Dear Essence, What are you really trying to (sell) tell me?

I've been a fan of magazines since before I could read and I'm a subscriber of Essence magazine. I look forward to receiving the magazine in the mail because I'm always interested to find out who is on the cover. I was really happy to see Ms. Regina King on the cover this month because I perceived her as being genuine and a talented actress I grew up watching.
My friend 'K', an avid reader of all printed journalism and books had brought to my attention some months back the lack of "quality" articles in periodicals like Essence, and for that reason she doesn't buy them often. She said to me, "you ever counted how many advertisements were in there? I did it one day I was bored, and I was like, 'damn more than half the magazine is advertisement!'"

Initially, I laughed and took light of what she said, nonetheless, since the "Hawk" was in full effect this past weekend, it left me some downtime to dive into this challenge.
Currently there are 164 pages in the Feb 2011 edition, 95 pages or so of full page advertisements and/or promotion. The cover story was 10 paragraphs long. In total there was about 40 pages of reading material.

I wasn't surprised by these findings. I knew my homie wasn't talking smack. My next challenge was to review what was being advertised. For the most part they were attempting to sell hair products and make-up. I also saw advertisements for cigarettes and liquor. There were a few that were promoting AIDS awareness and health care. Two of the advertisements were promoting prescription drugs: one for kid vaccination and the other was for anti-depression. My objective with breaking down this edition of Essence was not to comment on the articles themselves but instead to shed light on the propaganda that comes along with these articles on "black culture for today's women."

After my analysis I was left feeling two ways: 1) print media is dying and writers (especially minority writers) will have to broaden their medium to remain successful and 2) we're being sold bullshit and hoodwinked into believing this imagery is all positive. Most if not all the companies advertising in this edition is not black owned.

For the record, I'm not getting at Essences magazine. I appreciate them for being in their unique position because I have enjoyed many of their articles (especially those that empower women and positive relationships). I just wish I could get more for my buck. I'd love if there was more content tackling today's social issues and politics. That would be perfect....then again I may be one of a few who is paying attention.

NiaNeek