EBONY 60th ANNIVERSARY YEAR-LONG CELEBRATION CONTINUES WITH 2005 OUTSTANDING WOMEN IN MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS AWARDS LUNCHEON

Linda Johnson Rice, President & CEO, Johnson Publishing Co., to Host Luncheon Gala

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(AANEWSWIRE)(April 18, 2005 - NEW YORK, NY) - EBONY, the world's number one Black magazine, currently celebrated its 60th year as a media and marketing communications pioneer, saluted top African American women in advertising, corporate marketing, journalism, and entertainment at the 6th annual EBONY Outstanding Women in Marketing & Communications Awards luncheon. Linda Johnson Rice, president & CEO, Johnson Publishing Co., hosted the event.

Debra Lee, president and chief operating officer of Black Entertainment Television (BET), accepted the prestigious Madam C. J. Walker Entrepreneur Award. Shon Gables, the co-anchor of CBS 2 News This Morning, will serve as Mistress of Ceremonies and Minister Vy Higginsen, CEO, The Mama Foundation, delivered the invocation. Other honorees are: Gayle King, the editor-at-large for O, The Oprah Magazine; René Syler, network morning anchor on CBS News' "The Early Show"; and Fredricka Whitfield, news anchor for CNN Saturday and CNN Sunday; (Journalism Awards); Christina Norman, the president of VH1; Jonelle Procope, the president and chief executive officer of the Apollo Theatre Foundation Inc, and Dedra N. Tate, president and general manager of Queen Latifah's Flavor Unit Entertainment (Entertainment Awards); Jacqueline McCauley, senior vice-president, director of client services for E. Morris Communications, Inc., and Fay Ferguson, the co-owner and managing partner of Burrell Communications Group (Advertising Agency Awards); and Jerri DeVard, the senior vice-president, brand management and marketing communications for Verizon Communications; Vicky Free, director of U.S. marketing for McDonald's USA; and Jeanine M. White, multicultural marketing communications manager for Lincoln Mercury (Corporate Marketing).

Presenters at the 6th annual EBONY Outstanding Women in Marketing & Communications Awards included: Dr. Jannette Dates, Dean of the John H. Johnson School of Communications, Howard University; Brenda Blackmon, co-anchor UPN-9; Cherie-lynn A. Whitter, director of Tourism, Bermuda Department of Tourism, and Jeff Burns, Jr., associate publisher and senior vice president, Johnson Publishing, Inc., who created the concept for these prestigious awards - the only honors of their kind in the marketing and communications field.

The EBONY Outstanding Women in Marketing & Communications Awards title sponsor was Verizon and the participating sponsors are McDonald's and the Bermuda Tourism Board. Previous honorees have included: Suzanne de Passe, CEO, dePasse Entertainment, Jacque Reid, anchor, BET Nightly News, Terrie Williams, president, Terrie Williams Agency, Catherine Liggins Hughes, founder and chairperson of RADIO ONE, a $2 billion broadcast corporation; Robin Roberts, news anchor, Good Morning America on ABC; Vicki Mabrey, correspondent, 60 Minutes II; Tracey E. Edmonds, owner, president and CEO of Edmonds Entertainment Group; Lena Williams, a writer for The New York Times; and Paula Madison, president and general manager, KNBC-TV in Los Angeles.

EBONY, the flagship magazine of Johnson Publishing Company, has been number 1 in its field since its inception in 1945. According to Mediamark Research Inc. it reaches 45.3-percent of all African American women each month and has the largest African American woman readership base of any publication in the world.

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