The first thing to say, and the only thing I ask you to hear if you do not read past this first sentence, is that I am profoundly sorry for the cover of the September issue of Memphis magazine and the pain it caused.
Our editorial team has released a statement already, referencing the history of political caricature. That statement was inadequate. This is not about that history, or about our attempts to explain why our team approved the cover. This is about the fact that we published a magazine whose cover image was taken, justifiably, as playing into a long history of racist, demeaning tropes, a history of marginalizing African-American women in particular.
Our intentions are immaterial right now. It is true that we did not mean to depict Tami Sawyer in a harsher light than either of the other candidates – but who cares, now? No one at Memphis should have attempted to tell our audience how to interpret this illustration; if you are offended, you have every right in the world to be offended. We take responsibility for the cover.
Being a print publication, a certain number of copies already exist out in the world. We have, however, halted newsstand distribution of the September issue to as many retail locations as possible. I took this step as soon as Ms. Sawyer and I spoke on Friday afternoon. By now, we all know what the cover looked like, and what effects it has had; the image has been removed from this website and will never go back up. Our team is working to collect any copies that have been delivered to stores already; most newsstand copies are sitting in a warehouse, and will never see the light of day.
(I will note that the views shared on social media by the illustrator, Chris Ellis, do not reflect Contemporary Media’s views. Mr. Ellis is a freelancer and has expressed his personal opinions, not those of Contemporary Media. This is not intended to water down or back away from the apology above. Again, we take full editorial responsibility for the decision to publish the cover.)
On a personal note: I have known Ms. Sawyer for many years, since we were in high school, and respect her deeply. I worked alongside her during the successful and inspiring campaign, led by Ms. Sawyer, to remove Confederate statues from Memphis’ parks. I had serious misgivings about the cover of our September magazine – misgivings about which I ought to have been more vocal. Were it possible to leap backwards in time and insist we send the cover back to the drawing board, I would. But I cannot.
I would welcome the opportunity to have a conversation with Ms. Sawyer (and the other candidates depicted, should they wish) about all this, on or off the record, and to listen to her thoughts and criticisms.
New to the role of CEO, following a leadership transition at Contemporary Media earlier this summer, I am eager to make changes within our company, including diversifying both our staff and our coverage. We aren’t where we should be in terms of representation and inclusion. We are committed, now and going forward, to being better.
Thank you for your time.
