The Black Press Stresses Importance Of Succession Planning For Family Businesses


Nearly two centuries of tales of oppression and triumph -- chronicled by the Black press - reflect a story of Black families coming together not only to make a profit, but also to unite an entire race by providing a wealth of knowledge.

From mom and pop companies to large iconic enterprises, most American businesses fall within the realm of family-owned operations. African Americans have followed a similar path, establishing themselves as entrepreneurs. This is especially true of the Black Press.
According to James I. Herbert, professor of management and entrepreneurship at Kennesaw State University, at least 90 percent of the U.S.'s 20 million firms are family operations. These companies generate 50 percent of the nation's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and 65 percent of all U.S. wages. With 37 percent of these firms in the Fortune 500, they are the fastest growing sector of the economy.

"What I found that is ironic, in my limited experience, seldom will you find any documentation of the legacy," said Herbert, who has been working on a two-year project with the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) on succession planning.

"It is ironic because all of the current publishers in leadership responsibility cite the community connection as a premium. Yet, and still, when you inquire about publications documenting their legacy, there are few available."

Recognizing the significance of family businesses, the NNPA and Office Depot made a joint effort two years ago to bring attention to this large portion of the U.S. economy.

"Over 80 percent of the newspapers among the Black Press of America are family-owned. Recognizing this fact, NNPA made a two-year commitment to raise awareness of fundamental issues and solutions we as family business owners should consider," said NNPA Chairperson Sonny Messiah Jiles. "The death of a publisher can have a devastating impact on a family-owned newspaper. Thanks to contributions from Office Depot, NNPA has been able to empower our members with information to assist them in succession planning for their businesses."

According to Office Depot, small businesses are an integral part of their strategic plan.

"Small businesses, many of which are family owned, are critical to our business model," said Ruth Cyrus, spokeswoman for Office Depot's Multicultural Marketing. "This segment represents our largest group of customers so our company's success is tied to their success."

While the average company has a lifespan of about 24 years, many Black-owned media firms have experienced multi-generational success.

NNPA, consisting of over 250 weekly, bi-weekly, and monthly member publications, boast a combined circulation of over 14 million with over half of its members listed as family-owned and controlled. Some of those publications remain under the control of the third and fourth generation.

When Frederick Douglass founded the North Star in 1847, his children assisted in printing the type, locking the forms, folding, wrapping, and mailing the paper. When he later published the New National Era in the 1870's both his sons Frederick Jr. and Lewis joined the venture. Lewis, who had apprenticed with his father, worked in the Government Printing Office before joining the venture as chief compositor and manager of the print shop. Frederick Jr. worked as the publication's Business Manager. In 1873, Douglass handed down New National Era to his sons who assumed the newspaper's management.

The Record of Wilmington, North Carolina was published by the Manly Brothers - Alex, Frank, Llewelyn - and maintained a solid reputation until a white mob threatened their business and lives in the late 1890's. They moved their operation to Washington DC where they bought a press, resumed publication and built a profitable printing business.

The transition to the younger generation continues today. In 1987, Ebony/Jet Magazine completed its first transition as Linda Johnson Rice succeeded her father, John Johnson, who founded the publication, to head the multi-million dollar publishing and fashion company.

And the profitable Black Enterprise Magazine is still overseen by its founder, Earl Graves, Sr., with divisions headed by his three sons Earl Jr., Michael, and John.

As business enterprises, Black-owned media have historically been family affairs.

Challenges with benefits

The reasons behind a family's decision to go into business together are often as diverse as the families themselves and the businesses they create. The business is sometimes a way of life -- an opportunity to work together and build for a more prosperous future. For others, it's an attempt to fulfill a family legacy created generations ago.

But the transition of leadership and power amongst family members over a period of generations can leave a business in disorder.

In the midst of a thriving career as an attorney, Jake Oliver, former president of the Black Press trade organization -- NNPA, presided over the Afro-American in Baltimore, MD as publisher in the early 1980's. He described the period as "rocky" given dire circumstances surrounding his newspaper business at the time.

"The generational change of control is something most small businesses do with great difficulty. Ours has not been much different," said Oliver.

"It is not who you are, but what you bring to the business. That is probably how we survived."

Oliver is the fourth generation within his family to head the Baltimore Afro-American newspaper group. He says many Black businesses, including African American media organizations, are often inadequately prepared to conduct business.

For many within the realm of family business, it is an opportunity for autonomy -- the ability to control their own destiny as entrepreneurs.

However, many experience drawbacks.

They view, for instance, the senior generation's long hours, no vacations, and low pay as undesirable. Family conflicts tend to blur the line between business issues and personal problems.

