Michael Rogers (activist)

For other people named Michael Rogers, see Michael Rogers (disambiguation).
Michael Rogers

Rogers at the Library of Congress in 2011.
Born November 12, 1963 (1963-11-12) (age 48)
Suffern, New York, U.S.A.
Occupation Journalist, fundraiser, activist, blogger

Michael Rogers (born November 12, 1963[1]) is the Managing Director and partner of Raw Story Media, Inc. publishers of The Raw Story, an American fundraiser, blogger and gay rights activist in the Washington, D.C.-area best known for his activity in outing closeted gay politicians who actively oppose gay rights. He has worked as a fundraiser for a number of non-governmental organizations, He is a leading subject of the 2009 film Outrage, on the subject of outing closeted politicians. In 2008, Rogers founded the National Blogger and Citizen Journalist Initiative, now known as the Netroots Connect program of Netroots Nation. Rogers is director of the program.

Prior to his notoriety as a blogger and citizen journalist Rogers was a fundraiser in Buffalo and New York City. His career as a fundraiser began at the Western New York Public Broadcasting Association, operators of National Public Radio Affiliates WNED-FM, and WNED (AM), and Public Broadcasting System affiliate WNED-TV, where he was part of the team that raised funds for the construction of a new broadcasting facility. In 1989 became the Development Coordinator/Program Manager of the Hetrick Martin Institute in New York City, operators of the Harvey Milk High School. He has served in senior fundraising positions including Director of Donor Programs at the Funding Exchange, Director of Development of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, and Senior Manager of Major Gifts at Greenpeace. Rogers is the former owner publisher of PageOneQ, an on-line news aggregator focused on LGBT news and information.

Rogers' web site blogactive.com has been a focal point for outing closeted gay politicians who actively oppose gay rights. His blog has been discussed in the Washington Post[2] and he has been a focal point in the debate over the ethics of outing public figures.[3][4][5] Stories reported by Rogers have included Representatives Ed Schrock and David Dreier, U.S. Senator Larry Craig and South Carolina Lieutenant Governor Andre Bauer.

AOL News reported on May 13, 2009 that Doug McKelway, co-host of Washington, DC's Lets Talk Live on local cable television outlet News Channel 8, said to Rogers in a televised interview that he would like to "take you (Rogers) outside and punch you across the face..... I think you're hurting innocent people."[6]

References

  1. ^ Michael Rogers blog entry dated November 11, 2009 (retrieved December 10, 2009)
  2. ^ Fisher, Marc (2007-09-06), "Who Among Us Would Cast the First Stone? This Guy", The Washington Post, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/05/AR2007090502519.html, retrieved 2007-09-06 
  3. ^ Marra, William (2007-08-30), "Sen. Craig Calls Case a 'Witch Hunt,' but Reporters Say Investigation Was Fair Game", ABC News, http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=3538646&page=1, retrieved 2007-09-08 
  4. ^ "Outs and Ins of Outing", NPR, 2007-09-06, http://www.npr.org/blogs/talk/2007/09/outs_and_ins_of_outing.html, retrieved 2007-09-08 
  5. ^ Christensen, Jen (2005-05-10), "Jeff vs. the bloggers" (– Scholar search), The Advocate, http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1589/is_2005_May_10/ai_n13774507/pg_7, retrieved 2007-08-30 
  6. ^ "Anchor Loses His Cool With Gay Activist", AOL News, 2009-05-13, http://news.aol.com/article/angry-anchor/478089?icid=main, retrieved 2009-05-15 

External links