jet

Jet Magazine, the pioneering weekly magazine for African Americans that rose to prominence during the civil rights movement, will no longer publish a regular print edition.

Johnson Publishing Company, who owns the magazine, will move Jet to a digital format starting in June. Content will be delivered via web and a paid subscription app.

From New York Times:

Last year, to cut costs, Jet reduced the weekly publication schedule of the digest-size magazine to every three weeks. Now there will only be an annual “best of Jet” print issue.

Linda Johnson Rice, chairwoman of Johnson Publishing, which also owns the cosmetics line Fashion Fair, positioned the move as a way to bring Jet into the modern age.

“Almost 63 years ago, my father, John Johnson, named the publication Jet because, as he said in the first issue, ‘In the world today, everything is moving faster. There is more news and far less time to read it,’ “ Ms. Rice said. “He could not have spoken truer words. We are not saying goodbye to Jet, we are embracing the future as my father did in 1951.”

Read more at New York Times

With the move, Jet joins a number of magazines that have recently reduced or completely discontinued their print publications after marginal drops in print advertising revenue. Last month, Ladies’ Home Journal  announced it will be moving to a quarterly print schedule with the magazine only being available at newsstands.

Blacks tend to skew higher on the digital consumption of news. That, coupled with the aim to reach younger readers, was a key reason in Jet heads deciding to discontinue print editions of the magazine. Jet has the third largest circulation in the black magazine market, reaching 700,000 readers. Johnson Publishing also is home to Ebony, but says the magazine will remain in print.

What do you think of Jet magazine going digital?

How do you think the move will impact the magazine?

Sound off below!