The Loop 21 is a dynamic, new African American news site taking the pulse of America regarding race, politics and more. The site just completed its second annual race and media survey, in which "Journalists of color from around the country weighed in on the explosive issue of racial news coverage" (TheLoop21.com). A regular contributor to both the Loop 21 and the Huffington Post, political commentator Keli Goff took some time out to discuss the results of this survey from a fresh perspective. If you want your voice to be heard on these issues, head over to the Loop to take their second survey on race in the news, which investigates how the public views the media's treatment of people of color, as opposed to journalists. Let's hear what Keli has to say about race relations, Desiree Rogers, Obama's future and more.

So, tell us, Keli, have you always been a journalist?

I actually started out in politics. My first big gig was as an intern on Hillary Clinton's Senate campaign when I was at NYU. Because of that experience, I ended up working as a congressional aid for a congresswoman here in New York. Then I worked in communications for non-profits that had a political focus. I was doing that during the day and going to Columbia and getting my master's at night, and I sold my first book while I was there. It's called 'Party Crashing: How the Hip-Hop Generation Declared Political Independence.' I had this idea based on conversations with friends about there being a big change in terms of the politics of young, black Americans. I would bring it up with different white friends who had varying degrees of prominence. Some people were elected officials, some people were high-ranking staffers – and no one had any idea that there was a difference between an 80-year-old black voter in the south and a young, educated 25-year-old black voter in an urban environment. There was this idea that we are all exactly alike, and I knew that this is just not true. So I had this idea, and through a series of twists and turns, I was linked up with my agent, and that's how we sold my first book. Obviously the timing kind of worked out because we had a chapter called "Generation Obama," and the book came out during the presidential primary.

How would you describe TheLoop21.com?
It's a news site first and foremost. It makes sure to highlight perspectives that are relevant to African Americans. At first it's easy to say "oh, it's a black news site." But I think this survey is a perfect example of how there can be a distinction between something that's just a news site, or an outlet that is mindful of capturing the perspectives of African Americans.

Your site just completed its annual race and media survey of journalist of color. What was the most surprising finding of the survey?

I'm not really surprised by anything that came out of the survey. I say that because, there are so many findings that just make sense. For example, the fact that so many journalists believe that the media during President Obama's first year has actually made race relations worse. I don't think it's actually surprising if you are involved in media in some capacity.

Because we all know, particularly if you are in a mainstream media outlet with big corporate bottom lines, that the priority is ratings and dollars. So, which is more likely to get stronger ratings? The idea of spending a year talking about stuff that's going well and singing "Kumbayah"? Or focusing on the handful of people who are carrying swastika signs and ripping up Rosa Parks posters? That's what gets focused on, even though I don't believe that represents the majority of Americans. But if you turn on the news, you would think "I guess black people shouldn't leave their apartments. It's bad out there." I don't think that is entirely representative. I think that's what gets good ratings.

Right now, theLoop21.com is conducting a survey geared towards the public to gauge their feelings about race as reported on in the media. What do you think you might find?

I have a strong feeling that if you ask the average person of color "Do you think that your perspective is represented on the news," the answer is going to be "no." That's unfortunate, but it just proves that we have some work to do.

Some of the good news I want to highlight – and I don't think it's a coincidence – is that since the president's election we now have more African American White House correspondents. That's a great sign of progress we need to pay attention to. It's not enough, but I think we're getting there. That's the upside of where we're headed as a country. We just have a little more work to do to get there.

What news outlets can you recommend as being accurate and fair in reporting on race?

There's a lot of exciting stuff happening. I'm sure you know about TheRoot.com, which does some interesting commentary. There are actually a lot of sites that are on the horizon. The gossip site Bossip is launching something called TheAtlantaPost.com. It's not up yet, but I have already been interviewed for it in a debate section about politics, which says it is heading in a more hard news direction.

The other thing I would add is, we don't want to be in a position where we are just dependent on news sites that are exclusively for people of color – even though I think that they are great and needed. We want to get to a place where people feel that mainstream outlets are making a concerted effort to highlight the perspectives of communities of color.

What do you think are some of the most common misrepresentations of blacks in news programming?

I think one of the most damaging things is the belief that African Americans are not interested in substantive programming. That's really frustrating, because the election showed that we are and we care. We are a very diverse community. But often there is a lack of diversity among the people who make these types of decisions. I think people panic, and err on the side of caution and unfortunately in our case, err on the side that underestimates our intelligence, our reach and our scope.

Are there black news pundits who are intentionally distorting our image for their own gain?

I think you ask a very fair question, but I don't think it's limited to black people. I can think of a number of people, being on the pundit circuit, who you learn quickly are playing different roles -- people who are black, white and every other color in between – because, for whatever reason, it enhances whatever they are trying to build up career-wise. It becomes more complicated when that person is part of a group that is not on television as often. Fundamentally it's always going to go back to the outlet, because it's the responsibility of the news outlet to represent every community as fairly and accurately as it can. I don't know how much to put blame on someone because their phone rings, and they get asked to come on a lot, and they say yes!

So I hear the criticism, but I just don't think it's fair to say that people who don't represent how the majority of black people vote on an issue should not be allowed to have a media platform.

How do you think President Obama is doing? Do you think the health care bill will pass?

This is probably the first chance I am getting to say this on the record, but I believe that pursuing health care in the first year was a tactical error. That's not an entirely popular view point with people in the base, but so be it. It forced the president to spend political capital he hadn't really yet built up.

But if you are president, the buck always has to stop with you. He made the choice to go after health care, and do all this compromising. The good news for him, and the polls seem to bear this out, is that fundamentally, Americans appear to like him and his family, and they trust him. That's something that money cannot buy. As long as he holds on to that, he will be in good shape.

What do you think of the whole Desiree Rogers incident? A lot of our members believe she was thrown under a bus.

If that's what they think, then I need to correct the record on that. That's definitely not true. If she was going to be thrown under a bus, she would have been forced to testify before Congress. And in fact they did the opposite – she wasn't forced to. And the only reason that is, is because people were protecting her, bending over backwards and forward to protect her from having to endure that.

As someone who's been to a White House event, the disconnect for a lot of people who don't understand why it was considered Rogers' fault is that, while fundamentally it was a security breech, it was a breech that was enabled by the fact that there was no one there from the social office to balance out the final say-so with the secret service. And that was because, she, according to all published reports, eliminated that position. That's why fundamentally, the buck stops with her. As I said on air, as someone who has attend a White House function before, you go through secret service, but then there is a person with a familiarity of the attendees with a clip board to say "Oh, Keli arrived, I know her." That person wasn't there. And the reason she wasn't there was because, apparently Rodgers eliminated the position. So as fabulous as she really is, you can't say that there is absolutely no blame there.

Also, all that being said, that's not the entire reason why she was done in. I joke in a piece on The Loop, that it's almost as though she was treated like an accused witch in Salem. And her real crime was not what happened at the state dinner. It was really her not fitting in in Washington. She didn't dress right, she had her fancy degree. There is a coterie of the old Washington guard that has run plenty of people out of town. Rogers wasn't the first, and she won't be the last in all likelihood.

Thanks for your time and your insights, Keli. To close, would you mind sharing your favorite inspiring piece of wisdom or favorite quote with the Black Voices audience?

On my door I keep a Bill Cosby quote that reads, "I don't know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody." It is a particularly useful piece of advice when you are a writer who often challenges other people and their ideas.

+Head over to the Loop 21 to take their latest survey on race in the news, which investigates how the public views the media's treatment of people of color!