On Covers of Many Magazines, a Full Racial Palette Is Still Rare
By DAVID CARR NY TIMES

Halle Berry, in her role as the sexy superspy Jinx in "Die Another Day," helps James Bond save the world from certain doom. But Ms. Berry may be performing an even more improbable feat as the cover model of the December issue of Cosmopolitan magazine.

[and she's rumoured to be on December's Vogue cover as well - saltyt]

Ms. Berry became only the fifth black to appear on the cover of Cosmopolitan since the magazine began using cover photographs in 1964, and she is the first since Naomi Campbell in 1990. Ms. Berry is evidently one of a tiny cadre of nonwhite celebrities who are deemed to have enough crossover appeal to appear on the cover of mass consumer magazines.

There are signs that the freeze-out may beginning to thaw, as the continuing explosion of hip-hop has pushed many black artists into prominence, and as teenagers' magazines that are less anxious about race are bringing more diversity. But in many broad-circulation magazines, the unspoken but routinely observed practice of not using nonwhite cover subjects — for fear they will depress newsstand sales — remains largely in effect.

A survey of 471 covers from 31 magazines published in 2002 — an array of men's and women's magazines, entertainment publications and teenagers' magazines — conducted two weeks ago by The New York Times found that about one in five depicted minority members. Five years ago, according to the survey, which examined all the covers of those 31 magazines back through 1998, the figure was only 12.7 percent. And fashion magazines have more than doubled their use of nonwhite cover subjects.

But in a country with a nonwhite population of almost 30 percent, the incremental progress leaves some people unimpressed.

Both Cosmo and O are published by Hearst magazines. As a newsstand giant, selling two million copies a month, Cosmo uses a near scientific blend of sex and Middle American beauty on its covers — a formula that does not seem to include black women. O magazine, in contrast, transcends race with a new, spiritually based female empowerment.

Publishing is a conservative industry, one that has been known to define risk as using a cover model with dark hair instead of blond. But a wave of Latina superstars like Jennifer Lopez, along with genre-breaking athletes like Tiger Woods and the Williams sisters, have redefined what a celebrity looks like. And the audience is changing as well. In the last five years, the nonwhite audience for magazines has increased to 17 percent from 15 percent, according to Mediamark Research Inc.

Yet, even as black and Hispanic women slowly make their way onto the covers of magazines of various genres, black males still find themselves mainly confined to a ghetto of music and sports magazines.

Christina Kelly, now editor in chief of YM, a teenagers' magazine owned by Gruner & Jahr USA, recalls a struggle with the circulation people when she worked as an editor in 1993 at the now-closed Sassy magazine.

"We wanted to put Mecca from the band Digable Planets on the cover because she was huge at the time and gorgeous," she recalled. "The circulation guys hated the idea, but we just went ahead and did it. The magazine was bagged with a separate beauty booklet, which was usually placed in the back, but this time, it was bagged in front. It just happened to have a picture of a blond, blue-eyed woman on it."

Today, magazines like Teen People and YM feature cover subjects of a variety of hues. In the last year, YM has had covers that included nonwhite artists like Ashanti and Enrique Iglesias. And in August, Teen People chose Usher, a black R&B singer, as its No. 1 "hot guy" and featured him on the cover.

"Race is a much more fluid concept among teens," said Barbara O'Dair, managing editor of Teen People.

Magazines for teenagers, because of their reliance on the heavily integrated music industry, use 25 percent nonwhite subjects on their covers. If white teenagers are crossing over to embrace minority artists, many artists are meeting them halfway in terms of style.

Fashion, previously a very segregated world, has become transracial, with young white women adopting street fashion while black artists wear long, flowing tresses. Certain totems of beauty — blond hair, among other things — can now be seamlessly situated on almost anyone regardless of race. The singers Shakira, Beyoncé Knowles, and Christina Aguilera, all nonwhite, have at times worn blond hair that is indiscernible from that of Britney Spears. Read on

By Liz Hands, The Newcastel Journal

As a little girl Camilla Priest would watch supermodel Cindy Crawford on the catwalk and think to herself: "That's what I want to do some day."

Now the Sunderland teenager has a shot at the only career she has ever wanted after triumphing over 11,000 hopefuls to win Channel 4's Model Behaviour contest.

The 19-year-old, from Hendon, Sunderland, will grace the January cover of Glamour magazine after impressing judges with a winning combination of steely determination and English rose looks.

She has also won a year's modelling contract with top agency Select - which has Helena Christiansen and James Gooding on its books - along with male competition winner, 24-year-old South African Nathan Roberts.

"I am so excited to have won the contest," Camilla told The Journal yesterday. I really didn't know what to expect. Some days I was feeling confident and other days I didn't believe I was in the running. You just don't know what the judges are looking for.

"But I was really determined. I knew in my heart I could do it and I just gave it my all and hoped that would be enough."

Camilla is now so in demand for glossy magazine photo shoots she is intending to make London her permanent home and is busy flat hunting in the capital.

"I have known for three weeks that I had won," she said, "and I've been really busy with castings since then.

"I don't know what the future holds but I have wanted to be a model since I was a little girl and my ultimate ambition would be to be a supermodel.

"I grew up watching Cindy Crawford on the catwalk and it would be fantastic to have her success."

Viewers have been glued to the nationwide search for a model which saw eight finalists sharing a London flat as they tried to make it in the fashion industry. They were whittled down to four with Camilla and Nathan up against Verity Williams, 18, originally from Durham, and 19-year old Rochdale boy Matthew Holbrook. In the final episode last Friday, the foursome flew to New York to take part in a fashion shoot before the judges finally picked the winners.

Camilla, a former pupil of Monkwearmouth Comprehensive School, was living with her parents, Margaret and Ken, and brother Jonathan, 16, before taking part in the contest. She left school at 16 to train as a nursery nurse, then did a brief stint as a receptionist before finding promotion work with Newcastle-based AM Models.

"But this is my first real chance to be a model. This is my real break," said Camilla.

"I've already seen the Glamour cover, but it I can't wait to see it on the shelves. I don't know what this is going to lead to but I am determined to make it in this business and I am going to give it my best."