John K. Byrne
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- Publisher
- Journalist
- Writer
- Founder, chairman and CEO of Raw Story
John Byrne | |
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| Born | March 24, 1981 New York City, U.S. |
| Occupation |
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| Alma mater | Oberlin College (2003) |
John K. Byrne (born March 24, 1981) is an American publisher and writer. He is co-owner of Raw Story Media and AlterNet Media, which publish the online progressive political news sites RawStory.com and AlterNet.org respectively.[1] Prior to Raw Story, he wrote briefly for The Boston Globe and McClatchy Newspapers and has been published in The Atlantic.[2]
Byrne was raised in a suburb of Boston, Massachusetts, by Catherine and Jeffrey Byrne. Catherine Byrne is a circuit judge of the Massachusetts District Courts and Jeffrey Byrne is a retired family physician.[3][4]
Byrne attended Concord Academy and graduated from Oberlin College in 2003. At Oberlin College, he founded The Grape, which remains the college’s alternative student newspaper.[5] He was also editor of The Oberlin Review, where he wrote an exposé about steroid abuse on the football team.[6]
Career
During college, Byrne worked as a stringer for The Boston Globe Northwest, a since-discontinued suburban section of the newspaper, and for McClatchy Newspapers as an intern in Washington, DC.[7]
Byrne founded RawStory.com, which was first published on February 1, 2004.[8] The site was originally conceived as a liberal version of the Drudge Report.[6] In the early years, Raw Story focused on reporting on anti-gay political figures who were themselves closeted gays. Byrne founded Raw Story when he was 23.[9] In 2010, Byrne stepped down as editor of Raw Story. He remains the company's CEO.[1]
In 2018, Byrne and his business partner, Michael Rogers, acquired the progressive news website AlterNet from the nonprofit Independent Media Institute,[10] and The New Civil Rights Movement.[11][12]
In 2022, John Byrne was named to the Out 100, Out magazine's compilation of the year's most impactful and influential LGBTQ+ people.[13]
Outing of political figures
Byrne and Rogers outed as gay numerous politicians and political staff who voted or advocated against gay rights in the mid-2000s.[9] Among the first was former Republican Congressman Ed Schrock (R-VA).[14] Byrne was also involved in the outing of former Rep. David Dreier (R-CA).[15]