Former 'Ebony' Publisher Declares Bankruptcy, And An Era Ends

Ebony magazine was more than a publication — to black America, it was a public trust. It held a place of prominence in millions of African-American households whose members did not otherwise see themselves in the mainstream media. So back in 2015, when Johnson Publishing Company announced it was spinning off its flagship magazine, Ebony, and also its news magazine sibling, Jet, people knew something was up.

"They were just waiting for the other shoe to drop," the late Ken Smikle, a longtime observer of the Johnson Publishing Company's evolution, told NPR's Michel Martin.

Smikle founded Target Market News, a Chicago-based service that tracks black consumer power and patterns for the business market. He felt JPC, and a beloved cosmetics line that, toward the end, accounted for more than 40 percent of JPC's bottom line.