EBONY

American monthly magazine geared to a black middle-class readership. It was the first black-oriented magazine in the country to attain mass circulation. Ebony was founded in 1945 by John H. Johnson (q.v.) of Chicago, whose first publishing venture was the pocket-sized Negro Digest (1942). Johnson envisioned Ebony as a news and photo magazine patterned much after Life but specifically designed for black readers. Ebony was immediately successful, selling out every copy of its initial run of 25,000. Initially highlighting black entertainers and sports figures, the magazine has since shifted its editorial focus to include black achievement of all sorts. In 1995 its circulation was reported to be almost 2,000,000.