Ex-White House Social Secretary To Head Up Ebony And JET

Posted by Media Outrage
Ex-White House Social Secretary Desiree Rogers (on the left Linda Johnson Rice on the right) has been tapped by Johnson Publishing to head up Ebony & JET magazines.  Bravo.  More details…
Desirée Rogers, who left her job as White House social secretary earlier this year after two fame-seeking party crashers made their way into a presidential gala, has been named chief executive of the world’s largest black-owned publishing company.

Johnson Publishing Company, which puts out Jet and Ebony magazines, announced on Tuesday that Ms. Rogers would work alongside the company chairwoman, Linda Johnson Rice, whose father founded the company in 1945. Ms. Rogers will run day-to-day operations, the company, which is based in Chicago, said in a statement.
 
Ms. Rogers will assume leadership of the company at a time when Ebony and Jet — both trend-setters and industry leaders among publications written for black audiences — have experienced sharp declines in circulation and sales at the newsstand.

In its statement, Johnson said Ms. Rogers was chosen because the company believed she was best suited to strengthen the Johnson brands.

“Rogers is expert in repositioning brands, utilizing their core essence to engage customers and extending them into the communities they serve,” the company said.

As White House social secretary, Ms. Rogers broke ground and ruffled feathers. She was the first black person to hold the position. And she broke sharply with Washington protocol by leaving some of the city’s upper crust — who were not used to being excluded from White House gatherings — off her guest lists.
Recalling her short but stormy tenure, she told The New York Times after resigning in February, ”I was symbolic of that change in many respects, and I took the hit.”

Ms. Rogers had the job of coordinating the White House’s packed schedule of social gatherings, which included everything from bill signings to state dinners. But she stumbled in handling President Obama’s first state dinner. Two uninvited guests, both aspiring reality television stars, made their way past Secret Service and far enough into the party that they were able to meet the president.

The entire episode effectively ended Ms. Rogers’s career but gave birth to the television careers of the intruding couple, who are currently appearing on the Bravo show “Real Housewives of DC.”

Now it would appear Ms. Rogers’s fortunes have come full circle. In a statement, she said, “I am humbled to have such an incredible opportunity.”
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