Speaking of real journalists ...
Jason Blair, whom you'll recall from such hits as "I make up stories for the New York Times!" and the sequel "I'm cashing in on making up stories for the New York Times!" is said to have a new gig writing a column for bp, which bills itself as "Hope and harmony for people with bipolar."Two things that are wrong with this picture:
1) It's not that I wish for this guy to be punished for the rest of his life or anything, but why does every media outlet in America feel the need to reward his bad deeds? Make the guy go to night school and get his horticulture or real estate-appraisal certificate like the rest of us has-beens.
2) There's a whole magazine just for people with bipolar?
I don't know whether to be amazed that the number of advertisements for drugs, other products, and services all targeting this one set of people is sufficient enough to sustain an entire publication or just shut up and be supportive of such an endeavor. After all, I do actually appreciate the advice I get from my health insurance's newsletter for asthmatics such as myself. Still, there's something about the subscription-based glossy format that reeks of lifestyle.
And just imagine what the staff meetings are like at these disease-related mags:
ADDitude: "The happy, healthy lifestyle magazine for people with ADD"
http://www.additudemag.com/magazine.asp
Schizophrenia Digest
http://www.schizophreniadigest.com/
Diabetic Mommy(??!!)
http://www.diabeticmommy.com/
Asbergers Digest
http://www.aspergersdigest.com/
Parkinsons
http://www.parkinsons.org.uk
Birth defects, with links to disabled bloggers' sites
http://www.raggededgemagazine.com/
Alas, No Depression Magazine covers the alternative country music world
http://www.nodepression.net/
And coming soon: TAP magazine, for the autistic and people who love them
http://www.writenews.com/2005/040105_tap_magazine.htm
4 Comments:
Hi! I happen to be the editor of DiabeticMommy.com. What do you mean..."just imagine what the staff meetings are like at these disease-related mags?" Is there something I should be ashamed of? My online magazine provides support, community, and helps moms with diabetes to understand the tons of information and instruction they get. I'm not flaming you - I'm just curious of why our site would earn an (??!!). haha.
I usually like to just laugh off ignorance, but in this case I'd like to laugh out loud publically.
There are literally millions of Americans who have every kind of disease imaginable, and for that matter, unimaginable. The fact that there are resources for them that may make their day brighter, or make them more informed of their health should be applauded.
I am not going to say anything rude, which I'm dying to do JLS, or go off on a tangient. Let's just all laugh out loud at your apparent ignorance!!
What I will say is that www.diabeticmommy.com provides invaluable information to thousands of women. Bjay, who runs this site, does it virtually all on her own. I hope that you will remember her website if you, or someone you care about, needs information on diabetes.
I admit, I'm angry with what you wrote, but I'm not going to write about that. It only does a dis-service to all the wonderful women on diabeticmommy, and I respect them too much to do that.
However, diabetes becomes much more difficult to control when you are pregnant and breastfeeding in particular. I won't go into the medical reasons why, although I could give you more information if you are interested. Having uncontrolled diabetes can lead to problems for the baby...scary things, things that women dread hearing, like miscarriage, stillborn and birth defects. That is why many women join diabeticmommy. They are frantic and scared. They want to learn everything they can to protect their baby. They are looking for support and encouragement to compliment the overwhelming amount of information their doctors will give them. They will see several different specialists, hear medical terms they may not understand, and probably feel very alone. Diabeticmommy helps. It isn't a medical site, it is a collection of women who care and who want to make it easier for women to control a chronic, life-long disease and protect their babies.
How dare you make fun of that. How dare you point the finger at anyone with a chronic illness or disability and ridicule them for seeking out community and understanding. I hope you never have to deal with anything like this in your life, but if you do, I hope that you are lucky enough to find such a caring group of people to support you...if you can see past how amusing it all is.
You call yourself a writer-maybe try doing some research before you throw your ignorance out into the world....There are so many things I would like to say to you, but maybe I'll just wait until my blood sugar is low and then come back and tell you what I really think about you...
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