I agree with the previous writer about the preference between black and white models and black beauty not being as widely accepted as European/ white beauty. However with the point about black consumers’ not finding black covers aspirational enough that is a bit short sighted; look at True love's readership for one and not to mention the O mag. With both mags it could be argued that the substance of the content is what really matters but the bottom line is, they are being bought by hordes of black women.
With that being said, the black model's irritation at being given the back seat by GQ, also has to be looked at from GQ's somewhat Caucasian perspective; GQ appeals to a predominantly white audience and if placing a black face on it's cover, could possibly prove risqué with it's readership, which right minded editor would subject his baby to such controversy, unnecessarily and the possible decline in cash inflow? At the end of the day it is all business; noble as it may be, not everyone is interested in striving for some political agenda here. So come on, yes as a black female, I'm also slightly irritated that I'm constantly being met with narrow mindedness in the entertainment world with regards to my natural, untamed beauty without artifice, but it's now time to stop chanting and complaining but start being clever with our approach.

Everyone seems to be of the idea that Oluchi is being petty, but regardless of these two publications that she has beef with, all these mags that are supposed to be South African never carry black faces ...because black faces never sell, I get that. But if GQ had black models enough times then those rednecks who fail to see that Oluchi is as, if not more beautiful that Minki or Leeanne or whoever, then this will never change! I think it's a pathetic excuse to have local versions of mags and not be representable. They should step up and stop hiding their ignorance behind so called research (ignorance which by the way is fuelled by their racism, I'm sorry, but this has to be said enough times until they see how freaking pathetic they actually are!)

LETS PUT A FEW COLOUREDS ON THE COVERS TO EVEN THING OUT!!!

CA'MON

I completely agree with you! There are so many smoking hot coloured ladies in this country and that fact should be celebrated. Infact the hot "black" models that grace the pages of international magazines are more coloured than they are black. If they were in this country they would be deemed as coloured but because in America coloured people and black people are the same thing, they all fall under the black race group.

Im happy to see more and more coloured faces appearing as models and so forth and it seems that people have finally woken up taken notice of all the fine coloured women there are.

We all know that assumptions are the mother of all (you know whats) and I feel that's the basis for not putting black faces on mag covers -- there's that ever-present assumption that mag readers are white.

However, let's look beyond the cover issue ... even if one were to propose the use of famous (ridiculously famous) black faces for mag covers (eg Connie Ferguson, Khanyi Dhlomo, Lira whoever), the reception within the extremely white community of mag writers and editors whould be a resounding "Who?". That's the issue, and that's what feeds the lack of black faces on local covers.

Might be time to get one going ... and maybe even a Black Magazine Editors group.

cos the lack of knowledge about black celebrities definitely comes from the dearth of black journalists on women's magazines.

It's a crying shame that three of the country's newspapers can support female eds of colour but magazine journalism still can't find the will to transform.

maybe the publshing houses should try publishing more mags "for black women" instead of constantly buying international titles that rely on white celebrity covers for a country that has a majority black population?

or are these companies desperate to retain havens where white faces rule? in countries like the UK and the US, minority media is big business, and provides jobs for hundreds of people of colour who wouldn't otherwise find ork in mainstream titles catering to the majority white population.

mabe it's time to acknowledge that that model should b applied to SA and publishing houses realise that whites are a minority, and start creaing media that caters for the majority black population.

afterall, if the survey about SAns consuming more media is correct, surely that media should reflect the country's readers?

And how, exactly, is the majority of the population supposed to afford a R30 magazine?? Publishers go where the LSM's are.

Dear Mr Ray Hartley

Re: Supermodel “too black” for SA magazines (The Times, Tuesday March 11 2208) by Poppie Mphuthing and Sashni Pather

While I am not in a position to explain or defend the cover choices of other magazines, I feel Oluchi Onewaga, was being extremely disingenuous in saying that SA glossies do not use black faces on their covers. In fact, Oluchi herself, appeared on the cover of Cosmopolitan as long ago as September 2003. Interestingly, this cover remains one of our best selling of all time. As are the covers we have run of Beyonce, Tyra Banks, Chi Chi Letswalo and most recently, Rhihanna. In fact, our current cover is the R and B star, Alicia Keys, who, the last time I looked, was not exactly lily white either.

Best wishes,

Vanessa Raphaely
EDITORIAL DIRECTOR

Tel: 021 464 6258
Fax: 021 461 2500

Glamour has also defnitely had a few black covers. My background in magazines leads me to an understanding that it more about the story, less about the colour of the person in question. If the story is a cover story, and the face in question is going to shout from the over-crowded shelves, she goes on cover. The racism card is so overused these days. I look at Destiny, a mag for all South African business women (black, white, coloured), and I see only black faces on the cover. This is not a racist decision, this is because they really want to connect with the high-flying black business women from word go - it is their core market - and their white readers are cool with that. Boooooooooooooring to hear our sisters overusing that racism card. Find something new to complain about.

