I’m so excited to be featured in the September issue of MORE Magazine talking about, what else, how women are using social media to create the change they want to see in the world.  The most interesting part of the article was about how women in the Middle East are trying to use social media tools and what they are trying to accomplish.

I’m hanging out at Babble Voices at a new weekly column called the Spin Cycle!  Take a look and let me know what you think.

I had a little chat with the great people at GenConnect when we were at the BlogHer conference, talking about my new book, Mothers of Intention, and why social media women will be a game changer in the 2012 election.

And according to iVillage, Jennifer Garner is my new best friend!  OK, not really, but we are both mentioned in the same iVillage 5 weekly news segment.  So one less degree of separation?  If so, I guess I’d better get her a baby gift.

And for all my peeps in Irene’s way, stay safe!

Image by Joanne Bamberger. All rights reserved.

Her theory is that there might be a curse associated with the world of mom blogging because there are numerous examples of bad things that have befallen bloggers who also happen to be mothers — accidents, strokes, depression, cancer.  The most recent example of that theory Belkin cites is a blogger who was one of the shooting victims in the Tucson rampage that took the lives of six people and in which Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords was shot.

Belkin’s theory bothers me for this reason — it’s taken so long for many women not only to find their voices, but to have a place to write about them in real and genuine ways, that if we start believing that they have somehow been the victims of cosmic retribution for having the audacity to share their lives online, many will stop.   And others who were just getting ready to take the leap of embracing the world of writing will pull back, keeping their stories to themselves.

That’s a potential loss I never want to see happen.

Finally, women writers have a venue with no barriers to entry and no big red Stop sign at the editorial desk saying  thanks but we don’t need any more of that “chick lit.”  I’d hate to see a jinx theory stand in the way not only of women embracing the power that writing can bring, but also creating new communities that could never have existed without the world of blogs.

The reality is this — bad stuff happens.  All the time.  It’s not a jinx to be out there in the blogosphere writing about life.  Actually, it’s the opposite.  For so many women, myself included, writing online has led to a myriad of connections that are priceless, and they are ones that would not have happened if we’d been published in more traditional outlets.  Those connections and friendships and relationships have sustained and supported many women of the blogosphere.  That’s a blessing, not a jinx.

When the fabulous and much-loved blogger Anissa Mayhew had a stroke, the whole blogging community reached out to help support her family in a variety of ways.  I don’t believe there was some karma on the lookout for Anissa that caused her to have a stroke.  But it’s not a stretch to say that Anissa and her family were supported by many, many more people after her stroke as a direct result of the friends and connections she made through her blog.  And thousands of us follow Susan Niebur, a blogger who is as kind and loving as she is popular, as she has shares her journey as a mom with cancer, allowing those of us who have become her friends as a direct result of the world of blogging, to be there for her and help, even if in small ways.

There are things that happen in all of our lives that we can’t foresee or prevent.  To suggest that a blogging jinx exists that causes tragedy will certainly keep some women out of the writing world and will cause others to hold back, censoring themselves in how they write for fear of inviting the wrath of the blogging gods.  I hope that doesn’t happen, since the world of the blogosphere has led many of those “mom bloggers” to share their expertise on other topics, like science, the environment, politics, education, and a whole lot more, leading those women to view themselves as the authorities they are, staking well-deserved claims in professional and avocational niches.

The idea of a mom blogging jinx makes for amusing cocktail party conversation, but it’s the flip side of the blogging coin that really deserves the attention.  The world of writing online has created a larger and more connected community of women who can support and advance each other in ways as never before.  That’s no jinx — that’s what we’ve been waiting for and we’re not giving it back.

Plus, I know that if Anissa or Susan caught wind of someone saying their writing had jinxed them, they’d kick some serious ass.

Update: As I later read through the comments at Motherlode, Belkin responds to one of the comments by claiming that she didn’t really think bloggers were jinxed, but that she was using it as a device to talk about the bad things that have befallen many bloggers.  That may well be, but as I read the piece again, it didn’t seem as tongue-in-cheek as Belkin says she meant it to be.  I suspect a headline that read “Mom Bloggers Support Each Other” would have had less SEO sex appeal.

There are some fabulous interviews with names I’m sure you know — Liz from Mom-101, Jessica Gottlieb, Barbara Jones of One2One Network, Lisa Stone of BlogHer, plus many others.

