Darhil Crooks has been appointed as the new creative director of Ebony magazine.  Editor-in-chief Amy DuBois made the move official yesterday and is eager to add Crooks’s experience to the magazine:

Darhil’s singular creative vision for the Ebony brand and his tremendous background working at best-in-class magazines will be of great value as we usher in a new era at the publication.

Crooks’s  move to Ebony comes after spending over five years as art director at Esquire and previous career stops at Men’s Journal and Complex magazine.  At Ebony, Crooks will manage the art department and make key decisions on page design and layout.  He will begin work on Jan. 3.

Rumor of the day: Magic Johnson, retired NBA superstar and mogul is in talks to buy Johnson Publishing Co., producers of African-American magazines Jet and Ebony. There were whisperings last year that Ebony may have been up on the auction block (publisher Kenard Gibbs bowed out in 2008), but considering that Jet rolled out a new redesign just two weeks ago, Johnson is doing everything in its power to make their titles look salable.

This new rumor about Magic buying the paper can’t hurt (the company wouldn’t even need to change its name!): According to Bloomberg News, it’s Magic’s group that issued the statement “There’s no definitive agreement,” while Johnson CEO Linda Johnson Rice said she has never even had a discussion about Magic Johnson buying the publisher. Interesting power play…you’d think Johnson Publishing would be eager to see Magic’s name attached to its title.

Read More: Magic Johnson in Talks to Buy Publisher of Ebony, Jet Magazines

Previously: Is Ebony For Sale?, JET Magazine Rolls Out Redesign, Kenard Gibbs Out as Publisher of Ebony, Jet

The Johnson Publishing Company will not be dissuaded from putting more money into print titles. The African American-centric publisher may have had a hard time with Ebony last year as rumors of a sale were taking place, but that hasn’t changed the company’s stance on focusing on its newsstand growth.

Today, Johnson’s other major holding, JET, announced a strategic overhaul of the magazine, which will feature roll-outs on new columns for fashion and buzz, as well a new logo, layout, and design. Says Johnson CEO (and daughter of founder John H. Johnson) Lindsay Johnson Rice:

“As a world-class media company, we will solidify JET‘s position as an innovator and leader in the African-American marketplace by offering expanded content that will entertain, inform and extend our readership footprint of the brand in a smart way.”

The cover of the first newly-designed JET will feature R&B singer Trey Songz on its cover.

Full press release after the jump.

Previously: Is Ebony For Sale?

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Silicon Alley Insider: Ten years later, former Time Warner CEO Gerald Levin apologized for the AOL merger.

PRNewser: PR maven Kelly Cutrone (of “The Hills” and “The City” fame) has a new book out, set to hit stands at the same time as her new reality show debuts on Bravo.

The Awl: Author and contributing editor for The Morning News, Clay Risen, is joining The New York Times‘ op-ed page.

New York Times: Eunice Johnson, the widow of Ebony magazine founder John Johnson, died Sunday at age 93. She was famous for directing the traveling fashion shows Ebony Fashion Fair since 1961.

Folio: Battered consumer business magazines hope to bounce back in the New Year.

Gannett Blog: Two new newspaper publisher-related blog offerings from Gannett Blogger Jim Hopkins: New York Times Co. Blog and News Corp. Blog

Is Johnson Publishing, the owner of Ebony shopping around its flagship publication?

That’s the news coming out of Newsweek today. Citing “media and investments executives familiar with the developments,” Johnnie L. Roberts reports that Linda Johnson Rice, chairman and CEO of Johnson Publishing and daughter of its founder John H. Johnson, has reached out to Time Inc., Viacom and private investors like buyout firms to see if she could find a buyer or financial partner for the title.

Like so many magazines in today’s economic climate, Ebony has been struggling in the past year. Although the title was among those that saw the biggest newsstand growth during the first half of the year, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulation’s recent numbers, Roberts reports that Ebony has seen some pretty grim advertising numbers in recent years:

“Ebony‘s advertising pages and ad revenues have declined in each of the last three years, even during periods when the industry was flat to positive. Among the 243 magazines tracked by the Publishers Information Bureau, ad pages plunged an average of 28 percent, with revenues falling by 21 percent, in the first half of 2009 compared with the same period a year earlier. But Ebony‘s decline was sharper, as advertising dived almost 35 percent, dragging revenues down almost 32 percent, to $18.8 million from 2008′s $27.7 million…And according to industry tracker Media Industry Newsletter, things have only turned grimmer for Ebony since the first half. Total ad pages sank by 40 percent this year through the October issue, now on newsstands.”

