BlogHer - Sad Truth: The Story of Little One April - Comments

lies and fabrictions will always be there

Dorotheaa — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 14:38:57 -0500

I'm so glad you feel the way I was brought up and the way my daughter and her family have carried the tradition forward. My mom threw everything on the table good or bad whatever we did and made us acknowledge and move forward (of course with some form of discipline when needed) and obviously these are your values as well. If there weren't bad people in this world we wouldn't have wars and there'd be no hell and no madoff's, remember, so be proud your an honorable women giving a high quality blogging site to visit continue to stand tall while you teach us how to deal with deciet and those who have no regard for the effects bad actions have on the innocent. We'll stand behind you and love being part of women who had a dream with the highest s standards and set a valuable standard for when things go wrong openly dealing with anyone who doesn't get it and sharing the incident with us so we can learn more as well.

I'm so pleased I stopped here today to hear about three women that I'm glad to be blogging friends with.

My very best,

Dorothy from grammology

grammology.com

http://grammology.com

So Sad

ShoreBookworm — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 16:07:29 -0500

While it is just so sad in so many ways, I admire the the handling of this situation at all levels.

I think it is a great demonstration of the strength of the blogging world. Readers were savvy enough to have suspicions raised, readers were compassionate enough to express sorrow and sympathy for a clearly troubled individual and the media (I include BlogHer in this) reported on the situation not with notoriety but with gravity.

I think it was brilliantly managed by all. But of course it would be. Almost everyone involved was a woman. ;)

Marie

www.nourishourselves.blogspot.com

www.theshorebookworm.blogspot.com

Thank you

vomviersen — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 10:58:47 -0500

To Lisa and the BlogHer team, thank you for your honest and compassionate summary of a situation that is sad and disgusting on so many different levels. Thank you for enforcing and reiterating the BlogHer editorial guidelines and keeping truth and credibility a main priority for this site.

The April Rose story is local to me, and while reading the local newspaper's account and a good number of the almost 700 comments following, it seems that the truth is not always an easy thing to come by, for bloggers or the mainstream media.

vomviersen :: Kathi Wilson
http://rottweilers.brilliant-disguise.net/

Sometimes writers lie

conversemomma — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 07:52:02 -0500

Don't feel too bad. How could you have known? The thing about blogging is that you really don't have any way of telling what is true and what is false. We go on faith as readers, and as women who aspire to be apart of something bigger than ourselves.

Sometimes writers lie. Look at all the memoirs that turned out to be gross exagerations. I'm thinking about A Million Little Pieces as I write this, and how even Oprah, queen of the media, was duped.

All we can do is act with integrity ourselves and hope that those who are working together in this collective called blogging are doing the same.

Peace,
Kelly

http://www.ordinaryartblog.com

I'm impressed

Candelaria Silva — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 20:50:45 -0500

By your thoughtfulness and candor in this post. The story reminds me of Janet Cooke, a former journalist at the Washington Post, who wrote an award winning series of stories about a young Black boy in D.C. who was a heroin addict and, if I remember correctly, was supplied drugs by his family. It turned out to be a hoax.

You've handled this well.

http://blog.candelarisilva.com

Good and plenty!

We wrote guidelines because we knew we would need them

Lisa Stone — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 19:55:11 -0500

Kay, thank you so much for writing. I hope so too.

As Suebob notes in her comment, the need for standards in any medium certainly (and sadly) pre-dates blogging.

Hopefully by reinforcing and upholding a gold standard, we can grow the circle of bloggers who embrace and recommend it.

Lisa Stone
BlogHer Co-founder
Surfette

BlogHer is non-partisan but our bloggers aren't! Follow our coverage of Politics & News.

Thank You

Kay Unchained — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 11:33:30 -0500

While the easier approach would have been to just not comment, I'm grateful (and impressed) that BlogHer stepped up and made their thoughts on this twisted situation known. It's also nice to know that BlogHer stands behind their guidelines and terms of use. It gives me a little bit more confidence in the BlogHer network as a whole.

It's sad that someone so obviously troubled has had such a negative impact on an amazing community, leaving us doubting and questioning. While we should all keep in mind that not everything we read is true, and that there's always a possibility of something being a scam, most bloggers trust each other instinctively, assuming the best of each other.

As angry as I am, I do hope she gets the help she so obviously needs.

BlogMama, thanks for your comment

Lisa Stone — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 22:40:32 -0500

Lisa Stone
BlogHer Co-founder
Surfette

BlogHer is non-partisan but our bloggers aren't! Follow our coverage of Politics & News.

