience, though she
worked for a company 20 years ago that owned
newsstands, and said she understands the workings
of distribution, wholesaler relationships and
positioning magazines to sell. “I’ve been a
generalist all of my career, focused on taking
brands to the next level and integrating all of a
company’s functional expertise under one roof to
move forward,” she said.
Johnson Publishing Co. has licenses for sunglasses
and greeting cards, but Rogers said she foresees
more strategic licensing agreements for such things
as books, TV shows, book-a-zines and online stores
that sell Ebony and JET archival material. “There
are a number of ways we could go,” said Rogers, a
New Orleans native and Harvard MBA who
became known locally as the Illinois State Lottery
Director and first female and African-American
President of Peoples Gas and North Shore Gas.
Desiree Rogers (left) takes the Johnson
Publishing CEO reins from her pal, JPC
Chairman Linda Johnson Rice.
Rogers said she intends to expand Ebony and JET magazines’
popular features online and create communities around them.
One idea: To highlight JET magazine’s “Beauty of the Week”
online, post a video, host an advertising sponsor, publish a
question-and-answer column, ask readers to vote on whether
this week’s beauty is more exciting than last week’s, and hold
online contests around the theme.
As for Fashion Fair cosmetics, Rogers said she sees “great
potential” for its product lines as they gain marketing support.
Rogers, 51, who left the White House early this year after two
uninvited guests crashed a state dinner in November, had been
working as a consultant to Johnson Publishing Co. since June 5.
She said she doesn’t intend to bring her top-notch social
connections to bear on her new duties. “I think that Ebony can
stand on its own, and JET can stand on its own,” she said.
“People respond when they call.”
Johnson Publishing, beset by falling advertising revenues,
recently started a management reshuffling, beginning with the
June 3 announcement that the company is no longer for sale and
the hiring that same day of Amy DuBois Barnett as the new
Editor In Chief of Ebony. The newcomers face a daunting task:
JET’s circulation dropped 11.7 percent in 2009 from 2008, to
795,035, while Ebony’s circulation declined 9.7 percent, to 1.17
million. For the first half of this year compared to the same
period in 2009, revenues at JET dropped 29 percent, to $6.4
million, while Ebony’s slid 24 percent, to $14.37 million,
according to industry reports.