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Dooce On The Today Show

What do you get when you take two TV personalities/journalists with little chemistry, one popular blogger and ask them to discuss moms who blog? In the case of Heather Armstrong’s interview on the Today Show’s fourth hour, what you get is not a discussion at all, but a look into what is wrong with mainstream media.
As a mom who blogs, I was looking forward to the interview. I was optimistic that the piece would highlight and inform the viewer about mommy bloggers, and the dynamic community that has formed through blogging.

Kathie Lee Gifford admitted she knew little about blogging and computers. Gifford expressed concern about Armstrong’s boundaries and if the boundaries went far enough in regards to Armstrong’s daughter. The interview consisted of Gifford and Hoda Kotb asking questions, Armstrong answering, and Gifford and Kotb asking follow-up questions with a hint of judgment.

Disappointing was that here we have a FOURTH hour of the Today Show that is mostly fluff, and I am not sure how this interview helped give mothers a voice. This was not a stand up and be proud moment for us in the media, and I am not referring to Armstrong, but the lack of knowledge displayed by Gifford and Kotb. A few times I have watched the fourth hour and left wondering how this news magazine show is helping any woman in today’s world

For further reading on the Today Show’s fourth hour please read Robin Givhan’s Washington Post article, At 10 O’Clock, It Just Doesn’t Seem Like Today.

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Posted in Media by Sarah on May 7, 2008
Comments (10)


  1. susiej said:

    Excellent point, you’ve made: “… the lack of knowledge displayed by Gifford and Kotb. A few times I have watched the fourth hour and left wondering how this news magazine show is helping any woman in today’s world.”
    I have no idea how they can call that journalism, or who it helps. Surprisingly though, there were lots of ads running all morning throughout the show. How can that be?

  2. Annie said:

    The mainstream doesn’t quite get blogging - yet. TV especially seems to lag leaps in communication and culture by a good bit, but then I get most of my news from the Internet and read/write blogs as opposed watching TV.

    I don’t think TV helps women (or children) much at all.

  3. Kris said:

    First of all, what is Gifford doing interviewing Dooce.

    Second, the way the interview is conducted makes it seem as if what Dooce is doing (and mother’s voices in general) doesn’t really matter.

  4. SciFi Dad said:

    I was blown away by the segment. What irked me the most was when they finally got down to their issue - safety - they asked a question, then when Heather/Dooce tried to draw an analogy to living in NYC they cut her off, went to commercial and pretended it never happened.

    FYI - I wrote about this at my site this morning as well.

  5. Izzy said:

    I didn’t see the segment but if it was anything like the ill-fated interview Melissa Summers did with Meredith Vieira, then I get the picture:

    “Hey! Let’s bring one of these uh…mommy bloggers on and and we’ll zero in on whatever we think she’s doing wrong and when she tries to defend her perspective, we’ll just cut ‘er off because you know, an intelligent woman on this show would just be too much of a departure from our regular mindless fare and “witty” banter and uh, she might make us look like total hacks”.

  6. Alias Mother said:

    I guess I’m just confused about how little research was done on behalf of the interviewers. When a journalist (and I use that term loosely here) interviews an author, haven’t they usually read the book? And when they interview an actor, haven’t they usually done some background on the movie? Why would journalists interview a blogger without reading her blog? Bizarre.

    Regardless, the thought of Dooce and Kathie Lee Gifford in a room together strikes me as practically Dali-esque.

  7. ilinap said:

    What a disservice to bloggers everywhere. Perhaps we should pitch this angle to another morning news program.

    What an embarrassment this interview was. Kathie Lee Gifford is unimpressive and clueless. Did she really just interrupt with some lame comment about creating an outdoor room?

    How can the Today Show accept this low, low caliber of “journalism?” Clearly the fourth hour is tainting the Today Show brand.

  8. Kris said:

    heh….Dali-esque.
    That was good.

  9. daria said:

    I thought it was interesting that Kathie Lee judged Heather about writing about her child and the safety of it, but KL was the queen of talking about her kids in nauseating detail with Regis, and showing pictures, and basically verbally blogging about them. Heather writes about the amazing and challenging roller coaster that is motherhood, but Kathie talked about her children like they were gods perfect gift to mankind. Ya, I guess she wouldn’t “get it”.

  10. Aprylsantics said:

    I didn’t see it, but everyone knows it’s only okay to talk about your kids in a public forum if you’re a celebrity.



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