Roy Johnson leaving Sports Illustrated for a third time

By Richard Prince
Journal-isms
(December 9, 2005) Roy S. Johnson, who returned to Sports Illustrated three years ago as an assistant managing editor, is leaving the publication for the third time, he told colleagues, "to explore new opportunities in the evolving sports and media industries."

"Nothing happens in a vacuum," he told Journal-isms Thursday, asked if his decision was related to the turmoil that has led to buyouts and layoffs at newspapers and magazines. "Anybody in our industry looks and sees that things are changing. I'd rather be proactive than inactive. . . . I have a great opportunity to see what's on the open market."

Johnson, 49, is the highest ranking black journalist at the magazine. He returned in 2002 as assistant managing editor/special projects after spending more than two years as founding editor-in-chief of Savoy magazine, a black lifestyles publication he conceived, and editorial director of Vanguarde Media, which included Savoy and two other magazines. Vanguarde went out of business in 2003.

Johnson said that in his latest tour at Sports Illustrated, he had been a contributing editor at the magazine; was executive producer of television shows; created "Sports Illustrated Monday Night Live," a 90-minute radio show on Westwood One that precedes that network's game coverage; put writers and producers together for a Sports Illustrated film project; and developed broadband content for si.com, the magazine's Web site. This summer, he and the magazine's managing editor, Terry McDonnell, were among those listed as executive producers for a DVD, "the Best of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Model Search."

"I am throwing open the window and seeing what blows in," Johnson told Journal-isms. That includes exploring a television career, he said.

"There are lots of intriguing things happening out there in sports television, magazines, film, the Internet, satellite radio and other technologies - all areas I've been privileged to be involved with at SI," Johnson said an e-mail to colleagues Wednesday. "So I am truly excited about the possibilities." He noted that "Sixteen of my 27 years as a journalist were spent at Time, Inc.," having also been at Money and Fortune.

McDonnell was out of the country and not available for comment.

When he announced that Johnson was returning to Sports Illustrated in 2002, McDonnell said it marked "a homecoming for Roy, who began his distinguished journalism career as a reporter at Sports Illustrated in 1978," and returned as a senior editor in 1989. "Roy's recent experience as a publishing entrepreneur, combined Roy with his work at Time Inc., guarantees that his contribution to SPORTS ILLUSTRATED will be immediate and meaningful."

Johnson and his wife, Barbara Johnson, formerly news director at WNBC-TV in New York, have two young children. He said he expected to leave the SI offices before Christmas.


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