Vanguarde Media Launches Savoy Magazine

Posted on December 15, 2000

Vanguarde Media, Inc. CEO Keith Clinkscales and Editorial Director Roy S. Johnson have announced the launch of Savoy, a new general-interest life and style magazine aimed at successful, affluent and educated black men and women 25-54. Savoy will be published ten times annually.

Named for the famed Savoy Ballroom from the days of the Harlem Renaissance, Savoy was conceived by Johnson, who also serves as the magazine's Editor-in-Chief. ``Savoy is aimed at today's New Black Power generation,'' says Johnson. ``It will be a smart, engaging and provocative new voice in the marketplace.''

The premiere issue, due on newsstands on January 2, 2001, includes authors Benilde Little (Good Hair) and Jill Nelson (Straight, No Chaser; Police Brutality); and syndicated columnists Deborah Mathis and Armstrong Williams. Also, well-known author Walter Mosley has created a new serial that will appear exclusively in Savoy. ``The Tempest Tales'' was penned in homage to Langston Hughes's ``Semple Stories,'' which were published in the Chicago Defender from the 1940s through the 1960s. Savoy's contributing editors include Jazz artist Branford Marsalis, health specialist Ian K. Smith, M.D. and Marcus Samuelsson, master chef and part-owner of Aquavit, a top Swedish restaurant.

``We are infinitely proud of what we're bringing the urban culture in Savoy,'' says Keith Clinkscales. ``By all accounts, we're off to a good start. We have a significant circulation to start, and the premiere issue has more than 50 pages of advertising from a number of top financial services, transportation, insurance and telecommunications companies.''

Vanguarde Media, Inc. (VMI) creates and distributes media for the urban marketplace. The company owns Honey, a fashion and entertainment magazine aimed at stylish urban women; Heart & Soul, a living magazine for black women; Impact, a trade weekly; and Savoy, a general interest life and style magazine. VMI also owns and manages the Impact Super Summit, an annual entertainment industry conference. VMI's investor's include BET Holdings II, Inc. and the Provender Capital Group, LLC.