Amy DuBois Barnett

Amy DuBois Barnett (born 1969) is an American magazine editor. She was formerly editor-in-chief of Ebony magazine. Barnett was also the editor-in-chief of Honey and Teen People magazines, and the deputy editor of Harper's Bazaar. She was the first African-American woman to run a major mainstream magazine in the United States.[1] Barnett is also an award-winning fiction writer with several published short stories. In 2008, she published an NAACP Image Award-nominated advice book for women: Get Yours! How to Have Everything You Ever Dreamed of and More (Random House).[2]

Early life

Barnett was born in Hyde Park to Stephen and Marguerite Ross Barnett, the first black woman to head a major research university.[1] She attended Brown University as an undergraduate where she joined Delta Sigma Theta sorority and studied French and political science.[3] then worked briefly in finance before enrolling at Parsons for a certificate in fashion merchandising.[4] She worked at Lord & Taylor before moving to Ireland to study writing and literature at University College in Dublin.[4] She then attended Columbia University for an MFA in creative writing.[5]

Career

While at Columbia University, Barnett wrote for a website called Fashion Planet, which became the magazine Fashion Almanac. Initially interested in going into the fashion industry, the experience shaped Barnett's interest in journalism, and Barnett became Fashion Almanac's managing editor.[6]

After earning her MFA, Barnett served as lifestyle editor at Essence magazine before joining Honey magazine as editor-in-chief in 2000. In 2003 she joined Time Inc. as managing editor of Teen People where she became the first African-American editor-in-chief of a "mainstream consumer magazine[s]."[7] She then became the deputy editor of Harper’s Bazaar[8] before joining Ebony as editor-in-chief in 2010.[9]

While at Ebony, Barnett led the magazine's first redesign in its 66-year history.[10] In 2011, Barnett joined the board of the American Society of Magazine Editors and served for three consecutive terms.[11] For her work at Ebony as well as her other editing positions, Barnett received eight Salute to Excellence Awards in 2012 as well as the Media Executive of the Year in 2012 by Target Market News.

In April 2014, Barnett left Ebony. Shortly thereafter, she was announced as executive editor for The Undefeated, then a still-forthcoming ESPN sports and culture website focused on African-American audiences, led by Jason Whitlock.[12] In 2017, Barnett joined The Grio as executive vice president, digital and chief content officer.[13] In 2019, Barnett left The Grio to join BET as senior vice president and general manager of BET Digital.[14]

Books
  • Get Yours! How to Have Everything You Ever Dreamed of and More (Random House), 2007

Selected publications
  • "Do Not Uncover Buried Things" Obsidian III, Vol. 1 No. 1 1999[15]
  • "Mirror Image" in Gumbo: A Celebration of African American Writing (Anthology), edited by Marita Golden, 2002[16]
  • "What Are You, Anyway?" The Brown Reader: 50 Writers Remember College Hill, 2014

References
  1. Ding, Erin Chan. "Executive profile: Amy DuBois Barnett, editor-in-chief of Ebony magazine". chicagotribune.com. Retrieved 2020-03-23.
  2. Peters, Derek (2008-01-08). "NAACP honors best of year". Variety. Retrieved 2017-04-26.
  3. "pastlines – Lambda Iota Chapter – Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc". sites.google.com. Retrieved 2020-03-23.
  4. "50 Most Beautiful Chicagoans: Amy DuBois Barnett". Chicago Magazine. February 28, 2011. Retrieved January 7, 2017.
  5. "Nathaniel Grant and Amy Barnett". The New York Times. September 12, 1999. Retrieved January 7, 2016.
  6. Saine, Caroline (December 3, 2012). "Ebony editor-in-chief and Brown alum finds niche in journalism". Brown Daily Herald. Retrieved January 7, 2017.
  7. Campbell, Deena (October 4, 2012). "African-American Chosen as Editor at Brides". The New York Times. Retrieved January 7, 2017.
  8. Moody, Nekesa Mumbi (March 7, 2008). "Harper's Bazaar editor finds her bliss, wants you to get yours, too". Seattle Times. Retrieved January 7, 2017.
  9. Garcia, Tonya (May 8, 2014). "'I Wanted To Leave On A High Note': 'Ebony's Former EIC Amy DuBois Barnett Talks About Leaving The Iconic Mag". Madame Noire. Retrieved January 7, 2016.
  10. Ding, Erin Chan (March 19, 2012). "Editor a vibrant new face for 66-year-old Ebony magazine". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved January 7, 2017.
  11. "Larry Hackett Re-Elected President of the American Society of Magazine Editors". Folio. 2011-06-07. Retrieved 2020-03-23.
  12. "Amy DuBois Barnett Named Executive Editor For ESPN Site Serving African-American Audiences". The Huffington Post. August 7, 2014. Retrieved January 7, 2017.
  13. TheGrio (2017-10-26). "TheGrio welcomes Amy DuBois Barnett as Chief Content Officer". TheGrio. Retrieved 2020-03-22.
  14. Petski, Denise (2019-09-11). "BET Networks Taps Amy DuBois Barnett As SVP & General Manager Of BET Digital". Deadline. Retrieved 2020-03-23.
  15. Du Bois Barnett, Amy (1999). "Do Not Uncover Buried Things". Obsidian III. 1 (1): 19–29. ISSN 1542-1619. JSTOR 44511483.
  16. Golden, Marita; Harris, E. Lynn (2002). Gumbo: a celebration of African American writing. New York: Harlem Moon. ISBN 978-0-7679-1041-5. OCLC 49775418.
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