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2007-10-23
2007-10-05
Mike Rogers, Blog
Activist
Interviewed by Kerry Eleveld
Photo by Joe Tresh
How did a veteran
activist who once
How did a veteran
activist who once worked for the National Gay and
Lesbian Task Force become, according to The
Washington Post, “the most feared man”
on Capitol Hill? Just ask Larry Craig. Mike Rogers
outed the Idaho senator on his Web site,
BlogActive.com, nearly a year before news came of his arrest
in an airport sex sting. Craig wasn’t the first
politician -- or political aide -- that Rogers has
exposed, and he certainly won’t be the last: The
Craig case has generated more than 500 tips for him.
Do you believe you’re solely responsible for
Senator Craig’s demise?
If I can take credit for one thing, it’s that I
put up a blog post in October 2006 that resulted in
the biggest paper [in Idaho] assigning their most
important political reporter to this story for five months.
As a result, the night that Craig’s arrest
became public, the Idaho Statesman had ready a
3,800-word article outlining Craig’s history of
cruising men.
What has surprised you most about the coverage?
That so many times the press would credit me -- The
Washington Post, CNN, Inside Edition, CBS news
affiliates. It shows that people are learning how to filter
what is legitimate journalism printed on a blog versus
gossip or opinion.
Has your work changed at all since this story took off?
I’m no longer reporting on staffers. I attended
this event where a lot of GOP staffers came up to me
and said, “I love your work.” So I
thought, How can I build a bridge personally?
Why focus on staffers when presumably a lot more people are
going to come to my site because I’m reporting
only against politicians?
Why did you target staffers in the first place?
People think our elected officials hold the power in
Washington, but the power is really held by the
bureaucracy. These staffers have a lot of influence.
Some of your detractors charge that you are exposing the
seedy underbelly of gay sex.
Americans are smart enough to tell the difference
between someone who lives their life honestly and
openly versus someone who makes unhealthy decisions by
having public, inappropriate sexual encounters. We’ve
taken about 20 steps forward with [the Craig] story
and three steps back. I’m cool with it.
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