The Widow Donation Scandal that rocked the insular food blogging world continues to be a delicate subject for those involved. After Shauna Ahern of Gluten Free Girl basically put the blame on widow Jennifer Perillo, not much else was heard about the situation. Now BwoB has apparently responded privately to one commenter who had questions:

Dear M,

I am writing to you with regards to the comment you left on our most recent post, “A Fund for Jennie: The Final Update.” I hope you will understand our decision not to publish some comments. Recent developments have indeed been saddening, and we have remained quiet thus far because Bloggers without Borders and its board of directors believe that engaging a public discourse with commenters or even with Jennie herself about recent events would be more hurtful than helpful to all those involved. Our mission has always been to bring community together, not tear it down.

What you should know is this: we would not and could not have embarked on a month-long fundraising campaign without the knowledge and support of the beneficiary. There are e-mails, text messages, Tweets and Facebook updates that not only verify her need at the time but also show that Jennie privately and publicly supported our efforts throughout the campaign. At no time was there a request to modify the language of the post or suspend or cancel our efforts.

When we started this campaign Jennie was a grieving widow with the weight of the world on her shoulders. She still is. We are trying to respect her and her process. While it is our decision not to engage anyone publicly, we do recognize our responsibility to respond to our supporters and other concerned individuals, which we are doing privately.

As for some suggestions to donate the fund or a portion of it to another organization that sincerely helps widows/widowers in dire financial need, it is our understanding that, as a non-profit organization, we are legally bound to transfer any fundraising proceeds to the beneficiary named at the outset of the campaign. However, we are currently consulting with our lawyers regarding any legal alternatives that will satisfy the wishes of any donors who express a desire for such, while remaining within the boundaries of the law.

You should also know that we are working with our board of directors to create clear-cut guidelines and a new protocol, including stricter vetting procedures and establishing reasonable fundraising limits. We are doing our utmost to ensure that situations such as this do not happen in the future, particularly when supporting individual beneficiaries.

Kind regards,
Maggy Keet

In a nutshole it sounds as if BwoB is washing its hands of wrongdoing, since they were just going by what they were told. This seems like an odd way to run a nonprofit. It’s nice that NOW they are putting in vetting procedures but maybe they should have thought of that before opening up their site and begging for funds for a well off widow just because she she was wringing her hands crying “omg I don’t understand personal finance”.

In the end the widow has never apologized for basically misleading people – and she now has almost 80k in the bank to pay for her pretty daughters’ educations and a new apartment full of new furniture. In this economy, we should all be in such tragic circumstances. I hope BwoB’s “board of directors” takes a long hard look at future requests for fundraising and does a little more research than “oh that’s so sad, let’s help”.

Ah, babies. The internets just loves babies. Bloggers, both by accident and design, are discovering that baby centered content equals a whole new target audience and can even resuscitate flagging pageviews.

The popular Dooce blogger has allegedly made millions posting about her life, including stories and pictures of her children. Now even Dooce’s daughter “actually runs out of the room when I break out a camera”. But other bloggers continue to document the development and activities of their offspring from pee stick to puberty, and 2012 is shaping up to be The Year Of The Blog Baby.

Caitlin of Healthy Tipping Point has been posting about her pregnancy since the day her dog tested negative. Emily Malone of Daily Garnish is posting regular updates on her baby’s life. Jen Lula has been posting at least monthly updates about her child for over a year. Emily of Emphasis Added and Jordan Reid of Ramshackle Glam are surely noticing that posts featuring pictures of their babies get more notes and comments than any other content. And the oddly uncomfortable-to-watch Art Of Making A Baby has built its entire existence around one thing: getting pregnant, being pregnant, and having a baby.

Most of the mommy bloggers who make negligible monetary rewards will claim they do it to share their lives or find community with other mothers. That’s all fine and dandy, but if the motivation is purely support and sharing, wouldn’t joining one of the many mommy boards be enough? Yes, says one mommy blogger, who wishes to remain anonymous.

“If I just wanted to share pics of my kid I’d just email them,” says the blogger. “[I]f I just wanted chat with other moms there are places for that…I want to make money like Dooce and PW [Pioneer Woman] and stop working my crap job. I do this hoping to make money and my baby is too young to know they are on the internet anyway.” Which basically makes it clear that at least some bloggers probably consider their kids to be more than just a vessel for their genetic code – they can be a commodity.

Comments like those above are starting to leak out and for many readers the perceived motivations of mommy bloggers are becoming tarnished. While many will say it’s the business of the parents to decide what level of privacy their as yet unaware spawn should enjoy many are becoming distressed about what the future will be like for an entire generation of Truman Burbanks.

And now – with increased concerns about dwindling privacy and examples of pic poaching by pedos coming to light – will the days of posting about one’s offspring start to lose its appeal, even become frowned upon? Or is the innocent personal family blog a thing of the past, to be replaced by a new bumper crop of babies-as-revenue websites? And must every life of the next generation be a reality show?