I was a pleasure to be asked to participate and talk about the state of the blogosphere for women political bloggers and niche bloggers.

I hope you’ll enjoy my chat with Jill Asher (and my mini-smack-down to Malcolm Gladwell!) while I’m chained to the computer to finish up the edits on Mothers of Intention!

This week I came across the video of the panel, which I didn’t know existed!  The name of the panel was Blogging for the Man, and took place before Blog with Integrity was launched, but I think you’ll see the theme of transparency and disclosure running though the session!

This week I’m honored to have as my guest Mother of Intention, Gina Chen. Gina has 20 years experience as a print journalist and is starting a Ph.D. program this fall at Syracuse University. She blogged about parenting for two years at the Family Life blog and now she blogs about journalism at Save the Media and Harvard University’s  Nieman Journalism Lab. She and her husband have two children, ages 9 and 6. They live in Syracuse in Upstate New York. And, like me, she has some concerns about the future of the craft of journalism and she’s planning on doing something about it.

I realize that in my lifetime I may see the day when the last daily American newspaper rolls off the presses. I find that sad, as a journalist who spent a 20-year career working at newspapers. I find it sad, as an American who believes a free press is vital to our democracy.

But I’m not giving up hope yet. As a sign of my commitment, I quit my newspaper job this summer and I’m heading back to school to get my Ph.D., so I can teach the world’s future journalists. I feel passionately that journalism will survive, must survive.

I truly believe it will. To me, the Internet isn’t the threat to journalism that so many people see it as. Sure, it messed with newspapers’ business plans. It meant that newspapers could no longer squeeze out the amount of ad dollars to which they had grown accustomed. But that’s not journalism; that’s advertising. News organizations can find another way to make money. It won’t be easy, but it’s possible.

I’m hopeful journalism can survive because I hear enough voices that realize that change doesn’t have to be bad; doing things differently can be empowering. Sometimes in life we need a bit of kick in the pants to change our ways. The Internet is simply journalism’s kick in the pants: the Web made it impossible for newspapers to continue the way they had been. That’s a good thing, I think.

Long before the Internet came along, newspapers were losing their readers. The world was changing. Newspaper readership was dropping since just after World War II. I think it’s no secret newspapers didn’t succeed in stemming that tide. They didn’t find a way to engage the young, women or people of color or lots of other readers.

I believe the blogosphere has stepped in where newspapers left off. It has embraced people’s specific interests. There are blogs for every niche — parents of children with autism, people who like motorcycles, even those who hate excessive quotation marks.

Blogs don’t limit things for journalists — they open up so many possibilities for reaching readers, providing news and information, and helping them make sense of the world.

I believe the debates over whether bloggers are journalists or whether journalists should blog or what journalism is while interesting, are missing the point. Journalists in the present and the future will blog. That’s not because blogging is some radical solution to the current newspaper crisis. It’s because blogging allows people to connect, share ideas, voice opinions, find things out. Why would anyone want to stop that?

I think blogging holds a great potential, particularly for women, who have traditionally been left out of the public discourse. I love being able to read my favorite blogs and find out what women have to say about parenting, children, politics, life, husbands, health care, the recession. I believe blogs have given women a voice in a sense that they just can’t get through the mainstream media. I hope their voices will get represented on news sites, not just on private blogs. But I love that any woman in the industrialized world with a computer can publish her thoughts anytime for free with the potential for others to read what she has to say.

When have women ever had that opportunity?

As part of my Ph.D., I have to pick a topic on which I’ll become an expert. For me, I want to be an expert on women bloggers. I want to understand what they get out of it. What it means to them. Whether it helps them connect. Whether it replaces or augments face-to-face relationships. How it helps women deal with break-ups, a child’s death, or a fatal illness. Whether it truly gives them the voice I think it does.

For me, this study of women bloggers is part of journalism. It’s part of understanding our world and part of giving our readers what they want, what they need, and what they obviously aren’t getting from newspapers now.

Journalism for sure will go through some growing pains. It won’t be an easy few years. News organizations may never be as large as they once were, and journalists may need to be more entrepreneurial than they ever were. But as they say, what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. I truly believe journalism will come out the stronger for this ultimate test of its mettle. At least, I hope so.

