Ebony and JET Trim Jobs
Ebony and JET magazines, struggling to raise revenues during an anemic economy, have made cuts so deep that they even included their editorial director. Richard Prince, in his online Journal-isms column, reported that employees who lost their jobs could reapply for new positions. Johnson Publishing, he writes, is “executing a multi-phase reorganization.” Johnson Publishing is ranked No. 1 on Crain’s 2008 list of Chicago’s largest minority-owned companies with $453.3 million in revenue in 2007. It even beat out Oprah Winfrey’s Harpo Inc. However, Ebony’s ad sales dropped almost 19 percent to $14.9 million in 2008, according to Magazine Publishers of America data. Advertising revenue for Jet sank 41 percent to $5.7 million in 2008.

Georgia Lawmaker Says Close Black Colleges
Republican State Sen. Seth Harp, who heads Georgia’s Higher Education Committee, is asking the state Board of Regents to phase out the historically Black 3,400-student Savannah State University with nearby Armstrong Atlantic State University, a majority White school with 6,800 students. He would also like to see historically Black Albany State University, which has about 4,100 enrolled, merged with nearby Darton College, which has a predominantly White student body of about 4,700 students. Harp calls the Black institutions a holdover from the Jim Crow era there merely “perpetuate segregation in our state.” Said Harp, “It is time we close this chapter in Georgia.” He said that in light of the state’s rapidly evaporating finances, it makes good money sense. Georgia has a $2 billion budget shortfall. Still, critics of the plan say, closing the schools would mean losing a significant piece of history, borne out of the civil rights struggle. “This is a matter of pride in the African-American community,” state Sen. Emanuel Jones, chairman of Georgia Legislative Black Caucus, said. “He is not just talking about merging institutions, he’s talking about a way of life with roots that go back to slavery. That’s the nerve that he’s touching.” Jones and others note that HBCUs provide an opportunity for postsecondary educations to students who otherwise might not attend college.

Why you gotta lie, Diddy?

 Score one for all the haters. If you were disgusted by Sean “Diddy” Combs complaining on video that he couldn’t afford to keep using his private jet because of gas prices, fret no more: Diddy lied. Federal Aviation Administration records show no aircraft registered to the Didster, Bad Boy Records or any of his other companies. The Palm Beach Post reports that, instead, Combs’ reps admit that he’s just one of thousands of wealthy travelers who use the services of NetJet, a company that sells air-travel hours. So when you see “your boy” Diddy making the supreme sacrifice he announced by sitting in commercial first-class, be sure to point and laugh at him – as you make your way to the coach section.