Have you heard of “A Million Moms“?
A Million Moms is about helping women in Africa get better health coverage, have safer pregnancies, and reduce the maternal/infant death rate. Those are good things.
The Million Moms Challenge is sponsored by BlogFrog and is giving away an iPad2, among other things.
However, A Million Moms is partnered with quite a few organizations that are not pro-life, and are even anti-life, such as The Bill and Melissa Gates Foundation, AMREF, UNICEF, and others. These organizations actively promote family planning programs in Africa that include expanding access to abortion and pushing IUDs on African women. In fact, Bill Gates gave a speech indicating that he would like to use vaccines and “reproductive health” to reduce the world population by 15%.” (See minute 2:38 and onward)
So, not normally a contest I would enter.
But when I saw they hired notoriously bad mommyblogger Mckmama to pen “Healthy Baby 101″, the irony killed me. So, I left a comment and entered the contest.
You can only enter once per person, but I left additional comments, including one responding to a woman questioning why the other commenters would take the time to post about Mckmama.
Today, my comments- and my entry into the iPad giveaway- were gone. Deleted. I checked the official rules. The requirement was to leave a comment to enter. There were no restrictions on comment content. My comment wasn’t profane, rude, threatening, or illegal.
Frankly, I was appalled that they would hire this mommyblogger as an example of healthy parenting.
In fact, here they are:
1) Here’s what Mckmama taught me about being a better parent. After reading her recent bankruptcy paperwork, I’ve vowed anew to always pay my utility bills before I pay my iPhone and web hosting bills. I’ve learned from her example, because now I’ve seen how badly that worked out for her. Also I’ve learned how important it is to keep up with those nagging bills like house payments. She’s had 3 foreclosures in just a few years and I know I don’t want my kids to go through that kind of upheaval. If you can’t be the good example, be the horrible warning. Thanks MckMama!
(Ed note: I am working on getting copies of the court documents which show the past foreclosures. As I do not have them in hand yet, the above is my opinion only. However, you can see the documents detailing her latest house default here. This house is in default, but may not be foreclosed in the traditional sense of the word, the paperwork says “surrendered”. See Sch. A, also see p. 46.)
2) Oh! I just thought of another parenting tip from Mckmama (another what-not-to-do) Don’t dress your little boy up in pigtails and a bow tie and nothing else, take pictures of him wrestling n@ked with his brother, then dedicate an entire post about it on your blog ESPECIALLY if you are a “public figure” whose address is openly available on the internet. Keep your babies safe! I’m a pretty seasoned mom, but I do admit I learn a lot from her blog.
3) I don’t have a copy of this comment, but it was a response to Jennifer of “Jenny’s Blog” about why I cared about what Mckmama did.
Snarky? Yes. It was very snarky and I should have worded it differently. I admit it.
And perhaps I should just mind my own business. Except, mommyblogging IS my business (although I don’t earn over $100k a year at it, I just take in a little here and there) and Mckmama is constantly breaking rules, ignoring federal requirements for FTC disclosures, *possibly* running illegal lotteries, and generally giving mommybloggers a bad name.
(Ed. note: Jennifer Mckinney (trade name: Mckmama) has never been convicted in a court of law of running illegal lotteries. It is solely my opinion that the lotteries are not in compliance with the law. I am not a lawyer, nor do I play one on TV. I have amended my statement to reflect that they are possibly illegal, not proven-beyond-a-shadow-of-a-doubt illegal, at Jennifer Mckinney’s request.)
Maybe it’s because I commented more than once?
Honestly, I don’t care about winning or not winning. But the arbitrary deletion of any comments that criticize their choice of this mommyblogger gets on my nerves.
See, I was featured on ABCNews.com before. And the comments were… awful. Name calling, veiled threats, insults. And for every comment attacking me, there were at least 10 attacking Walmart. No one deleted those comments. I’m a big girl and I can recognize that on the internet, not everyone will agree with me. Some quite passionately disagreed with me. Vehement, even.
Why is BlogFrog/ABC deleting comments/contest entries? I did make more than one comment which may have disqualified me (I’m not sure) but I saw a few commenters that were only made once, and should have been a valid entry. Poof! They’re gone.
Isn’t that illegal for a contest?
I don’t know, but I’m going to find out.
If you commented on Mckmama’s “Healthy Baby 101″ post, and your comment has been deleted, would you contact me? Let me know if you used BlogFrog or Facebook interface to comment, and if you have a copy of your comment. We’ll get this sorted out. Thanks.
If you tweet this article, would you please add the #amillionmoms hashtag so it shows up in their stream?
