Tag Archives: atlantic-media

Embarrassed Obama White House Social Secretary Lands Position Running Media Firm

A second Obama administration veteran has landed in a media firm’s executive suite. Two months after ObamaCare’s chief propagandist, ex-ABC and CBS correspondent Linda Douglass , became Vice President of the Atlantic Media Company, Michael Calderone reported Tuesday afternoon on “ The Upshot ” Yahoo News blog: Former White House social secretary Desirée Rogers has been named chief executive of Johnson Publishing Company, billed as “the world’s largest African-American owned-and-operated publishing company.” JPC publishes both Ebony and Jet magazines. The news about Rogers came the very week MSNBC entered a partnership with the Chicago-based Ebony magazine to air joint reports on education policy, culminating in a two-hour special at noon EDT this Sunday: “ Making the Grade .” Calderon reminded readers that “Rogers, a former corporate executive and a Chicago friend of the Obama family, resigned in February from her position as the first African-American social secretary” after she “came under fire during her White House tenure after socialites-turned-reality-TV stars Tareq and Michaele Salahi famously crashed a state dinner.” Calderone also noted the two magazines are legitimate journalistic enterprises, at least since Obama was inaugurated: “Both Ebony and Jet have ramped up Washington coverage since Obama took office. Both publications joined the rotating White House press pool and petitioned for a seat in the briefing room.” My complete Obama-media revolving door list . Rogers makes the 17th member. Ebony’s press release , announcing the CEO position for Rogers, poured on the praise: Rogers is recognized as an innovative leader with a proven track record of developing creative solutions to transition organizations. She is known as an exceptional communicator and a committed community advocate. Rogers is expert in repositioning brands, utilizing their core essence to engage customers and extending them into the communities they serve. Tuesday’s NBC Nightly News carried a short item about Rogers read by fill-in anchor Ann Curry: The former White House social secretary who left Washington soon after that state dinner crasher scandal has a new job. Desiree Rogers has been named CEO of Chicago-based Johnson Publishing Company which puts out Ebony and Jet magazines and is the premier black publisher in the nation.

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Embarrassed Obama White House Social Secretary Lands Position Running Media Firm

After Two Years with Obama, Linda Douglass Returns to News Media

Completing a full spin through the revolving door, Linda Douglass, a long-time CBS and ABC correspondent before jumping aboard the Obama campaign in 2008 – followed by HHS and White House positions promoting ObamaCare — has re-joined The Atlantic as a Vice President who “will concentrate on company strategy and communications,” the Washington Post’s Howard Kurtz reported online Thursday morning . Before joining the Obama campaign as senior strategist and senior campaign spokesperson on the road, Douglass toiled for National Journal , part of Atlantic Media which also owns The Hotline . Her first stint in the new administration was as Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs at the Department of Health and Human Services, followed by Communications Director for the White House’s Health Reform Office, a slot she left in April. Atlantic Chairman David Bradley recognizes the conflict between her political agenda and being a journalist, but he told Kurtz “she’s too big an editorial talent for us to keep her out of the editorial product.” From Kurtz’s June 10 post: While her political tenure “troubles me not at all” for the corporate part of the job, Bradley says, he sees a “blinking red light” when she gets involved with the journalistic side, especially as it involves the president or health care. But, adds Bradley, “she’s too big an editorial talent for us to keep her out of the editorial product.” Douglass, who left the ABC News Washington bureau in 2006 after spending much of the 1990s with CBS News, will advance the opinions of, amongst others, Andrew Sullivan, author of The Atlantic’s “ The Daily Dish ” blog. On last Friday’s Real time with Bill Maher, Sullivan applauded author Joe McGinniss for renting the house next to Sarah Palin’s, proclaiming he’s just trying “to find out who this farce and phony actually is.” > From April: “ Her ObamaCare Mission Achieved, ABC/CBS Veteran Linda Douglass Departs White House .” > My complete list of Obama-news media revolvers , updated just a few days ago, which now stands at 15.

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After Two Years with Obama, Linda Douglass Returns to News Media