Heritage Foundation Leadership for America

Robert B. Bluey directs Heritage's Center for Media and Public Policy, where he researches and writes about instances of government malfeasance and corruption, filling a gap opened by the market changes roiling the media industry.

The position is a natural fit for Bluey, who spent five years as a reporter and editor in Washington before joining Heritage. In addition to promoting investigative journalism and government transparency, he assists with Heritage's Computer-Assisted Investigative Reporting boot camp, a daylong seminar held periodically at the National Press Club.

Bluey arrived at Heritage in 2007 to become a liaison to conservative bloggers and run the weekly Bloggers Briefing, a meeting he co-founded the year before. Less than a year later, he was named editor-in-chief of Heritage.org and oversaw creation of The Foundry blog and daily Morning Bell e-newsletter.

Bluey shifted roles in 2009 to develop and integrate Heritage's online strategy, managing the organization's outreach through social media, e-mail marketing and online issue advocacy campaigns. Under his direction, Heritage's online footprint grew significantly. The organization surpassed 100,000 fans on its Facebook page, expanded e-newsletter offerings and began the process of redesigning Heritage.org.

Bluey continues to host The Bloggers Briefing, described by The Washington Times as a place for conservative bloggers "to share information and ideas." He has arranged guest appearances by scores of newsmakers and political insiders -- including congressmen, authors and scholars -- for a mix of discussion and debate with bloggers, online journalists and digital strategists.

Bluey serves on the board of visitors for the Institute for Political Journalism and frequently speaks about journalism, blogging and online strategy. Campaigns & Elections magazine named him a "Rising Star" in 2008. Politico placed Bluey among Washington's "Top 50 Politicos."

"He's an online entrepreneurial genius," Terry Jeffery, Cybercast News Service editor in chief, told Politics magazine. "He's taught people how to bypass the establishment media, and that's been so valuable to the conservative movement."

In 2007, Bluey hosted Heritage's first Modern Media Strategies Workshop. He was among a select group of bloggers invited to the White House in 2006 to witness President George W. Bush's signing of the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act, legislation that won passage thanks to a public education effort by bloggers. He served as a coordinator for the Sunlight Foundation's Open House Project, an effort to increase government transparency in Congress.

Before joining Heritage, Bluey was editor of HumanEvents.com, transforming it into a popular destination for conservative journalism. He was previously assistant editor and also served as managing editor of the venerable print edition, Human Events.

As a reporter for Cybercast News Service, Bluey was the first journalist to challenge the authenticity of documents used by CBS News to question President Bush's service in the Texas Air National Guard. He covered the Republican and Democrat conventions in 2004 and reported on several high-profile Supreme Court cases.

Bluey grew up in upstate New York. He graduated from Ithaca College, and was editor of its award-winning newspaper, The Ithacan. While in high school, Bluey got his first newspaper job at the Clinton (N.Y.) Courier. During college, he worked for the digital media team of the Los Angeles Times. He was awarded a Dow Jones Newspaper Fund internship at the Traverse City (Mich.) Record-Eagle and a New York Press Association internship at the Clinton Courier.

After college, Bluey completed a yearlong fellowship at the Student Press Law Center in Arlington, Va. He remains closely involved with his alma mater, serving on Ithaca College's Alumni Association Advisory Board of Directors. He is also a member of the vestry at St. Mark's Episcopal Church in Alexandria, Va.

He resides in Northern Virginia with his wife and son.