I won’t go into all the reasons I think Mckmama is a bad blogger, but the #1 reason that gets me every time is her exploitation of children- her own, her Compassion International children, and any other babies and kids she comes across that she thinks she can use to promote her blog.
UPDATE:
I called ABCNews.com to relay my concerns. The woman who answered the phone said ABC is responsible for the contest but it’s being run by another site (I’m guessing BlogFrog). She will be looking into it.
Meanwhile, on another Million Moms Challenge post, John from The BlogFrog commented:
Thank you for all your comments and feedback, and we understand your concerns. While we understand that discussions may occasionally upset or offend some readers, BlogFrog does not moderate or delete responses unless they are threatening or violate our terms of use: http://theblogfrog.com/learn/tou.aspx . All BlogFrog community owners have tools to moderate their own communities at their discretion, and we leave those decisions up to them. BlogFrog communities are forums for our members’ opinions, so we strive to keep a neutral, hands-off approach, just like Facebook doesn’t moderate people’s comments on their walls. If anyone has questions or comments about this issue or other BlogFrog policies, please contact us at http://theblogfrog.com/Learn/Feedback.aspx Thanks, John BlogFrog Customer Support
I KNOW it can’t be legal to let each “community leader” arbitrarily decide who is allowed an entry into the contest. Also, the requirements for complying with The BlogFrog’s terms of use are not included in the official rules. I didn’t enter using BlogFrog, any way, I entered using my Facebook ID.
UPDATE 1:28. I commented on the Million Moms Challenge facebook page, and my comment was deleted withing 15 minutes. I took a screenshot.
My comment was not profane, rude, vile, or threatening. SOMETHING’s up.
UPDATE 3:45PM: Mckmama has told me that only helpful, truthful comments will be accepted on her post. She did not tell me which part of my comment was not truthful or helpful.
Holly of Blogfrog has tweeted me:
while community owners do have the right to delete/moderate comments, those replies remain valid contest entries.
Hi Lisa – its a sponsored conversation that is networks the discussion in both communities.
Hi Lisa, ABC News and UN Foundation sponsored that post as part of the campaign
Please see part 2- More Million Moms here for information on how to contact these companies and file a complaint.
(added by request)
{Note: If you would like to read a transcript from Mckmama’s bankrutpcy creditor meeting with the trustee, the Mckinney Bankruptcy Transcript is here. Note that she tried to hide her PayPal (actually, she appears to have THREE PayPal accounts) from the court, then later says “it’s not an account, it’s just a door into my checking.”}
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Great post! Look forward to your updates and perspective.
I commented but didn’t think to make a screenshot because I thought the site was ran by ABC not Jennifer. I was banned from making future comments.
YES! It looks like the URL is abcnews.go.com but the comments ACTUALLY went to JM’s blogfrog (which she earns $3.50/CPM, didn’t see THAT disclosed.)
I also called ABCnews and here is their phone number 212-456-2700
I posted as WOW and have made comments on other bloggers to bring this to their attention. Sorry for so many posts.
thanks Charlene. I want to make a list of everyone who was deleted from this contest, there is strength in numbers.
My comment was deleted and I have been banned from leaving further comments.
Can you or I post your comment above onto mwop blog stating about it going to her blogfrog and how much she makes. I would never ever of clicked, but I thought it solely was an ABC site.
JM just tweeted with a reference to her millionmoms post for people to share their best tips. So there hasn’t been a stop put to it and no one is being advised that JM is making money off of those clicks.
I posted a comment also thinking it was ABC but when I nosed around a little further after I comment I saw blogfrog was involved. My comment was deleted also, so I comment again, poof, gone again. I’ve heard this over and over – comments deleted if they weren’t positive. What sneaky B*tch she is. Seriously.
“bad mommy blogger” LOL Too darn funny!
“I too am a mommy blogger. I too will not sign up for your campaign solely because you work with Jennifer McKinney. May I suggest you do your research. And there is a LOT of it. Unfortunately, you are not partnering with a reputable mommy blogger known as ‘MckMama’. You are partnering with one of the most dishonest, unethical bloggers currently blogging on the internet. Among many, I’m sure you can contact Focus on the Family and/or BlogHer for more information. Best wishes.”
That’s my comment that was deleted (last night). I signed in under BF & obviously I was banned, as I currently have no way to leave a comment, nor do I have an option to sign in under my FB profile.
I’ve been out, but let’s see if I got this straight. Facebook has a MMC page, but comments are even being deleted on THAT? Are you kidding me? That can’t be Jennifer McKinney doing the deleting, can it? No way.
Yes. The comment I left noting that contest entries were being deleted was…deleted. I’m not sure what’s going on, but I do know you can’t just throw out contest entries because you don’t like them.
