There’s been a lot of discussion about the Today Show segment on MommyBlogging. I’ve been reading on various message boards that moms are taking offense to be being labeled as “Mommy Bloggers” and particular resentment towards Kathie Lee Gifford and her uncomfortableness over moms blogging about their children.
I feel that the term Mommy Bloggers is the way the media is packaging and selling this story (The Purchasing Power and the Influence of the Mother who Blogs) to the public.
Like a raging wildfire, a missing girl, or a shark attack.
I feel moms who blog are lucky to get the media exposure, and lucky to have Heather Armstrong talking about mom blogging on national television. Moms have a classy spokesperson and a lot of attention has been drawn towards our successes.
I for one, have benefited. Hundreds (who would never have seen my blog) have come to my blog to read my posts on Dooce because they saw her on Today Show, Nightline, or an affiliate or read about her in the Wall Street Journal.
Horrible tragedies around the world cannot get .01 percent of the media coverage mommybloggers have gotten because the news isn’t marketable.
That’s how the news has always been. Packaged segments. Sound bytes. A lifetime summed up in two minutes of b-roll, a quote and a catchy headline.
I also am going to say something that will make me the most hated person in the world, as it seems with all the furor over Kathie Lees behavior on the Today Show.
Kathie Lee addressed my concerns as a mom who blogs. I am worried, very very worried about exposing my kids on this blog, and when she asked that question I felt a sigh of relief as if I wasn’t the only one.
Heather’s answer to her concerns made me better understand why she is ok showing photos of her daughter.
For those interested in Mommy Blogging, I’ve come across an amazing resource compiled by Velveteen Mind called Mommy Blogging: Resources. It’s the best behind the scenes post or article I’ve seen so far.
Here’s an excerpt:
So much is being made of mommybloggers, mombloggers, mommy bloggers, mom bloggers, moms who blog, blogging moms, etc. etc. that I wanted to write a little about the business of mommyblogging from my perspective.
