Babble

Babble is an online magazine and blog network targeting young, educated, urban parents.[1] Their site operated a large network of parent blogs, employing many bloggers on the subjects of parenting and child-raising. There is a Latina-version.[2]

History

Babble was launched in December 2006 by co-founders Rufus Griscom and Alisa Volkman.[3] After one year, the site grew to half a million readers per month. Babble Media became an independent company in 2009,[4] and was acquired by Disney Interactive Media Group in 2011.[5]

Mission statement

"To tell the truth about parenting, to bypass the clichés and dig into the magical and maddening reality. Our commitment to readers is to explore the world of parenting on a daily basis with ruthless honesty, and with the humor and lyricism natural to the subject."

Features

A network of blogs, reported parenting trends, and personal essays, Babble’s offerings include Babble Voices, a collection of parent bloggers, with contributions by Joel Stein (of Time magazine) Samantha Bee (The Daily Show), and others. Among the site’s multi-authored blogs are Strollerderby, which covers breaking parenting news throughout the day, and Family Kitchen, a food blog with over 2,000 recipes in its archives. Other blogs and channels cover pregnancy, baby’s first year, the toddler and kid years, family style, home décor, pets, and celeb parent news.

Reception

The American Society of Magazine Editors (ASME) shortlisted Babble for its 2008 “General Excellence Online” award, writing that “[the] magazine skillfully combines in-depth reporting, thoughtful journalism, a dazzling variety of blog voices and visually arresting, interactive digital features. The result is a smart, hip and endlessly entertaining website that has revolutionized the parenting field.”[6]

Time Magazine listed Babble.com as one of the 50 Best Websites of 2010,[7] while Forbes named Babble as one of the Top 100 Websites for Women.[8]

Babble’s “Top 100 Mom Blogs of 2011” feature was profiled on the ABC News website in December 2011.[9]

Babble's advertising and sponsorship policies came under fire in 2010 and 2011 after several parenting authors and bloggers noted their breastfeeding guide was sponsored by Similac maker Mead Johnson.[10]

Notable contributors

Mominations

In September 2011, Babble created Mominations, for which readers nominated a heroic or notable mom, in such areas as activism, charity work, and education, for an opportunity to win one of ten $5,000 prizes. The winners were announced on September 27. The cash prizes were then donated to a charity chosen by the winner; for example, the activism category winner donated her prize to Operation Healing Hearts, which provides aid to pediatric heart surgeons in Iraq.

One Momination nominee, breastfeeding advocate Emma Kwasnica, publicly requested that her nomination be removed due to Babble's practice of juxatpositioning infant formula ads alongside breastfeeding advice columns. [11]

References

  1. ↑ Pamela Paul (December 10, 2006). "Healthy Babies Need Irony". The New York Times.
  2. ↑ "Latina version". Babble.
  3. ↑ "About Us". Babble.com. Retrieved May 28, 2012.
  4. ↑ Jenna Wortham (January 30, 2009). "Sexy Nerve.Com Kicks Parenting Site Out of the Nest". The New York Times. Retrieved November 13, 2011.
  5. ↑ Evelyn M. Rusli (November 14, 2011). "Disney Acquires Parent Blogging Network". The New York Times. Retrieved November 14, 2011.
  6. ↑ "American Society of Magazine Editors". Magazine.org. Retrieved May 28, 2012.
  7. ↑ Time Staff (August 25, 2010). "50 Best Web Sites 2010". Time.
  8. ↑ "Best Web Sites for Women - Blogs". Forbes. June 23, 2011.
  9. ↑ Kimberly Brown (December 13, 2011). "Babble.com Ranks Top 100 Most Influential Mom Bloggers". ABC News.
  10. ↑ Similac and Babble team up to dupe breastfeeding moms (September 2010) - See more at: http://www.phdinparenting.com/blog/2010/9/3/similac-and-babble-team-up-to-dupe-breastfeeding-moms.html#sthash.BZfV5TYk.dpuf
  11. ↑ Babbling About Breasts Again, (September 2011) http://jodinesworld.blogspot.ca/2011/09/babbling-about-breasts-again.html

External links

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