Junior generation family members view the family business as sacrifice or burden.

Sometimes a tragedy within the family business has an abrupt impact from the inside causing a ripple effect.

The Atlanta Daily World, founded in 1928 by William A. Scott II, would have experienced at least three generations of ownership by traditional standards. But Scott's murder in 1934 left the publication -- and his family -- in disarray during a critical period as the newspaper was experiencing exponential growth.

M. Alexis Scott, now Publisher of the Atlanta Daily World, succeeded her great uncle, Cornelius Scott, in 1997. She said his dedication to the paper for such as extended period of time was a result of her grandfather's death.

"He psychologically couldn't stop because of my grandfather's early death," she said. C.A. Scott was 89 when Alexis Scott took the helm of the paper.

By sharing the impact of a family tragedy on their newspaper, Scott sparked the NNPA initiative to explore and invest in family business succession planning.

Covering the news in the Black community also had its challenges. Unlike many others, Scott says her family was successful despite the obstacles associated with racism - an issue that for over a century stagnated Black businesses, including Black-owned newspapers.

Ida B. Wells was forced to abandon her own publication, The Memphis Free Speech when a white mob destroyed her offices. Wells later married journalist Ferdinand Barnett in 1893 and joined the staff of his weekly paper, the Conservator.

Lucius Bates and his wife, Daisy, also endured threats to their safety to publish the State Press in Arkansas from 1941 to 1959.
"I think Atlanta was saved a little bit from any direct hostility or intimidation because there were so many educated Blacks," said Scott. "Aside from social justice, we focused on business."

In addition, Scott believes the larger, non-ethnic newspapers in the South posed no serious harm to the Black press during that period. In fact, she says their disregard may have inspired social change.

"(The Atlanta World Daily) was critical of Jim Crow and segregation. My great uncle used the paper as a vehicle for voter registration ... to rally people for various causes," said Scott, citing an example of her paper's affect on community issues.

Success and succession

Professor Herbert suggests that failure to properly prepare and provide for succession is one of the top three reasons only 30 percent of these businesses survive to the second generation, and a mere 10 percent to the third. The other reasons for unsuccessful intergenerational transitions are unresolved family conflicts and estate tax issues.

The factors contributing to a lack in successful succession planning in family business can be a wide variety, sometimes revolving around personal issues - even issues unbeknownst to a descending generation that does not receive the reign of leadership of their family-owned newspaper.

Gail Berkley witnessed her father, Thomas Berkley, build his paper, The Oakland Post, from the ground up in 1963. According to Berkley, her father maintained strong ties with politicians and activists in the San Francisco Bay area. His goal was to fill a gap calling for Blacks' presence in the media. Berkley says he quickly found a niche that has engraved their newspaper's reputation in the Bay area's history.

"He (Thomas Berkley) had seen the need for a press that was supportive of candidates and also ... a need for a paper in the Bay area that wrote about not just the sensationalist crime and entertainment," she said.

Berkley began her tenure with The Post in 1972, the same year her father relocated the paper's operations to Downtown Oakland - an outstanding accomplishment during the period since there were very few African Americans with the ability to afford the area's notoriously high property expenses.

Since 1972, Berkley worked in many different capacities with her father's newspaper, eventually becoming the Executive Editor.

In 2001, Thomas Berkley died. To the disappointment of Gail Berkley, her stepmother, Velda, inherited the newspaper before selling it to an outside party, The Good News Is, LLC, in 2004.

This kind of difference of opinion should be addressed before a death, Professor Herbert advises. Many family businesses fail to do this and should with the assistance of their business advisors, including attorneys, accountants, financial planners, and insurance agents, Herbert said.

Among some of the inter-generational strategies suggested are to establish a family council and a participation policy for members; teach and develop the values and capabilities of the junior generation; develop the family's mission statement and business' strategic plan; provide relevant work experience; establish career plans for members of the family; install an outside board of directors; and develop a new management team as the succession plan is implemented.

Though benefits of the inheritance of a family business may skip over a generation, some still search for a reward buried beneath the disheartening reality of that generation's future without the family business.

"I learned the value of hard work and dedication," said Berkley. "You have to be in it for the long haul. In the end, you will get your reward. It may not be monetary, but the appreciation and respect from the community can be."

Dr. Paulette Brown-Hinds, second- generation publisher of The Black Voice News and Corey Washington, staff writer for The Business Press, are currently editing a book on Black Press family business legacies with Dr. James Herbert of the Cox Family Enterprise Center at Kennesaw State University.