It looks like Essence‘s hiring of Michael Bullerdick is confirmed. Titled, “Essence Hires White Male Editor to Manage Workflow” BUT! “He has no involvement in editorial content of the black women’s publication, the new Essence editor-in-chief, Constance White, told Journal-isms on Tuesday.”

Way to downplay one of the most important jobs at a magazine! Unless Essence has some weird way of interpreting what a managing editor does, it’s my understanding that Mr. Bullerdick will oversee EVERYTHING content-related. They’re trying to act like he’s going to be like some bean counter with a back-of-the-building, broom-closet office.

Here’s Dr. Boyce weighing in (but gave me no love for breaking the story–oh well.)

Definition of managing editor:

A magazine managing editor is responsible for overseeing the day-to-day operation of a magazine. Most magazines employ several editors, designers and writers. The managing editor is responsible for supervising these groups of people and making sure they work together as a cohesive unit in order to create a strong publication.

Duties
A managing editor is responsible for hiring writers, editors and designers who can help the magazine fulfill its mission. For many magazine managing editors, this includes finding employees who can adapt their skills to not only print publications, but also Internet publishing. The managing editor is often involved in the final interviews when new editorial or design talent is hired. Similarly, the managing editor is in charge of evaluating employee performance and terminating employees who do not meet standards. Magazine managing editors may periodically write columns for the magazines they edit. Sometimes the columns deal with specific issues related to the magazine’s mission.

Significance
The magazine managing editor plays a significant role in determining the success of a magazine. The managing editor serves as the eyes and ears of an publisher. Because the managing editor has a better understanding of the day-to-day operations in editorial and design areas, the publisher relies on the managing editor to help him understand which of his ideas or initiatives are working and which are not. The managing editor also discusses changes in publishing methods with the publisher in an effort to determine which types of new practices or procedures will work and how they can be implemented.

(definition taken from eHow.com)

Again, this is not whether Mr. Bullerdick is white. It’s about the hypocrisy of the selective outrage when Essence hired the white, female fashion editor last year, and then this year, Micheal’s hiring is completely downplayed. What is that? White female editors bad, white male editors practically running the place, OK?