Blogher 12 Wrap Up (Part Two)

There was so much ground to cover at Blogher 12. Rather than write a dissertation about everything I did, I’ve chosen to select a few key moments and share them with you. One of my favorite times of conference were the interview sessions. It’s great hearing success stories of women in media. I find it extremely motivating. For the most part they went pretty well. However, there were some pretty uncomfortable moments which I’ll share in part three of my wrap up.

I started the day feeling excited about the Katie Couric interview. On the heels of the luncheon with Martha Stewart, I was hoping for more laughs and inspiration. Ms. Couric did more than just rise to the occasion. She revealed her inner strength as a wife, mom, and journalist. It was touching to hear how she coped with the loss of her husband to colin cancer. It was great to see her funny side too. We all laughed hysterically when she chatted about cutting ties with a twitter follower, “I blocked his ass,” she said. I was also impressed with how she answered questions regarding being a fair and balanced journalist. But, I was most enamored with her reaction to balancing career and motherhood.

When asked about how she’s been able to balance being a career mom she said,
“I’m uncomfortable with that question because Brian Williams never gets asked that. For, me I’m well compensated. I have a live in nanny. I feel very lucky, and my case is very unusual.” You gotta respect her honesty. There is a notion that men and women aren’t held to the same standards. She went on to say that every woman should be able to decide what works best for her without people passing judgement. We also need to make work more hospitable for men and women. When I was pregnant with Princess, I planned on take the full twelve weeks of maternity leave. My husband only received one week of paternity leave. Luckily, he was able to use up some of his vacation days. But, this needs to change. Daddy’s should get as much time to be with their new baby.

She also touched on her famous interview with Sara Palin.
“I wanted to focus on foreign policy and wanted to allow her to reveal her philosophical stance. I felt bad for her. You have to have ice water running through your veins if you didn’t. I can tell she had a hard time answering the questions and I felt bad for her personally. But professionally I thought it was important for me to show viewers about this candidate who would potentially be the vice president to the oldest president in history.”

One of the final points she made was the importance of understanding that people have different points of view, and that’s what makes us all who we are. I couldn’t agree more.

In my next post I’ll be chatting about my thoughts on the Soledad O’Brien, Christy Turlington Burns, Malaak Compton-Rock session. Stay tuned!

Weather Anchor Mama