So I've spent a couple of hours this evening reading in the Mommy blogosphere about the furor over Friday's Today show segment on Cosmopolitan Moms. The segment was based on an article that ran in the NY Times in November about women who drink during their children's playdates as a form of escapism or relaxation, as a means to socialize...whatever. You can find the article here.
Suffice it to say, the women in the segment were not portrayed in the best light. In fact, NBC, in my opinion, created a very biased, very provocative piece meant to highlight what's happening to today's stay-at-home moms...that pretty much, they're going insane and need alcohol to cope. One poor woman was caught on tape saying, and I quote, "sober mothers are not very good mothers".
Now the reality is that these women probably have a single glass of wine at these outings and that's about it. They're not sucking down 2+ Rude Cosmos and then drunkenly trying to parent their small children. A glass of wine does not make one (necessarily) irresponsible.
That said, I must offer this...and it's something I learned in crisis communications class (thanks, Naomi!): THE MEDIA ALWAYS LOOKS FOR A HOOK. As a communications professional, I ALWAYS look at the risk to benefit ratio of appearing in a particular publication or article. And most mainstream media needs, nay, requires a good hook, something that will get people watching.
So if I was approached EVER by a producer looking to do a piece on moms who drink during playdates, even if I happened to be such a mom, I would decline. Immediately. Because the piece would never work in my favor. It's too provocative...to controversial a subject. And general media knows how to play it up so that the mother in Debuque, IA, can rant and rave about how big cities (and Democrats) are corrupting today's mothers and virtually rendering extinct the traditional family.
Thoughts?
EDITED TO ADD link to Today show video. Click here.
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