(New York, NY) June 1, 2009 —Emil Wilbekin has been named Managing Editor of Essence.com; responsible for the development of original, timely and compelling daily content and programming for the site's multiple channels. The announcement was made today by Angela Burt-Murray, Editor-in-Chief, ESSENCE, to whom he will report. As one of the first projects to emerge from the partnership between The Warner Bros. Television Group's Telepictures Productions and Time Inc.'s Essence Communications Inc., the revamped Essence.com is the largest and fastest growing African-American magazine website.
In his new role, Wilbekin joins Essence.com General Manager, Lesley Pinckney, to comprise the Essence.com leadership team. As Managing Editor, Emil will lead the Essence.com editorial team and work closely with Pinckney and the brand's senior creative and business executives on the development and extension of the site's unique offerings, which include original video programming –EXTRA on ESSENCE and ESSENCE TV -- and an active online community in partnership with the Ning social network. EXTRA on ESSENCE is an of-the-minute roundup of the week's hottest entertainment news, gossip, and celebrity style.
"We are so excited to have such an experienced journalist and talented editor as Emil join the Essence.com team," says Angela Burt-Murray, Editor-in- Chief, ESSENCE. "The broad spectrum of Emil's expertise – from style to entertainment to news -- will further the development of ESSENCE's digital platform, which serves a broad audience of savvy and intelligent African-American women with innovative daily content."
Wilbekin had been the Editor-in-Chief, GIANT, where he oversaw editorial for the magazine and for giantmag.com. While there, Wilbekin helped re-launch the website, resulting in impressive traffic growth and two Webby honors (for Best Fan Site and Best Celebrity Site). Also notably, he created the site's robust coverage of the 2009 Presidential Inauguration, "A New Day", from the perspective of celebrity, style and culture.
Prior to that, Wilbekin was a consultant on behalf of Microsoft for popular digital ventures, such as the official Lebron James website and blog, as well as other MSN sites covering style and travel. In addition, Wilbekin was previously a reporter/writer for AOL Black Voices, a contributor to huffingtonpost.com and converse.com and the VP of Brand Development for Marc Ecko; responsible for promoting the Marc Ecko collection and contributing to the company's magazine, Complex.
Wilbekin began his career as one of the founding editors of Vibe magazine, where he also served as the Style Editor, Fashion Director, and Editor-in-Chief. He also served as the VP of Brand Development for Vibe Ventures, where he oversaw vibe.com, mobile, books, and Vibe TV, and executive produced the Vibe Awards.
Wilbekin holds a B.S. in Mass Media Arts from Hampton University and an M.S. in Journalism from Columbia University.
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