My thoughts on Martha and bloggers...

I finally had a chance to watch the Martha Stewart interview that is making waves in the blogging community.
In the interview Martha {yes, we are indeed on a first name basis} questioned "who are these bloggers?  They aren't trained editors at Vogue magazine."
This comment had me curious.  Was Martha an editor at Vogue? What is her degree in?  According to biography.com Martha Stewart has a degree in European and Architectural history {a degree I would probably steer my kids clear of, because really, what does one do with that?}.


Martha Stewart is a gourmet cook who taught herself the skill from Julia Child's cookbooks.  She used this knowledge to start a catering business and then turned her skills at entertaining into publishing books on the same topic.  She's a smart business woman, who by all accounts is an expert with life experience, but no formal training.
I think that Martha seems intimidated by bloggers taking over a niche that she once was so darn good at and ultimately seemed to have cornered.
  Martha Stewart is a brand.  
She's a company, she's got many people who work for her and who appreciate and scour non-expertly written blogs.  {Her people have stumbled upon my blog more than once.}
She features bloggers on her show and she caters to them.  We provide revenue for her, we support her products, we test them and then we pimp them out.  Martha even features something called Martha's circle which showcases the latest news from her community of bloggers.
For her to downplay how important bloggers are in our social media driven world is a bit one sided when in the interview she just talked about how Twitter is a good business move for her.  Supporting bloggers and these everyday moms and women would have been a better business move for her than trying to discount how important talented every day people are who just so happen to have the guts to put themselves out there and write about the process.  
Her comment is very Martha Stewart.  She's not known as a sensitive caring individual.  She's known as a cut throat business woman.  I used to TiVo her show and when I watched it, I always felt like I was watching a train wreck.  There was more than one occasion that she made her guests feel awkward on the show {so much so that I was cringing at home} .  Martha Stewart isn't the most humble person.  She looks out for herself and is happy to plow down anyone who gets in her way.
People are mad at Martha.  I'm not mad at Martha because her comment isn't out of character. 
I never really liked her as a person.  She's a smart business woman with great style and talent, but I would never want to go to coffee or spend time with her.
{probably a good thing because I'm cutting out all of my chances to 
be a guest on her show by writing this}
To say that I respect her less would be more like it.
What do you think?

4 comments

Unknown said...

I've always thought she was a little over-rated. A lot of the stuff she does or features, it looks great, and it's creative, I've just never felt a great urge to do any of it because of the time it takes (the time investment has to be worth the return for me). Well, that and my husband is the cook not me. ;)

I recently saw an interview that she did with Kass Martin of Zumba Fitness on her her show. http://www.weightlossvideos.com/zumba%C2%AE-fitness-on-the-martha-stewart-show-video_31ec0dd24.html
What you said about cringing at how she relates to her guests is what made me think of it. I remember watching her ask Kass about four questions in a row about Zumba (each would need a few minutes a piece to be answered fully) and before Kass could get three words out to answer any of it, Martha interrupts her to talk about how she "watches Zumba on TV". I've never actually watched an episode of her show, I'll be honest, and I only watched this interview with Kass online because Kass represents Zumba Fitness.

--Miranda
www.thezumbamommy.blogspot.com

EllensCreativePassage said...

I have never been a fan of Martha, I buy her products only when on clearance. Her products are only for those willing to spend lots of money on them. I also think almost anyone could create with the sort of staff she has, I suspect many of her ideas/crafts/recipes are not really hers but those of her staff who do all the footwork. I don't have a staff and I am thrifty so many of her projects are not for me.
I always think of a project she showed for Halloween that was a caterpillar made of full size pumpkins, all carved and lit and strung around the yard. It was very cool but would have cost so much in both time and money, just wondering if Martha carved any of those pumpkins!
Me, I am happy to be just one of those uneducated, unskilled bloggers! :)

Meri said...

You hit the nail on the head! I am not a blogger and have the highest respect for those that "put themselves out there" to guide, teach or just "nudge" people to get in touch with their creative side.
My sister worked for years in a high-level corporate job at K Mart and had meetings with Martha...and she is all about the biz of self-promotion! She is a diva, a brand and although very savvy and talented she has plenty of minions to do her bidding.
I don't get any warm fuzzies from her at all. I'm amazed she reinvented herself and rose from the ashes after her stint in prison. Kudos to her. But I wouldn't want to have coffee with her, either!

Unknown said...

I'm with you 100%!
How is anyone NOT surprised at Martha's comments? She's a branding genius who's also one of the most elitist women out there. She's known for looking down on...pretty much everyone and thinking of herself as top dog at everything.
I'd like to think of the overall blogging community as supportive and inspiring to each other. Many bloggers do re-blog non-original content, but so do lifestyle magazines.
She's no better than any of us out there, and its our job as women to stand up for each other and support one another.
I completely disagree with her statements...the fact is, she's probably got dozens of amazingly creative staffers pumping out "her" creative content on the daily. If they didn't work for her, they'd likely be blogging!
Oh, and Martha is only an "expert" because she labeled herself one!
xoM
www.glitterinthegrey.com

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