NEW YORK -- As Americans reacted with jaw-dropping disbelief this week to news of New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer's sexcapades, the Internet was swamped with commentary. And one new website, hoping to carve out a distinctive niche, bannered a provocative question to its readers: Should Silda Wall Spitzer stand by her man?
"It's painful to see these women, time and time again be dragged out to these press conferences," answered actress Marlo Thomas. "There outta be a law against wives standing next to their accused husbands. A law!" fumed Lesley Stahl, a veteran correspondent for CBS' "60 Minutes." "I don't know what to think," added actress Candice Bergen. "And probably neither does she."
This celebrity exchange, posted the morning after the story broke, was no random accident in cyberspace. Thomas, Stahl and Bergen are part of a newly launched website, Wowowow.com, that is targeting upscale women over 40 -- one of the fastest growing demographics on the Internet. Sponsors are betting that these Web users are hungry for intelligent conversation aimed at them. Since the site began March 1 other daily topics -- all inviting response -- have included "Which Women Should Be on Mt. Rushmore?" plus ruminations on Hillary Rodham Clinton and a woman's need for personal space.
With its bright blue-red graphics, and a Good or Bad Hair Day weather box perched at the top, the site has a stylish, inviting look. But like any Internet start-up, Wowowow (which stands for Women on the Web) faces tough questions: Can it gain traction in a fiercely competitive online market in which rival women's websites like iVillage, More and Glam Media are firmly entrenched? And will its affluent celebrity trappings connect with, or turn off, Internet users? It's far too early to tell, yet the five women who helped launch the fledgling site are brimming with confidence.
Besides Stahl, they are gossip columnist Liz Smith, former Random House Publisher and Simon & Schuster President Joni Evans, advertising executive Mary Wells and Wall Street Journal columnist Peggy Noonan. They're joined by other contributors, including Thomas, Bergen, Lily Tomlin, Whoopi Goldberg, playwright Jane Wagner, Joan Cooney (co-founder of "Sesame Street"), Sheila Nevins (president of HBO Documentary and Family), author Julia Reed, Joan Juliet Buck, former editor of French Vogue, and etiquette maven Judith Martin.