Read Gina’s blog at SavetheMedia and follow Gina at Twitter.com/GinaMChen

One of the things I do is track the issues-based discussions of various segments of the blogosphere, and I was struck by PunditMom’s recent post about the candidates snubbing BlogHer. I was shocked as everyone that so many candidates (though not all) didn’t find this conference important enough to attend, because we all know women who write and read blogs are more likely to be leaders in their own online and offline communities. Instead, the candidates – and particularly the Democrats – are paying quite a bit of attention to “political blogs.”

If you look at those blogs (and many PunditMom readers do) you tend to notice that, with few exceptions, political blog posts are typically just variations on a single, simple theme – the latest outrage from the other side. Think about it – one of the most popular bloggers on the left offers a “wanker of the day.” On the right, we have posts literally entitled, “outrage.” (I try not to link to specific political bloggers here because this is PunditMom’s space and I don’t want to clutter it.)

If you look at the discussions moms (and more generally, women) are having, they’re constructive discussions about the most important issues – healthcare, education, the environment, balancing work and family, and even the war. It just takes on a more personal perspective.

So why are the campaigns focusing on the blogs that just scream at the base, while ignoring the blogs that discuss the issues like adults?

MONEY. The “mother’s milk of American politics.” Political blogs raise hundreds of thousands if not millions of dollars for candidates. Bloggers are de facto contribution bundlers, giving them an amazing amount of access to the candidates and power within their respective parties. And oddly enough, much if not most of this money will be spent on advertising in the mainstream media.

Moms, for the most part, are too busy making ends meet to worry about raising money for candidates online. Sure, moms contribute too – but many see their blogs as a means of personal expression and a way to belong to a community, not as a way to shill for candidates.

So if you want to start getting some of the attention you deserve from our candidates, what do you do?

One option is, frankly, to start raising money. For many moms, this really isn’t an option because it’s inconsistent with the purpose of your blog and most don’t like asking others for money anyway.

Another option is to start leveraging your blogs, facebook groups, and other stuff as Get Out The Vote tools. Social media technology is so advanced now that we can broadcast text messages from twitter or blogs or any number of tools that help identify supporters and remind them to vote on election day. GOTV is second only to money in terms of what candidates want most from the outside.

The easiest and best option, however, is to do what PunditMom does – write with passion and clarity about the political issues that matter most to you, and do it without calling other people nasty names. Great writing motivates people to action better than a crappy television commercial – it just takes a little longer. It’s the difference between broad support and deep support. People who engage in the conversations PunditMom leads are more invested in the issues and more likely to vote on election day. The candidates that politely and constructively enter those discussions are more likely to earn the support of those who care most and work hardest.

Eventually the candidates are going to realize that while money will always be important, the discussions and ideas raised in them matter most. Then, when they finally knock on your virtual doors, you can ask them what took them so long.

It wasn’t difficult for Cooper Monroe and Emily McKhann, two activist bloggers who were behind the been there clearinghouse to aid victims of Hurricane Katrina, to figure out that if major advertisers like GM, Dove, Yahoo and Google are interested in a conference where close 1,000 women bloggers will be, that we, as a group, could also have significant influence on the major political issues in the next election.

The winner? Global Health.

A pretty significant issue for a whole variety of reason, especially when it comes to the whole health insurance coverage question.

But who is going to find out about this amazing effort to lead the way on gaining attention for and promoting solutions for the myriad health care issues we all face when no one from the main stream media shows up to cover it?

If we blog about health care and no one covers it, do we make a sound?

It didn’t occur to me that there was no one there really covering BlogHer — 800+ (mostly) women bloggers working together to be more politically savvy — until someone mentioned that the YearlyKos convention is going to be held this week, as well.

So I did a news search for the BlogHer conference — there were no major media stories that reported on this historic event. There’s a Yahoo Tech entry, some press releases and a mention in the Orlando Sentinel from another woman blogger.

For YearlyKos? Plenty of stories, including ones in the National Journal, the Washington Post, MSN, FOX News and the New York Times. That’s what I’d call Main Stream Media attention.

So if the MSM is interested in the political aspect of the YearlyKos and the impact that conference has on political coverage, where were they for BlogHer?

Last year’s Kos Konvention attracted close to 1,000 bloggers, according to the NYTimes. This year, BlogHer had 800+ — doesn’t seem like much difference to me.

So where are they? And why aren’t those reporters clamoring to interview us bloggers with two X chromosomes about our agenda?

A woman with a blog, especially a politically, active and pissed-off woman, is a powerful thing.

MSM — you might want to reconsider before we get testy.