And earlier this month, Ebony cancelled its Fashion Fair event for fall 2009, citing economic challenges.

Still, despite all of Ebony challenges, executives have denied that they’re in talks to sell the magazine, Roberts said. These sorts of things have a way of shaking out and revealing themselves over time, so we’ll keep you posted.

Ebony: Up For Sale? –Newsweek

The Audit Bureau of Circulations released its important report for the first half of the year today, and the findings are not that surprising: total paid and verified circulation, single-copy sales and verified subscriptions are down overall.

However, the ABC said total paid subscriptions were basically flat in the past year. Compared to historical numbers, between the December 2007 and December 2008 reports, paid and verified circ was flat and single-copy sales were down 11.12 percent. Between June 2007 and June 2008, circulation was unchanged and single-copy sales declined 6.34 percent.

Single-copy sales were down the most in this report — more than 12 percent — with almost all of the top 25 top sellers suffering a decline. The biggest newsstand seller, Cosmopolitan, saw a 7.8 drop, although Woman’s Day, OK!, Family Circle and In Style saw the biggest declines in single-copy sales among the top 25, with each logging a more than 20 percent drop.

Meanwhile, the consumer magazines that saw the biggest newsstand growth included Mother Earth News, Women’s Health, Ebony, GQ, Essence, Sporting News, Time, National Geographic International, Real Simple and Runner’s World.

Despite its recent financial challenges, Reader’s Digest remained one of the top 25 consumer magazines in regards to paid and verified subscriptions, along with AARP, which saw a 400 percent jump in subscriptions.

We’ve also been tracking epicurean magazine Saveur since sitting down with its publisher Merri Lee Kingsly last week. Today, Kingsly told us the magazine’s circ is up 4.3 percent, while its epicurean competitors, Food & Wine, Gourmet and Bon Appetit have all seen double-digit declines.

Related: So What Do You Do, Merri Lee Kingsly, Publisher of Saveur?

Also: Listen to Fishbowl NY editor Amanda Ernst talk about Kingsly, Saveur and the upcoming ABC numbers on Friday’s podcast.

As the magazine world continues to ponder the closing of Portfolio earlier this week, Ebony is handing out a few promotions.

Johnson Publishing announced today that Terry Glover has been named managing editor of the glossy. Glover most recently served as EbonyJet.com‘s senior online editor and has also completed tours of duty at Savoy, Uptown and Playboy.com.

Promotions also came to new senior editor Adrienne Samuels Gibbs and to new senior writer Margena A. Christian.

The release, after the jump.

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Jet, the No. 1 (also only) “Black newsweekly,” promoted current managing editor Mira Lowe to editor-in-chief. Lowe joined the company in 2007 from Newsday where she served as associate editor for recruitment.

Johnson Publishing Co. which produces Jet along with Ebony, has been under financial stress and asked staffers to reapply for their jobs in February. Company editorial director Bryan Monroe, who oversaw both magazines, saw his position eliminated and Malcolm West, Jet‘s other managing editor, took a buyout at that time. Ebony should announce a new EIC soon.

You can, of course, follow Jet on Twitter. The first, and as of this writing, only update: “JET magazine is taking it to the next level. Follow me on Twitter as the new Editor In Chief.”

Chicago-based Johnson Publishing has struck on a novel way to deal with layoffs. Actually, come to think of it, the whole plan sounds like the premise for some sort of media-meets-Survivor reality show — perhaps something publishers may want to consider revenue-wise as the outlook becomes more dire.

Anyway! Here’s the deal. Johnson, publisher of Ebony and Jet, is apparently going through a “multi-phase” staffing reorganization during which current staff will be asked to reapply for new positions within the company — meaning, among other things, there will probably be very little “plumping up” of the resume! Seriously, though, imagine being asked to reapply for your own job. Folio reports that certain employees will be eligible for new positions.

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