Working it for the camera -- and a better world

Lisa Stone — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 22:15:05 -0500

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Hi everyone,

I. Hate. The camera.

And now, after spending most of my career in journalism trying to avoid being in front of cameras, I'm about to suck it up, grin and work it. And I want you to join me.

Because now, in order to flex maximum muscle as a member of the American voting majority -- WOMEN, people, that's us -- I must loovvvvvvve the lens. And I think you should too: I am happy to announce BlogHer's co-sponsorship of 10Questions, a new, non-partisan “People powered presidential forum” hosted by TechPresident.com, in cooperation with the New York Times and MSNBC.com and many of your favorite websites and blogs.

As Morra Aarons wrote earlier this week, 10Questions is "a giant, web-wide contest where anyone can submit an online video question, view others’ questions, and vote for their favorite. At the end of the voting period, the top ten questions will be submitted to presidential candidates for answering. It’s like the CNN/YouTube Debate on steroids."

That, by the way, is the risk to female voters: If we do not stand up for our own stand-ups, we could disappear from the debate altogether. As Katharine Q. Seelye reported in her Oct. 1 column, "Did you notice how many more men compared to women submitted videos for the Democratic YouTube debate in July? The pool of videos for the upcoming Republican YouTube debate is similarly stocked with more men."

I don't want that to happen. I want presidential candidates to hear the same smart, funny opinions and questions that I heard from the 100+ women who helped write BlogHer's twelve-question Voter Manifesto at this summer's conference. What a room -- such vastly different politics, such utter agreement that we're sick of reading about the political horse-race and want an articulate health care solution instead. You know, girl talk.

Together, we can show presidential candidates -- and remind the press -- why they need to pay careful attention to the women behind the curtains in the polling booths. I think we have a responsibility to other women to show up and be counted -- to older women who are suddenly alone with their opinions, to single women feeling disenfranchised from the process, and to the next generation of girls who really stand to benefit from our leadership.

You don't even have to write your own question! (I'm laughing as I type this, since I think so many of you will). While 10Questions allows BlogHers (and internet users everywhere) to submit questions to presidential candidates, I think it's a great opportunity to submit questions from BlogHer's own Voter Manifesto to the contest.

As Morra explained, "The large audience this program promises is a fantastic way to get our Manifesto out there. And our community has strength in numbers too: we can vote for our questions and get them to the top! So we really encourage you to submit a question from the Voter Manifesto. More than one person can submit the same question: the web community decides which questions are best! And if you do decide to post a “Voter Manifesto” question, please let us know which one you choose in the comments. That said, if you have a question you’re just burning to ask one of the candidates, feel free." Instructions are here.

So, I want you to pick up any of the video-enabled technology that now surrounds you -- in our phones, computers and cameras -- and sound off about how the next American president can earn your vote. Whether you are reading this email from inside the United States or from Asia, Australia, Canada, England, Africa and beyond, I hope you can join me in embracing the beginning of a very important conversation about the next president of the United States.

What will you ask? I invite you to leave your question here

Best,
Lisa

P.S. Here’s more about how to enter your question.

BlogHer - Working it for the camera -- and a better world - Comments

Working it for the camera -- and a better world