I was deleted and banned. My comment was not terribly rude, profane, or defaming in anyway. Why? Because I spoke the truth.
I’m blocked from posting it again on her site, although I can post on the other “discussions” going on.
I did not screenshot it because I didn’t think Jennifer had editorial control on ABC’s site. I commented using BlogFrog.
Here’s my comment:
My favorite tip for raising a healthy baby? Breastfeeding exclusively. Not lying. Not blowing $750,000 in 5 years or less. Not playing coy with my readers on Facebook. That’s what works for my family.
I don’t know who specifically you are talking about but I’ve set up Google Alerts to tell me when there is activity about AIDS in Africa (my family doctor is the founder of giveaday.ca). I can’t believe that someone is using this important issue to mess around with people. I went to the ABC site and nowhere did I see any information about Blogfrog but I don’t like the idea that someone is profiting from my interest in AIDS in Africa and not telling me. I’m in Canada, not the US but do you think ABC would care if I complained? The internet is pretty much international these days. I must do more research on this mommy blogger, but for now I want to be sure that an issue I care deeply about and give to is not being forgotten or pushed to the side in favour of clicks on a mommy blog site (I’m not a mommy anyhow). Thanks for the info and I’ll be following up as best I can.
YES you should complain, in my opinion. You can reach ABC News at 212-479-2700. The blogger they chose- Mckmama- profits from her post and also from comments made on her blogfrog, and the fact that comments would go to her blogfrog (not the ABC site, which is what it looks like from the URL) was not disclosed.
Kristin, I see your FB comment is gone!
I got an email from blogfrog, I forwarded my reply to those who have given me email addresses. LMK if you don’t want to be included in the email loop.
I am indeed in the Banned Camp. At least I’m in good company.
Welcome! We should get start a millionmoms banned camp.
Yup. Lots of good company there. She can delete and ban on Facebook, but she can’t delete the screenshot I have.
Yes, I would love to be included in the email loop. I was banned from way back so I could not enter. I would love to see the response you got from Blogfrog. I’ve never been happy with their responses in other circumstances when I have emailed them. It will be interesting to see how they handle this.
Kristin, or the phone call to the FCC.
Please include me in the email loop!
I get the contradiction and what you’re seeing/experiencing, but please, be careful with the pro-life vs. anti-life comparison. Supporting reproductive choice and health is not ‘anti’ life. There are, no matter how anyone wants to view it, places in the world where giving birth to more human beings is not wise for anyone.Birth control is not evil or ‘anti’ anything. It’s a huge issue, and wrought with emotion and morals and religious beliefs, but as a whole, it is not wrong or ‘anti life’ to promote prevention. I understand your beliefs and I get where you are coming from, but you have to be careful not to vilify prevention with ‘anti’.
I also get your beef with Mckmama, sort of. And this ‘contest’. But, really, there are so many more things to life than online attention whores. She thrives on her detractors as much as she does her fans. You know what they say – no attention is bad, negative or positive.
Supporting maternal health is not “anti life”, however, raising money to increase abortions, promoting IUDs (which do not prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS, btw), and advocating for a 10-15% population reduction IS anti-life.
I got an email from blahfrog too–it’s says:
Please keep in mind that our contest rules say that the entries must be eligible in order to win. This means that replies must be within the context of the question – What’s your favorite tip for raising a healthy baby?
I had a tip in mine. Therefore they deleted against their own rules.
I’m not concerned with the reproductive issue.
Mckmama deleted my comment and banned me for no good reason other than she didn’t like it. And that’s against The BlogFrog’s own rule.
Contraception is NOT ‘anti’ life. Preventing conception is not ‘anti’ – in opposition to – life. IUD’s prevent conception. NOT conceiving is NOT anti life.
IUDs aren’t just contraceptive, they are also contragestives, i.e., they prevent the implantation of a human embryo in the uterus. I believe that a human being is created at the moment of conception- fully human- and therefore, and IUD is antilife because the IUD’s mechanism of action includes preventing that conceived human from accessing the nourishment thus causing his/her death.
Mckmama has just informed me that only truthful, helpful baby tips will be published on her MillionMom post. (My post was truthful, and helpful… it is a good idea to pay your utility bills and also make your house payments so you don’t have to uproot your children over and over again.)
Oddly enough, I didn’t see that particular disclaimer before I posted. Nor did I see the clause in the official rules… What part of my comment is she disputing? Because it’s public record that she owes $750,000. Because it’s a fact that she lies. And it’s also a fact that she plays coy on Facebook.
Now what?