Get over your self.
Go and flip burgers or something else.
Why is it that whenever a black person just does not reach the sucess they aspire to its because of the "Man (white man)" holding them back.
Time to realise in SA you are the "Man".
If you are not getting the covers you want get a boob job, face lift,stop eating chocolates etc.
There is also pigmentation therapy if that's what you believe, but I think you are 14 years too late for that and you wont get handed any BEEEEE EEE(not sure on how many e there are) deals if you go this route.
I am pretty sure all the white chicks that are not on every cover every week probably also think "its because were white"

Well u dont understand so step aside.

As a black man I don't agree that 'we' don't want to see black faces on magazine covers. I do. It's good to see a black face on a popular magazine's cover because you also feel included, that the magazine wants to 'speak' to you as well. It's a major turn off when you don't see any black people in your favourite magazine.

well i personally believe that black women are the most beautiful people on planet earth and i find it really unfair to say black covers do not sell.I do not blame her for reacting the way she did it and would do the same if i was her .people need to let go of racism and move on it wont get us anywhere.

WELL MAYEBE IF YOU ALL STARTED BUYIN THE MAGS...THEY WOULD CATER FOR YOU!!!....

It is well known that the fashion world is [extremely] tough & competitive. (And these are on the nice days)

So if one person does not get ahead or a cover, the easiest is to deal the race card.... Get a life and go out and try again.

In sales, more often than not, you get a NO. When you get a YES, it is not even really based on the full amount, but every now and then you do get what you proposed. In a model's instance it is the same.

So - now - if you go to a casting and you do NOT get a call back - is it a racists decision everytime.

Get Real!!!

Where are the indians, coloreds, fat people, old men. So irrelevant.
She was unprofessional. If I don't want to use a black model on my magazine then who are you to tell me any different.

The media needs to stop trying to bring racism into the spotlight. You and me as individuals see one another everyday and we aren't trying to kill each-other. We just see it in the news.

We are black & white and Colored and we have different cultures but at the end of it all we are individuals with our own perceptions and ideas.

If GQ's target market is white and male,it doesn't mean that they are an evil magazine.In order to sell magazines, a publisher needs to create covers to appeal directly to the target market so that the readers will pick up and buy the magazine.If Oluchi Onweagba clearly doesn't fit the desires of the target market,no publisher in his right mind will risk low sales figures.I'm not sure if its about being black though maybe she's not sexy enough for GQ?
CHECK OUT THIS LINK http://www.sowetan.co.za/News/Article.aspx?id=725872

I am suprised that in 2008 with everything that we have gone through as a "rainbow nation" and all that rubbish can't we put people on the cover because they have a story to tell regardless of race?

I had this conversation with the editor of a popular baby magazine about four years ago about them not having black babies/children on the cover and she basically said "we would love to but the mag won't sell" what rubbish is this?
By the way, she also mentioned that her husband who works at GQ agreed as even when they had Halle Berry on the cover sales dropped. After this conversation, I subscribed to True Love and ONLY support black publications.

Clearly, these magazines are not targeted at us so why do we continue to buy them? Because we aspire to be white?? I don't think so!! I am proud of my chocolate skin and rich locks! I do not aspire to look like Cameron Diaz or Lindsay Lohan. Basically what I'm saying is I may aspire to look like Halle Berry, Beyonce, Tyra Banks, Janet Jackson, Jill Scott or Gabrielle Union. Put these women on a cover and i'll buy it!!!

It's a pity that in a country where we are the majority we still are second class citizens, some of our people cannot afford these publications. But maybe the more emancipated we become the better off we will be.

Bottom line, if it ain't for you don't buy it!

Before we incite a riot over something so ridiculous we need to understand the facts.
GQ South Africa is not targeted at black males and quite frankly white males do not find black women attractive so why would they buy a magazine that does not entice them?

Let's be honest. I don't buy a white magazine unless they have a black person on the cover.

Unfortunately, I agree with all the Dirk, it's not targeted at black males and therefore there is no noeed for them to feature a black women on the cover, we must be realistic about this and at least now we know that our fellow creatives do not value black Rands!!

If the Magazine Industry would care to look at the population dynamic in SA, they would notice that there are more people of colour in our country.
Don't they think that they need to represent this on the covers and inside their magazines? WHITE PEOPLE are not the only one's who can read. I am a Journalism graduate who has been looking for a position at a magazine for the past 8 months. I have applied for unpaid interships, assistant positions, even PA posts, but to no avail..Is it because my name is not LAUREN or Lizel?
If you take a look who's who on all the major magazines in the country, how many writers, beauty assistants, fashion editors are people of colour?
Especially at CAXTON!!! Take a look-I dare you...Seems like they only hire white folk..
The Oprah magazine is an exception..
Seems like apartheid is well, alive, and kicking in the magazine industry.

I work on a glossy women's Caxton title, and as a white person, I've long held the opinion that we should have black and coloured women on the cover. This may be shaky at first, as we start to lose some of our traditional white readership, but, if the editorial on the inside matches the cover in catering to a black audience, we have a winner in the long run. The needs of the community served equals business interests served.

I'm glad that you agree, it shows that not all white folk are stuck in the time warp of 1993.

