Amy DuBois Barnett to Helm Ebony Magazine

Johnson Publishing Co. announced last week that Amy DuBois Barnett will become the new editor-in-chief of Ebony magazine.

Barnett was most recently the deputy editor-in-chief of Harper’s Bazaar magazine. Prior to that, Barnett helped run Teen People and was the first African-American woman in the country to head a major mainstream consumer magazine; she was also at the helm at Honey Magazine

, where she doubled the circulation.

“I am extremely pleased to bring Amy DuBois Barnett on as part of the new leadership team,” said Linda Johnson Rice, chairman & CEO of Johnson Publishing (No. 22 on the BE  Industrial Service Companies list with $200 million in revenues). “She brings with her a wealth of experience, a keen journalistic eye and solid editorial judgment, which will serve well to help redefine the Ebony

brand within the ever-changing marketplace.”

Barnett will be responsible for both the print and digital side of the magazine, and will replace Harriette Cole as the acting editor-in-chief and creative director.

“It has been an incredible journey and privilege to help build the Ebony brand during my tenure as acting editor-in-chief and creative director,” said Cole. “I am excited about Ebony

‘s bright future.”

Barnett is a Brown University graduate and also has a M.F.A degree in creative writing from Columbia University. She is the author of Get Yours: How to Have Everything You Ever Dreamed of and More, an NAACP Image Award-nominated book for black women.

Also last week Johnson Publishing, which owns Ebony

and Jet magazines, said it had hired former White House social secretary Desiree Rogers a consultant to work on corporate strategy. Rogers served as the White House social secretary under President Barack Obama, making her the first-ever African American in that role. However, after a few missteps, she announced her resignation February 2010 and was replaced by Julianna Smoot.