IUD’s make the uterus inhospitable to life – no implantation, thus, no ‘life’. They don’t wait for conception then destroy; they function to prevent conception. An egg that does not implant is not an abortion or ending of life.
Preventing implantation/fertilization is not abortion. It’s prevention.
I believe that with every ounce of my being and while I know our beliefs are different, prevention is not abortion. Period.
I believe that a new human being- a new life- is created at conception, which occurs pre-implantation. Therefore, the IUD making the uterus inhospitable to life is anti-life in my opinion. Preventing impantation is NOT the same as preventing conception.
Why would you do the same thing that was done to you if you thought it was awful when it happened to you?
And if you were so worried about her keeping her babies safe, why on earth would you repeat that stuff on your public blog?
Is this a good example of giving mommy blogs a good name because I’m not seeing this as a good example either. Sorry.
Because the comments attacking Milehimama on ABC were untrue.
The stuff about MckMama’s bankruptcy are TRUE.
I’m intrigued. Milehimama, can you email me? I’d love to cover this. I’m a journalist.
That really makes no sense to me, Lisa.
Conception – life – is an intense, detailed, multi-step process. All steps need to be complete for life to exist. When one step is removed, it just doesn’t happen.
A fertilized egg that does not implant is not abortion. A fertilized egg that implants, different. All steps in the process are necessary. When one step is precluded, the process is not complete. Fertilization + implantation = life. Fertilization – implantation = menstruation.
I think we have different terms, Timi. For me, “conception” occurs when sperm unites with egg, creating a new,unique human being with unique DNA, chromosomes, etc. I say “unique”, as in different from both mother and father, i.e., not a clone or bit of mother’s tissue but a new, unique human. I’m taking the first definiton seen here http://www.medterms.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=31242
What does bankruptcy have to do with the parenting article? What’s the connection and why connect them, I’m lost here. The article is about parenting and trusting yourself as a parent not about money management.
Holly, I welcome dialogue but I respectfully request that you own your words, and not provide anonymous email addresses. Thanks.
I don’t think you’re lost, Holly. I think you’re confused.
PS – why would you trust someone’s parenting advice who talked about hitting her 18 month old son with a wooden spoon?
And, I agree with Holly. What do financial matters have to do with parenting? Or, to go a step further, with reproduction? An overall humanitarian group supports and promotes something that Mckmama is promoting – how does one vilify and negate the other?
Financial issues hit everyone and anyone. Someone in debt is not a bad parent or a bad person. Bad money management doesn’t equal bad person. And hell, bad or not, financial issues affect just about everyone. You know that. You do.
I dislike Mckmama as much as you do – well, almost; I don’t take it personal or make it an issue in my own life, but I do seriously dislike her and have a lot of issues with her. But, her financial matters have no impact at all on her human matters.
She makes money on her blog. I don’t get it, but there is no moral ‘wrong’ in doing it. Not my style, but not ‘wrong’ – considering, well, it does what it does and people hit the site and make her money.
Well, it’s all gotten kind of muddled now. Reproduction came into it because I posted that I Million Moms was partnered with organizations that are anti-life IMO. The bankruptcy came about because of the comments. I do think it’s wrong to make money on blog posts without proper FTC disclosures, and to exploit children which, IMO, she does. ABC gave her a platform, pushing her an an exemplary mother who we should take parenting health advice from; the content of my comment was intended to balance that endorsement.
FYI- I”m offline for a while, and I am closing the comments. If you post, your comment won’t be immediately visible but I WILL eventually see it. I’ll open them back up when I have more online time.
I’ve seen what happens on other sites if anyone dares criticize Mckmama in any way, and I don’t that happening over here. I don’t usually moderate, and it kills me to have to do it, but there it is.
There’s nothing wrong with making money from your writing. The “wrong” comes in when she doesn’t disclose. When she runs a contest that everyone isn’t able to enter. When she changes the rules midstream.
I work very hard at my site. I disclose EVERYTHING. Being an honest and ethical blogger is very important to me. And when bloggers like MckMama don’t care, it hurts me and my business.
I am working on the screen shots, sadly I only have the first 10 – 15. When I clicked on the next batch it was all sunshine and glitter. I do have an Ashley, a WOW, a Tina, yours, and mine though. I have attempted to call ABC several times, but do not get through it just rings and rings. Thank you for doing this, it is about time someone stands up and knocks MckMama down a peg or 2.
I was able to comment on another person’s post regarding the same subject. So, I was only discriminated against on Jennifer McKinney’s post. Totally makes no sense to me. If I said something wrong or inappropriate, I should be banned from ALL bloggers’ posts. I have since deleted my BlogFrog profile since I did it very quickly last night & didn’t enter all of my information. I am going to make a new profile (oh, now that I think about it, I probably could have just edited my BF profile? I don’t know.). Too late now. I’ll start over.
