http://www.lookonline.com/fashion-roundtable-1.html

Fashion Roundtable: An Interview with Three Leading Black Fashion Journalists

Rarely do leading members of any industry get together to honestly and sincerely consider the state of their industry. Three influential members of the fashion business did just that recently. They were open and truthful about themselves and their work. What gave their comments special significance was that the three participants were black. Two decades ago a black editor or reporter hardly existed. Now blacks occupy top positions--Teri Agins represents The Wall Street Journal, Robin Givhan is the fashion editor of The Washington Post and Constance White, who most recently was a stand-up reporter for Metro's Full Frontal Fashion, the television station focusing on fashion. (Before that she worked for Talk, The New York Times and Elle magazine)


They were invited to lunch (special thanks to Bottino Restaurant, 246 Tenth Avenue for providing lunch and Deborah Hughes Communications) by Ernest Schmatolla, publisher of Lookonline.com. The rest of the group included Bernadine Morris, who lead the interviewing, along with Vivian Kelly, Marilyn Kirschner and Mr. Schmatolla. What emerged was considerable agreement on such issues as job discrimination (a non issue). But there was concerted agreement on the need for more blacks as editors and reporters for important newspapers and magazines. And very significant was the need to regard themselves as professional journalists, not promoters or publicists. Here is, after brief bios on the three writers, how the conversation went.

- Bernadine Morris