The mind behind the publication of African American best seller entertainment magazine is John H. Johnson. He founded the Jet magazine in 1951 to become the first ever black people’s magazine by the blacks themselves. The magazine was launched in Illinois under the Johnson Publishing Company. Previously, it had been known as The Weekly Negro News Magazine. It’s known best for the role it played during the Civil Rights Movement in America and the coverage of news that were affecting the colored people. Its prominence grew immensely when it covered the murders of Emmett Till, Martin Luther King Jr. and that of Montgomery Bus Boycott.
Jet was published in black and white from 1951 to 1999. Its small format was finally changed in 2009. Today, it is published on weekly basis and with another issue coming up at the end of every other month that covers all of the monthly happenings. Information carried on the magazine includes topics on fashion, dating, politics, entertainment, diet and health advice. The magazine’s cover photo gives a representation of the main story that is being featured in the magazine. Many of these stories are written to give morale to the African American community in order to help them reach their goals in life. It also gives strength and confidence especially to women in order to be able to pull through the hard times as a way of attaining their independence.
Jet magazine is perfectly designed and written to make a fun read for the readers. The content covered is fresh as it’s wide and diverse. Some covers on the education sector as well as the political scenes, iconic figures in the community along with other self help advice. It keeps the readers in touch on the current news affairs in music, celebrities, movie releases and the literary world-books. The role played by the magazines is help the members of the black community get news that they can easily relate to and in a way that they understand best.
The magazine is sold all over the states of the US though some of the copies are also sold in other parts of the world. Lovers of the Jet magazine are free to make a subscription or just buy a couple after every release. Readers who are found outside the region of the United States can also get the copies by buying them online or making a subscription. Free shipping is offered to all annual subscriptions.
Past copies of the magazine can be got from the site of the magazine. Jet magazine being one of the very oldest of all magazines is what gave spirit to other black community magazines like Ebony and Beat. It also does have blogs where its writers post some of their articles. Compared to all other magazines, it’s one of the cheapest. Having run for over 5 decades, it still one of the best seller magazine of all times. As a matter of fact, it has got better. Almost anyone will find it to be irresistible as it is friendly and informative to all types of people.
