|
REBECCA ARMENDARIZ
Friday, October 03, 2008
Mike
Rogers,
a
blogger
who
gained
notoriety
for
outing
closeted
Republican
officials,
is
spearheading
a
new
initiative
to
support
training
and
funding
for
the
next
wave
of
gay
bloggers.
Rogers
recently
established
the
program,
called
the
LGBT
Bloggers
&
Citizen
Journalist
Initiative,
with
a
$50,000
grant
from
philanthropist
Jonathan
Lewis.
Lewis
is
the
son
of
Peter
Lewis,
one
of
the
founders
of
Progressive
Auto
Insurance.
Jonathan
Lewis
awards
an
annual
scholarship
through
the
Point
Foundation’s
National
LGBT
Scholarship
Fund.
Rogers
said
the
goal
of
the
LGBT
Bloggers
&
Citizen
Journalist
Initiative
is
to
bring
the
online
world
together
with
traditional
organizations
that
are
sometimes
lagging
in
the
technology
department.
Rogers
said
the
initiative’s
driving
force
is
best
encapsulated
by
a
quote
from
Pam
Spaulding,
a
lesbian
blogger
who
writes
at
Pam’s
House
Blend:
“You
can
ignore
us,
but
we
are
journalists,
we
are
activists,
it’s
all
one
now.”
Rogers
said
that
other
progressive
movements
have
been
more
effective
in
quickly
disseminating
their
messages.
Citing
this
year’s
killing
of
Lawrence
King,
the
gay
California
teen
who
was
shot
Feb.
12,
Rogers
said
fewer
people
online
knew
about
that
than
last
year’s
“Jena
6”
controversy,
in
which
six
black
Jena
High
School
students
in
Louisiana
were
charged
with
attempted
murder
for
attacking
a
white
student
after
a
noose
was
found
hanging
from
a
campus
tree.
“How
do
we
strengthen
our
voice
so
that
when
one
of
our
young
people
is
murdered,
it
becomes
just
as
big
of
a
story?”
he
said.
The
initiative
will
begin
with
a
December
summit
of
50
bloggers
and
representatives
of
gay
rights
groups,
including
the
Human
Rights
Campaign
and
the
Gay
&
Lesbian
Victory
Fund,
which
are
sponsors.
“The
Human
Rights
Campaign
understands
the
importance
of
online
organizing,
commentary
and
activism,”
said
Joe
Solmonese,
HRC’s
president,
in
a
statement.
“This
venture
will
help
create
a
synergy
between
organizations
and
new
media
never
before
seen
in
our
movement,
and
we
are
proud
to
be
a
part
of
it.”
HRC
donated
$5,000
to
the
initiative,
and
the
Victory
Fund
gave
$2,500.
The
two
groups
will
also
co-host
a
networking
party
for
bloggers
and
staffers
the
weekend
of
the
summit.
Rogers
projects
that
with
other
individual
donations,
funding
will
reach
$70,000
by
the
conference.
HRC
and
the
Victory
Fund
each
maintain
their
own
blogs,
HRC
Back
Story
and
GayPolitics.com.
Rogers,
who
writes
online
at
BlogActive.com,
said
he’s
now
seeking
35
people
to
participate
in
the
three-day
summit,
which
begins
Dec.
5.
Participants
receive
round-trip
flights
to
D.C.,
hotel
accommodations
and
free
meals.
More
information
is
available
at
bloggerinitiative.com.
Members
of
progressive
organizations,
Capitol
Hill
staff
and
community
leaders
will
meet
with
bloggers
to
help
establish
personal
relationships,
Rogers
said.
The
goal
of
the
meetings,
Rogers
said,
will
be
to
facilitate
partnerships
for
future
projects,
such
as
live-blogging
events
that
are
coordinated
by
the
organizations.
Denis
Dison,
the
Victory
Fund’s
communications
director,
said
that
he
handles
bloggers
the
same
way
he
handles
traditional
journalists
in
terms
of
supplying
information
and
maintaining
relationships
to
share
his
group’s
message.
“It’s
vital
to
keep
up
a
relationship
that’s
somewhat
symbiotic,”
he
said.
“If
you’re
not
a
part
of
[the
blogosphere]
as
an
organization,
then
your
message
doesn’t
get
out
as
quickly
as
it
needs
to.”
Dison
said
that
the
relationships
between
bloggers
and
organizations,
though,
won’t
compromise
the
bloggers’
role
of
serving
as
a
watchdog.
“I’ve
had
plenty
of
times
when
I’ve
had
to
go
to
a
blogger
and
ask
them
to
set
the
record
straight
on
something
if
they’re
criticizing
us,”
Dison
said.
“I
definitely
don’t
think
the
relationship
‘protects
us,’
but
it
does
let
us
plead
our
case.”
|
 |