Doesn’t this mean that in all of the Million Moms post on ABCNews.go.com, we’re only seeing comments that the OP approves of? I mean, they sell this thing like they’re a giving advice, but allow the suppression of all discussion. What if someone says something that is inaccurate or just plain wrong. If anyone points that out, the correction or clarification will just be deleted. I can’t believe a supposed “news” website would make itself such a huge platform for self-promotion and censorship.
Yes. The author can delete and ban people from commenting at will.
Honesty and integrity should be the foundation of good blogging, and that includes full disclosure. I also think it’s unfortunate that a “Bad blogger” be given such a large platform to allow whatever discusses she wishes only how she wishes. While comment moderation of profane or obscene comments should happen, censorship should not. It also rubs me the wrong way that these entries into the content can be deleted. What method are they using to track the entries that are deleted? That’s a scammy contest and no good can come of that.
You have to understand something: Jennifer Mckinney spends most of her days trying desperately to craft an image of herself that she wants others to buy. Only she’s failed miserably at it time and time again. I’m sure she longs for the good ‘ole days when people blindly followed her and had a somewhat pleasing opinion of her, naive as they may have been. She’s fallen so far from where she started out, I think she’s simply doing everything she can to remain relevant, even if it’s only to a handful of blind followers, all while losing any shred of dignity she may have left.
Based on her regular use of inappropriate keywords for clicks and distasteful photos she often stages with her children in various forms of undress (you’ve referenced the most heinous in your post), the only other audience I see Jennifer attracting is the drive-by pedophile. These very real concerns have been shared with Jennifer on numerous occasions, and she’s never responded with anything but a rebellious attitude usually followed by a new photo spread that’s even more egregious. This is why I find it so appalling that Jennifer Mckinney was selected to write a post on ABC’s site about Parenting of all things.
With each new big story (and supporting public documents) that comes to light regarding Jennifer and the way she actually lives her life (versus the one she’d like you to believe through her blog) she’s found to be an even bigger fraud than the time before. When most people would have crawled into a hole to hide out of sheer embarrassment and humiliation, Jennifer just keeps coming up with more ways to plan and scheme for the almighty buck. She is so reckless and has so little regard for the people she shares a last name with, I don’t believe anything will ever stop her. She’s become more self-destructive as the months have rolled on, with each new reinvention of her persona, and I’d imagine it’s not going to end any time soon. Her family has been shamed, as well as all those who’ve ever done business with her, and if that hasn’t been enough to force her to end this sideshow, I’m not sure anything will.
This is the legacy she’s leaving her children. One day, they’ll log-on to a computer and find that their mother wasn’t who she portrayed herself to be. They’ll learn that she sold their childhood for a quick buck and then lost it all and a lot more. They’ll realize the danger she put them in all for fame and adoration. And how their little lives were played out in front of a huge worldwide audience for clicks. But I think the most difficult thing those five precious children will realize one day is that a lot of powerful organizations and hundreds and hundreds of women had such a low opinion of their mother. That’s got to be hard for any child, young or old, to grasp. That their mother was so despised for the very person she was.
I didn’t comment as I don’t support her. I was pretty dumbfounded when I read her post on healthy baby 101. As I was when I read most comments that were allowed. Not trying to debate the whole “formula vs. breastfeeding”, but I’ve done both. Breastfeeding AND formula feeding to a year with different pregnancies of course. Most all of her responses were, “raising a healthy baby is breastfeeding.” Seriously?? So, if you formula feed, your baby isn’t healthy?!?! How is that considered “truthful” or “helpful” ?? It’s OPINION!! Yes, I believe breast is best, but do I believe it constitutes unhealthy? No.
Now on to the warranty of MckMama’s contests. Does anyone remember her cleaning post recently?? She was going to pick a winner and they were to receive a day of house cleaning. I don’t recall a winner ever being announced. I may be wrong, but there’s been several she’s had that I’ve yet to see her announce winners to.
MckMama has no business telling anyone how to raise a HEALTHY child. Healthy is more than inward health, it’s mental health. I understand some things are speculation on if it creates mental health issues within these kids, but ask a professional and they’ll probably tell you it does. I.E…Being popped with a wooden spoon. Being left at a restaurant. Being yelled at repetitively to stay outside without regards to concern. I could go on!
Ashley,
You raise a good point. Many contests just disappeared, and also Mckmama will not reveal how winners are chosen even when asked directly. She just deletes those comments.
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