Thank you for posting about this.

Blog Mama — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 21:52:08 -0500

I'm shocked and disappointed that someone would do this. Thanks for handling it so graciously.

Credit to the greater community Professor Kim

Lisa Stone — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 19:34:24 -0500

Our team first became aware of this situation because we heard from members of our community who were concerned. So I have to thank everyone who is working with integrity. There are a lot of you/us out there, for which we can all be grateful!

Lisa Stone
BlogHer Co-founder
Surfette

BlogHer is non-partisan but our bloggers aren't! Follow our coverage of Politics & News.

"blogged with compassion and sadness"

Lisa Stone — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 19:31:46 -0500

Liz, your experience is showing :) I very much agree. Thanks for the comment.

Lisa Stone
BlogHer Co-founder
Surfette

BlogHer is non-partisan but our bloggers aren't! Follow our coverage of Politics & News.

Impressive community response

Liz Henry — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 18:28:47 -0500

Thanks for writing this, Lisa! As a long time blog reader I've seen a lot of hoaxes come and go. What really impresses me about this situation is the thoughtfulness and care of a lot of the communities that were involved, as the sad story of the hoax became apparent. Christian mom bloggers and people who have suffered the loss of a child, I thought, were strongly affected by April's story and then by the shock of this week's revelations. Despite being upset and angry and feeling betrayed, many of the people involved blogged with compassion and sadness instead of lashing out at the perpetrator of the hoax.

-----------------
Liz Henry
Composite: Tech & Poetics

lizzard@bookmaniac.net
Cont

Outrageous

Kim Pearson — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 18:03:24 -0500

What an unethical, cruel and twisted thing to lie about! Thanks for your ongoing commitment to transparency and ethical dealings, Lisa.

KimBlogHer Contributing Editor|Professor Kim|

"There are always a few people who will act in unethical ways"

Lisa Stone — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 17:53:24 -0500

Truer words were never spoken. Thanks Suebob.

Lisa Stone
BlogHer Co-founder
Surfette

BlogHer is non-partisan but our bloggers aren't! Follow our coverage of Politics & News.

Thanks for your honesty and integrity in telling us about this

suebob — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 17:45:49 -0500

Don't feel too bad - some of the top publications of our time have been duped by liars and plagiarists. It is one of those sad facts of life that there are always a few people who will act in unethical ways.

I appreciate your kindness in not vilifying the writer. Your compassion is impressive.

Sad Truth: The Story of Little One April

Lisa Stone — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 17:00:22 -0500

This month, the BlogHer team learned about a blog that violated our editorial guidelines by publishing content the writer knew was false: http://littleoneapril.blogspot.com.

As such, this blog is no longer a member of our publishing network. The author, Rebeccah Beushausen, has never received payment from BlogHer, and won't.

BlogHer doesn't disclose the details of our publishing relationships with bloggers. In this case we don't have to tell you the story, The Associated Press already has: Ill[inois] blogger admits tale of ill child was hoax.

How do Elisa, Jory and I feel about it?

Sad. On so many levels.

Two thoughts. First, I'll speak from my heart. I'm horrified for the author, Rebecca Beushausen, who is clearly troubled. I'm just as horrified that she would cast doubt on blogs by women who have lost children by using her blog to lie to and mislead readers -- even going so far as to attempt to raise money by doing so.

Angie, Jennifer and Raechel articulate her violation of the community beautifully on Angie's blog, Bring The Rain:

"There are incidences like this that occur in the blog world, and each of us has dealt with them. This should serve as a reminder that not everyone is to be trusted; there are people who can use this as a platform for emotional attention, or any number of things.

"After much discussion, many phone calls to others involved, and much prayer, we feel like this is the best approach. The three of us care about our readers more than we can express, and have become friends outside of the blog world. We all believed it too and we are mourning it the same way you are."

At BlogHer, we believe our editorial standards have never been more important -- and the untrue case of Little One April proves it. No, these guidelines didn't prevent this blogger from lying to her readers -- no media outlet's rules for content creators can prevent that behavior.

But we can work to raise the bar. Since 2005, we have been using these guidelines to promote respect and credibility for women who blog. By rejecting, as a community, this writer's knowingly false blog as unacceptable we will continue to do so. With your help, the actions of one troubled individual will not be able to taint the important contributions of so many women.

I welcome your thoughts.

Best,
Lisa

for Elisa, Jory and Lisa
BlogHer Co-founders