Editorial: Marie Claire gives bloggers bad name

Blogging — with its self-publishing and so-called “amateur journalism” — is not the most… Blogging — with its self-publishing and so-called “amateur journalism” — is not the most respected medium for relaying news and opinions.

After all, anyone can have a blog, right?

It’s not surprising that most blogs aren’t taken all that seriously, even if they should be.

But as the popularity of this writing form increases and most news and entertainment forums begin attaching their names to their own string of staff blogs, the responsibility of the blogger needs to increase to meet the standards held for the printed word.

Last week, Marie Claire blogger Maura Kelly wrote a blog post titled “Should ‘Fatties’ Get a Room? (Even on TV?)” about the CBS sitcom “Mike & Molly,” a show about a couple who meets in Overeaters Anonymous.

In the post, Kelly responded to the question, “Do you really think people feel uncomfortable when they see overweight people making out on television?”

Although Kelly’s post mentioned how “obesity is costing our country far more in terms of all the related health problems we are paying for, by way of our insurance, than any other health problem, even cancer,” her argument soon took a turn for the worse, or should we say, the insulting.

“I think I’d be grossed out if I had to watch two characters with rolls and rolls of fat kissing each other … because I’d be grossed out if I had to watch them doing anything,” Kelly wrote. “To be brutally honest, even in real life, I find it aesthetically displeasing to watch a very, very fat person simply walk across a room.”

Ouch.

According to the Huffington Post, Marie Claire received more than 28,000 e-mail responses to the piece.

Despite the large number of responses, the magazine stood by the post.

Similarly, Marie Claire stood by a piece published last month — “The Hunger Diaries” — that questioned the legitimacy of healthy-lifestyle blogs and their authors, suggesting they might be promoting eating disorders under a feel-good title.

The bloggers in the article and some of their readers were infuriated by the story.

It seems that perhaps Marie Claire is creating controversy for the sake of publicity — the level of journalism the magazine backs is disappointing.

Yes, it is the job of journalists to push boundaries and produce sometimes controversial content, but a good argument is still required.

Instead of expanding upon her argument about the health and financial costs of obesity, Kelly chose to degrade overweight and obese individuals, suggesting they shouldn’t have the right show public displays of affection.

We feel blogging will not be seen as a credible news source until bloggers commit to upholding print-journalism standards.

Marie Claire should expect more from its bloggers.