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.
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.