If you could go back in time and confront your 21 year old self, what advice would you give yourself about the journey ahead?  -Florida Girl Meets the Midwest

www.floridagirlmidwest.blogspot.com

First off a compliment that scene during the fifth season where Jenny introduces the cast of Lez Girls to their counterparts and Shane makes party brownies? That is the best party scene ever. 

Now burning questions from friends who almost died when I told them I'd be in your presence:

1) Why did you kill Dana? So many people took her death very hard. Were you prepared for such a strong reaction from your fans?

2) Jenny Schecter. I shake my head just thinking about her. Leading up to the final season you had many fans positively thrilled that she would be dying. But we get to the end. Everyone is looking for her. Alice returns from the balcony and she's dead. But we never find out who killed her. Sooooo? After all of that lead up and suspense, why not tell us who killed her? I did see on Twitter that you are writing The L Word movie but will we find out then? 

Heather B. 

No Pasa Nada: www.nopasanada.org

BlogHer: http://www.blogher.com/blog/heatherb

My question is more for Tina Brown and Donna Byrd, as Ilene Chaiken's site seems more tightly topic focused...

Both The Root and The Daily Beast cover a wide range of topics yet both have distinctive voices that seem grounded in a common reference point - a black perspective for The Root and I would love to know what it is for The Daily Beast. It has felt unique from the start yet I can't articulate what it is. Perhaps it is Tina Brown.

What I am hoping is that they can share any insight for those of us bloggers who don't have narrowly focused topic blogs (say something like shoes, veganism, raising Chihuahuas...) on how we can identify an organizing concept and then find, define and express our bloggy voices when we would like to blog about our general interests. Or, how do you cover food and politics and fashion and pop culture and news and relationships and more all at the same time, as both their sites do, and entice rather than confuse and annoy readers?

I hope that makes some sense. I am really looking forward to this powerhouse session.

Thanks, Lisa!

BlogHer Contributing Editor
PopConsumer
Beyond Help

Could you reflect on the influence of The L Word on non-cable network programming and story lines? How much progress do you see, and what changes would you like to see happen?

More urgently, when is season 6 going to be available on Netflix!

Virginia DeBolt
BlogHer CE
Web Teacher
First 50 Words

40 years ago there were 3 major networks and a handful of national newspapers.  Now the outlets for media are countless, and we can create our own social networks.

It's great to have all of this, but it's overwhelming.  40 years ago a person who made an effort to watch the news and read a major paper every day felt well informed; now it's impossible.

How do you think we will handle this?  Will media, technology and more outlets bring us closer together and better informed, or further apart in our own niches - unaware of what others outside our niche are doing?

Would love to hear your insights on this.

Editors of Femisex.com

Tina Brown—

I recently listened to you speak at the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism, in New York.  (I am an alum of that school.)   It was very clear from that speech that you have liberal leanings.  As a liberal, how can you justify the sexist leanings of your heds and deks on the Daily Beast.  Recently when David Letterman attacked Gov. Sarah Palin on her “slut” look, you responded by announcing that David Letterman was Palin’s "latest victim." 

The message you so loudly sent was that public figure woman have no right to stand up and complain when they are called sluts or when their female children are sexualized by the media. You have even suggested that Palin react more like Hillary—that is, not complain at all; to ignore such sexism.

A short time later you had this header: “Palin’s Polarizing Departure.”

 We promptly wrote a piece that showed that Polarizing was a term used primarily against women to disembowel them politically.  To Wit: David Geffen, against Hillary. (Geffen made the case--as Obama did throughout his campaign--that Hillary was too polarizing to be an effective leader.) It would seem to many reasonable people that by propagating the term Polarizing in relation to women and by ignoring the very troublesome use of the word Slut to describe a sitting governor you are only setting women’s rights on a backward path. 

What will it take for you to pledge to Zero Tolerance to sexism on the Daily Beast in the manner media so clearly adheres to in terms of racism?  

It seems impossible to ignore the fact that when powerful women, such as yourself, accept sexism aimed at women they don’t like, ALL Women suffer.  If it is OK to sexualize “that” woman, then it is equally OK to sexualize “this’ women. 

The Editors of FemiSex.com

http://www.femisex.com/content/the-polarizing-sarah-palin-and-hillary-rodham-clinton-andany-woman-who-wants-be-king

http://www.thedailybeast.com/big-fat-story/2009-06-12/the-wrath-of-sarah-palin/

http://www.femisex.com/content/the-s-word-it%E2%80%99s-not-breakfast-anymore-psst-someone-tell-media 

http://www.femisex.com/content/slut-word-used-most-often-rapists-they-rape 

First off I am thrilled out of my mind to hear this panel & hear Ilene speak in person again (had the thrill of listening to her on an Olivia cruise a few years ago).  I will be running, not walking from my lunchtime commitment to this panel. The person skidding in last minute in a suit will be me.

I know OutChart has taken a few evolutions from its beginning to its current incarnation on the Showtime site.  In previous seasons it played a prominent role in The L Word and in the last season only a passing mention.  Ilene can you speak to your original vision for that site and how it has evolved? What you learned worked, didn't work and your lessons learned as well as current hopes for it.

Oh & ditto on the Jenny thing, we were praying she'd die in season 2 (even built a season cliffhanger board game for it that year)...and it drives one nuts not to know who killed her.

Warmly

-Paula 

Paula Gregorowicz
The Paula G Company
http://www.thepaulagcompany.com

Think about a female author whose writing you admire - who was publishing 40 or more years ago.  What do you think she would be blogging about if she were writing today? 

@Tina Brown

I'm a freelance journalist. I've heard some people in our field speculate that because of the economy, the days of news orgs hiring a lot of permanent staff will be no more. Instead, most news orgs will hire freelancers because it's more cost effective. Do you foresee this happening?

@Donna Byrd. 

I interviewed spiritual author and speaker Iyanla Vanzant for The Root earlier this year. My question is about the black press and new media.  Black newspapers are hurting in the economy. Some suggest if black papers just publish strictly online that could save them. However because of class issues, many black people don't have access to computer resources like other groups. If black papers went digital, do you think they would lose black readers?

Also what role should black news sites play in bringing more black people up to speed in the age of new media?

Thank you for your time.

Jenee (Juh-Nay)

Cocoa Fly blog