Unsuspecting Women and the Dreaded Bisexual

Abstract

Black newspapers like the Amsterdam News are not the only indigenous sources of information for black community members. In fact there are a number of black magazines that comprise a significant portion of what has been labeled the black popular press. National monthly and weekly magazines such as Jet, Ebony, and Essence can tout a much larger readership than most local and national black newspapers, reaching between one and two million readers monthly.¹ These media vehicles are also national in focus, and thus should be less beholden to local black elites. This chapter explores the coverage of AIDS in some of the national magazines as well as alternative media sources originating in black communities. In particular, I am interested in the degree to which reporting patterns identified in black newspapers were replicated among other segments of the black press. Were the stories and lives of black gay men and black drug users again ignored in the reporting on this epidemic? Did the words and actions of black leaders receive disproportionate attention from black magazines? More generally, who and what black subjects were deemed worthy enough to cover?