I don't want to sound like a spoilt new-age brat, I don't believe that the world owes me anything just because I studied.

I read most of Caxton's Magazines, I have applied for a few jobs from intern positions to feature writer positions - but the only people who get hired are white women.

Really, take a look at Women and Home Magazine, which I love, but here is a list of names of the who run the show: Frith, Carlyn, Christian, Carmen, Christelle, Carien, Ruth, Tammy, Carla, Sharon.......
At Food and Home, there is someone called Rose Moumakoe who is the "food assistant"? Food assistant?Are they joking?Being in the business of words couldn't they come up with something a bit more creative -food assistant reads MEID/OUSIE. And she just happens to be black? Well I suppose someone has to mop up the Merlot.

I'm curious, but are there any other people at Caxton that are aware of what's going on? Do you think that someone on a management or senior level at Caxton would like to enlighten us on what the exact critera of staff recruitment is...

I worked for GQ and Glamour magazines, and in my time there, not only did they believe that a black face on a cover will not sell, but there was not a single black person employed at the organisation. (besides the cleaner)

Not to rain on anyone's hair-do, but would it not be smarter if black people were to take responsibility for their own happiness? I mean look at Ndalo Media for instance, a prime example of black people doing things for black people. Let us not be like a typical SA game show and try take over a formula that's already cast in stone. GQ is not made for black people period!!! Yes it sucks that it isn't but that's just the way things go. Why not create a GQ for black men and Glamour for the gorgeous black woman in SA. Let us take the creativity and originality that we are blessed with as a new Nation and run with it.

Have you ever taken into account the possibility that people in general don't see black South African women as being attractive enough. In America its a different story because the black women who people see in magazines are very attractive. & what helps with their attractiveness is that they are more coloured than they are black, but due to black people and coloured people in America both falling under the black race group, those models are deemed as black.

Lets be honest with ourselves, black South African women don't come close to black American women. There is no comparison at all.

You can play the race card over and over but the harsh reality of it is that black South African women aint all that great and the majority who make it in magazines are average looking.

I know its a difficults "pill to sluk" but someone has to tell it like it is.

But to say that black south african women are unattractive is simply hating.

I am very surprised at the editor for publishing your response.

The reason the editor published the response is because its true. Its not that black females are ugly, because there are definately ones with lots of potential. They are in the minority however. One magazine that does well to pinpoint the nice african girls is fhm. Check them out & ull see the standard that people expect.

If you do get the chance to see a fhm(id suggest the 2008 calendar)you might say that most african females look that way. Im sorry to tell you however that this is not the case.

I think we can debate about this all we like, but the truth of the matter is that nothing much has changed in the media industry. Whites rule and they won't let black people come any where near their comfort zone. When they say that a position is BEE, they take an indian instead. Black is Black and that the way it is.Coloureds don't want to be associated as black but only allow this when it is a BEE position and that is why they never fit any where.And for the person who said we must stop eating chocolate or some thing, you better watch your filthy mouth as you don't know what you are talking about.Also the trend of having seniors in black publications must also stop. They don't know a shit about black people so who are they to make decisions on what should and should not go?

The difference between coloureds and blacks(besides the fact that coloureds are much hotter) is that unlike blacks, coloureds dont play the race card over and over when something doesn't go their way and they don't play the victim. Stop moaning and get on with your life and you might actually achieve what you want. Stop having this perception that things must just be handed to black people due to what happened in the past because thats complete crap. I know some vey admirable black people who don't have that perception and I have alot of respect for them. But day after day I see and hear black people feeling that people owe them things and its extremelly annoying.

You say that black senior executives don't know anything about being black and black people. So then if your own race doesn't even understand black people then nobody ever will, which is a really sad reality.

I think its time we black people stop whining and use our majority to our advantage.. we stop buying these 'white' mags and create our own brands.. Thats the ultimate solution..

I guess we'll always be a divided nation even though we claim to be proud of our diversity and that we r a rainbow nation. Personally I dont care who's on the cover as long as it's well deserved, oh and allow me to extend - I'll make a kick-ass cover girl on any mag, and thats the truth! did i mention i'm black (& proud).

If that's the case then why are you not on a magazine cover? & according to who would you make a kick-ass cover model?

It's not about race. By the way, I'm white and I have applied at how many magazines for a job (yes, as an intern as well as assistant and junior writer etc), after doing a media degree and journalism diploma. They did not give me the time of day, as I did not have experience. So...it's not about race.

It's like everything and anything else - there are specific target markets and specific content, specific products - you need to cater for your target market in order to make money. Why not make money in order to please everyone in the country (who still won't buy your magazine because the content isn't aimed at them).

Oh, and please can we see a white woman on Bona? And on True Love please??

No, we can't - but do white people complain about this - NO! We understand that it's NOT AIMED AT US.

You have made some very valid points and made alot of sense. I agree with everything you said.
Oh and before someone calls me racist or some crap like that for agreeing with a white person and not a black person, and would thus automatically assume that I must be white, I'd like to say that for the record Im not white.