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Essence Editor Credits HBCU Education

By Mercy Chikowore
Black College Wire

Photo credit: JR Thomason/Essence Angela Burt-Murray, Essence magazine editor-in-chief, speaks Sept. 17 at a Houston church during "An Empowering Afternoon of Spiritual Renewal and Healing for the survivors of Hurricane Katrina."

As a college student, Angela Burt-Murray, newly appointed editor-in-chief of Essence magazine, imagined a future on Wall Street closing million-dollar deals. Instead, she's reaching millions of readers through her work in magazines.

Burt-Murray, 35, from Pomona, Calif., graduated from Hampton University with a bachelor's degree in finance in 1992. She took the hard road, switching her focus to journalism after realizing that business was not her niche.

Studying African American literature was the closest she came to taking a journalism class at Hampton, but she says that being a product of a historically black college helped her accomplish her goals.

"Going to an HBCU was very helpful in that I became confident in my presentation skills," Burt-Murray said.

Today, she is co-author of "The Angry Black Woman's Guide to Life" with Denene Millner and Mitzi Miller, who also are editors at national magazines. The trio next has teamed up for a novel, "The Vow," coming out in December. Burt-Murray has also contributed articles to Working Mother, Parenting, Heart & Soul and Atlanta CityMag, sometimes writing about her own family, including husband Leonard and children Solomon and Ellison.

She prepared herself by taking journalism classes at New York University. Her journey as a writer began with assignments at the Manhattan Spirit, a small New York newspaper.

After working on police-beat stories and compiling entertainment listings in New York, she was hooked on writing.

Her first magazine job was at Black Elegance, a magazine for black women. Her second was at Blaze, a Vibe offshoot, and then came bigger projects. She was the fashion and beauty features editor at Essence from 1998 to 2001, executive editor at Honey magazine from 2001 to 2003, and became beauty director at Teen People in 2003.

She returned to Essence magazine in August, replacing Diane Weathers as editor-in-chief just months after the magazine ceased to be African American-owned. Time Warner announced it was buying Essence in January. The magazine industry has a poor record on diversity, so Burt-Murray's hiring at the top was important not only to her but to the media as a whole.

A September 2004 article in Black Enterprise cited studies by the magazine industry and figures from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission showing magazines to be less diverse than radio, television, newspapers and other periodicals. "Lonely at the Top" quoted Mark Whitaker, Newsweek editor and president of the American Society of Magazine Editors, who also is African American: "For magazines to be relevant, they have to keep up" with the country's demographic changes, "and you have to see the voice and ideas of people of different backgrounds reflected in magazines."

Burt-Murray said that when she became a journalist, she not only wanted to write, but to do so with a purpose to keep magazines relevant. She wanted to "continue to make necessary reading for African Americans," she said. "What is it that you can put in the magazine that can make a difference in a black woman's life?" she asked.

Burt-Murray's work at Essence is important to her because, she said, she has an intimate connection with her readers.

"It's definitely personal for me, what I'm doing at Essence," she said. "This doesn't feel like work to me."

The "Essence woman" balances tasks and also makes work fun. Burt-Murray's friends and colleagues say she manages to fit that ideal.

"One of the most remarkable things about Angela is corporate and cool can exist in the same person," said Zena Burns, music director at Teen People and also a friend.

Pamela Edwards, Essence fashion and beauty features editor, said, "She's extremely professional but she has a sense of humor; she's not stiff at all." "One of her biggest strengths is she was focused 100 percent on the reader at all times," Edwards said.

Burt-Murray said she wants to tackle the issues that her Essence audience is facing.

"Essence is lucky in that it speaks to different readers," she said. "I'm really interested in health. We're facing a variety of challenges" in the black community. She said she wants to ensure that Essence addresses issues such as HIV/AIDS, diabetes and other diseases that affect minorities in particular.

"She is definitely committed to the growth, development and happiness of black people and black women," Edwards said.

With the 18-39 age group the primary target of the magazine, Burt-Murray wants to make sure its pages reflect that purpose. She did not describe specific plans.

Her hiring is important to students at historically black colleges who see her as a trailblazer. Burt-Murray suggests that students at such colleges should make themselves available.

"Seize the opportunities that you have now," she said. "I would encourage them to look into internships as early as possible. Make critical contacts with editors. It's very competitive to get in [at] entry level."

Students should reach out to magazine companies and to the American Society of Magazine Editors, which also provides internships, she said. "You just have to prepare for each opportunity as it presents itself," she said.

Mercy Chikowore is a senior at Claflin University in South Carolina

Posted Sept. 26, 2005