When The Checks Stop Coming In: ‘Sister2Sister’ Magazine Files For Bankruptcy

Sister2Sister, a women’s magazine that focuses on black Hollywood, has filed for bankruptcy protection and put the print edition on hiatus so it can focus on its website, publisher Jamie Foster Brown told Journal-isms.

Brown, a onetime secretary to Black Entertainment Television co-founder Robert Johnson, is described on the magazine website describes her as “The Barbara Walters of Print,” said Monday that she was preparing an official statement on the publication’s status. She is publisher and sole owner of the magazine.

“The community does not want us to go away,” Brown said by telephone. She said she especially felt a responsibility to prisoners who “didn’t have a voice” and whom she published in the magazine. “We wanted to teach people through celebrities,” she said. “God comes through other people.” Working with Johnson, she said, “I saw how much power the celebrities have.”

Sister2Sister is not listed in the latest circulation or advertising figures for the Publishers Information Bureau or the Alliance for Audited Media, industry bibles. However, a June 2013 profile of the monthly by Mediabistro put its circulation at 135,000. The 64-page October print edition, which was scheduled to leave newsstands on Oct. 14, features seven full-page ads, a one-third page ad for a hair product and a public service spot from the Ad Council on the inside back cover.

Story courtesy of mije.org