Johnson Publishing Company's Tan
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Johnson Publishing Company’s Tan Confessions and Ebony: Reader Response through the Lens of Social Comparison Theory A thesis presented to the faculty of the Scripps College of Communication of Ohio University In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Master of Arts Malika S. Bryant April 2021 © 2021 Malika S. Bryant. All Rights Reserved. This thesis titled Johnson Publishing Company’s Tan Confessions and Ebony: Reader Response through the Lens of Social Comparison Theory by MALIKA S. BRYANT has been approved for the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism and the Scripps College of Communication by Aimee Edmondson Professor of Journalism Scott Titsworth Dean, Scripps College of Communication ii Abstract BRYANT, MALIKA S., M.A., April 2021, Journalism Johnson Publishing Company’s Tan Confessions and Ebony: Reader Response through the Lens of Social Comparison Theory Director of Thesis: Aimee Edmondson In November 1945, Johnson Publishing Company released its second publication titled Ebony, a magazine modeled after Life magazine, which featured photographic spreads and stories about various topics about the Black community. Five years later, the publishing company released Tan Confessions, an African American confessions magazine inspired by True Confessions, printed from November 1950 through October 1952. The magazine was renamed TAN and rebranded into a homemaker’s magazine. This research analyzes the content of these magazines and 619 letters to the editor— 350 letters from volumes one and two of Ebony and 269 letters from volumes one and two of Tan Confessions. The study looks at the magazine content and letters to the editor through the theoretical lenses of social comparison theory to examine how the editors of Ebony and Tan Confessions published and categorized letters to the editor, which serves as a representation how they presented reader reaction to their audience. This research is relevant and important to not only the history of Black magazine publication, but it is an essential piece of the rich and longstanding American magazine history. Johnson Publishing Company created an empire by printing a succession of high-circulating magazines that were unlike any before them because they published aspects of African American life that were not seen in mainstream media at the time. iii Acknowledgments I would like to acknowledge all the wonderful professors at Ohio University’s E.W. Scripps School of Journalism, who were a key part of the education I received as a graduate student from 2014-2016. A special thank you to my thesis committee: Dr. Aimee Edmondson, Dr. Michael Sweeney, Professor Craig Davis and Professor Bill Reader. I appreciate all your patience, valuable feedback and guidance. I would also like to acknowledge the staff of Ohio University’s Alden Library, Ohio Wesleyan University’s Beeghly Library and the Chicago Public Library for their assistance in locating the necessary materials for my research. iv Table of Contents Page Abstract .............................................................................................................................. iii Acknowledgments.............................................................................................................. iv List of Tables ..................................................................................................................... vi Chapter 1: Introduction ....................................................................................................... 1 Chapter 2: Literature Review ............................................................................................ 12 Social Comparison Theory ......................................................................................... 12 Letters to the Editor .................................................................................................... 21 History of American Magazines ................................................................................. 29 Life .............................................................................................................................. 38 Confession magazines ................................................................................................. 40 History of Black Press ................................................................................................ 52 Black Newspapers ....................................................................................................... 53 Black Magazines ......................................................................................................... 61 Ebony .......................................................................................................................... 68 Jet ................................................................................................................................ 85 Tan Confessions .......................................................................................................... 87 Chapter 3: Methodology ................................................................................................. 105 Chapter 4: Results/Findings ............................................................................................ 110 Chapter 5: Discussion ..................................................................................................... 129 Chapter 6: Conclusion..................................................................................................... 181 References ....................................................................................................................... 190 v List of Tables Page Table 1 Location of Ebony and Tan Confessions letter writers ..................................... 113 Table 2 Common letter themes from Ebony .................................................................. 115 Table 3 Common letter themes from Tan Confessions .................................................. 116 Table 4 Reaction from Ebony letter writers ................................................................... 118 Table 5 Reaction from Tan Confessions letter writers .................................................... 119 Table 6 Volume 1: Ebony’s Article Categories .............................................................. 120 Table 7 Volume 2: Ebony’s Article Categories .............................................................. 122 Table 8 Volume 1: Tan Confessions Article Categories ................................................ 124 Table 9 Volume 2: Tan Confessions Article Categories ................................................ 125 Table 10 Volume 3: TAN Article Categories .................................................................. 126 Table 11 Comparing Tan Confessions to TAN ............................................................... 127 Table 12 Letter Writer Reactions: Ebony and Tan Confessions ..................................... 146 vi Chapter 1: Introduction According to the 1952 Negro Year Book, a publication released by the Tuskegee Institute’s Department of Records and Research, Ebony and Tan Confessions were the two most widely-circulated African American magazines in 1952.1 Although both publications saw success, the futures of the magazines panned out in different ways. Both Ebony and Tan Confessions were products of Johnson Publishing Company (JPC), which was founded by pioneering editor and publisher John H. Johnson. In this research, social comparison theory will be used in analyzing and discussing the Letters to the Editor sections of Ebony, Tan Confessions and TAN, in order to reach some conclusions about the audience reaction to the content during the first two years of publication. This research will also take an in depth look at the content, including articles, common themes found in the letters to the editor and advertising to try to understand why Ebony flourished and why Tan Confessions did not continue after its second year. In late 1952, Tan Confessions was renamed TAN and was rebranded as a homemaker’s magazine, although it featured similar content. This study analyzes the first two volumes (years) of Ebony from November 1945 - November 1947, two volumes of Tan Confessions from November 1950 - October 1952, and the third volume, renamed TAN from November 1952-October 1953. These years were selected because they represent the earliest years of the publication and will provide a look into how the magazines began, how they were initially perceived by the 1 Jessie Parkhurst Guzman, Lewis W. Jones and Woodrow Hall. 1952 Negro Year Book: A Review of Events Affecting Negro Life. Issued by the Department of Records and Research, Tuskegee Institute. (New York: WM. H. Wise & Co., Inc., 1952), 35. 1 readers in beginning and how the magazines evolved and were perceived by the audience as they became more popular and widely circulated. In total, the study looks at 619 letters to the editor— 350 letters from volumes one and two of Ebony and 269 letters from volumes one and two of Tan Confessions. In order to measure the audience reaction from the 619 letters to the editor, the researcher created a five-point scale, which included the following values: Very Positive, Somewhat Positive, Neutral, Somewhat Negative and Very Negative. After all letters were assigned a value, the results were recorded in a spreadsheet that organized the data according to the magazine name, volume number, issue number, publication date, letter title, letter writer’s name, letter