Anderson Cooper goes from goat to hero in a flash

[Armstead]

If you go back and look at the threads here a couple of weeks ago, Anderson Cooper was the media villan du jour here, for his coverage of Cindy Sheehan.

Now, he's praised as a journalistic hero here.

How fickle are we? Or do we have a case of collective Attention Deficit Disorder?

Fact is Anderson Cooper has probably been doing what he perceives as his job as a reporter and media guy in both cases, for better or worse. Trying to call them as he sees them.

In one case he felt it necessary to balance Sheehan with the otehr side for "balance."

In the other he saw a lot of horror and political bullshit going on, and lost his patience for the bullshit.

IMO we oughtn't to either put these people on a pedestal or demonize them depending on what they do on any one particular day. If we want a fair and honest and tough minded news media, we can't expect them to be cheerleaders for anyone.

Their job ought to be to report the truth as they find it. And we should judge them on the overall performance over time, not on what they did that particular day.

Shooting the messenger, and all that.

[DoYouEverWonder]

1. They all have their scripts well rehearsed

Geraldo proved that this morning.

[Armstead]

4. What did Geraldo do?

Is he back in Fox cheerleader mode?

[DoYouEverWonder]

17. He broadcast from the Convention Center last night

he was holding up babies and crying for help. It was absolutely pitiful.

Then this morning the cavalry arrived and he was of course joyous. However when he said this was the happiest he was since the election in Iraq I knew he was full of shit.

[libertypirate]

2. Wait until he fucks up a story... We will fry him...

[progressivebydesign]

3. I couldn't agree with your thread more.

It's almost a sport to watch the tides turn for and against people here on DU. I'm not willing to label someone a whore or hero based on a single day.

Anderson Cooper has earned very high marks with me through this crisis. I honestly think that this experience will change a lot of people, journalists included. If Anderson was the one who had the hole in his pants at Camp Casey, then I'm sorry I laughed at him, we obviously underestimated him and he came thru when he was needed this week.

[rodeodance]

11. he already has in my book--with his "the calvery has arrived" (bush credit

[Armstead]

14. I hope it will change them

The reason people like Peter Jennings were so good and respected is that they paid their dues over the years by going out and getting muddy and experiencing life in the raw and learning about the complexities of life outside the studio.

[theshadow]

22. Ditto for Russert, Dobbs, Matthews, and so on.

The "with us or against us" syndrome isn't the sole domain of the right wing and/or GOP.

[bluestateguy]

5. People here are very, very fickle

It's all about "what have you done for me lately"? It's very frustrating.

[TankLV]

30. And why shouldn't it be "what have you done for me lately?"

If he's good once or twice, fine - credit.

If he's an ass, - he doesn't automatically get a pass.

He gets "graded" on EACH performance.

It's really a simple concept.

Try it.

[William769]

6. Anderson Cooper

Was on Bill Maher last night & I fully understood what he was saying on how he has covered the news in the past.

[Swamp Rat]

7. Anderson seems a lot more human these days.

Maybe the other genes are kicking in? :D

[graywarrior]

8. When it comes to humanitarian issues, elections fraud

Bush administration incompentence, yes, we are fickle and DEADLY.

[tsuki]

9. Anderson Cooper is still what he always was, one of the privileged

elite. That he can't shrug off dying poor says he still has some empathy, but I would not expect too much from him on DSM, the peace movement, Bush accountability.

Sorry.

[VolcanoJen]

10. He should be a prime candidate for Peter Jennings' job.

In fact, I really, really, really missed Peter this week.

:-(

[Armstead]

15. It would have been interesting...

to see how Peter Jennings or even Tom Brokaw would have covered this.

[Mutley]

12. I've always liked Anderson Cooper.

I certianly disagreed with the way he reported the Cindy Sheehan story, but of all the media whores out there he seemed to be one of the few to at least attempt reporting the truth.

[renate]

16. I've always liked him too

He's not like Bush, who was born into a life of privilege and took advantage of it without doing any hard work of his own.

Most folks had no idea he was Gloria Vanderbilt's son until he was already very successful. He couldn't help being born into wealth--but he did something with his life instead of partying and appearing in the society pages, or trading on his mom's name to get a job.

I admire him a lot.

[Mutley]

23. I actually didn't know that until now.

He has done a good job at not using that name, then. Good for him.

[Catherine Vincent]

13. He was also a hero with his interview of Jeff Gannon.

[punpirate]

18. I've mentioned this before...

... in the context of another commentator, but after more than four years of the sort of mindless reporting of Bush administration charades as trenchant news and the rather obvious knuckling under of the White House press corps to Bush's bullying--either directly or by proxy, people are ready and eager for something, anything, that looks like a reporter with a pair of balls.

Now, I have no doubt that when this story is no longer newsworthy (I give it maybe another week, tops), many of those whose virtues are being extolled today will be bums again when they start repeating the Bush line.

Everyone hopes this is an eye-opener for the press. I, instead, think this is just a brief interlude. There's not going to be a sudden turnaround, a lunge in the direction of investigative reporting by news people who are not naturally disposed to it.

It's even possible that some of this vitriol on the part of the press toward Bush is because they've had to endure a bit of stink and horror in the process of following him around and they're unhappy about accidentally grazing against real life in the process.

Cheers.

[Armstead]

21. You may be right. It could be a reprise of 9-11

In the immediate aftermath of 9-11, the media briefly became human and actually recognized how trivial they usually are.

But within a few days, that brief interlude of humanity and professionalism was gone, and the rigid mold came back, more rigid than ever.

But this time it does seem like some people in the media got shaken up by what they experienced, without the "wartime" need to toe the line.

Dunno. Time will tell I guess.

[MuseRider]

19. Body of work.

It is tough not to throw the baby out with the bath water sometimes, especially when things are so critical.

I have always felt that AC was OK but I was never certain of it. After all, he probably does not have to work but he choses to(I could be totally wrong about that), he has held himself up as an openly gay journalist and that can't always be easy with all the face time he has. There was always something about him that made me think he was human but insulated by the walls of his job. I don't know, right now he is certainly doing the right thing. Next week may be different. Looking at him last night on Bill Maher's show I felt sorry for him. He looked angry, sounded angry and also seemed to be fairly close to crying.

Anymore it is just so hard to take anyone who does not report the way we see it because it is just so damned hard to get the correct information out. Rough times, scary thoughts and worry make everyone so on edge. It is understandable.

On edit take this for what it is worth. I do not watch the news shows so I may be speaking about someone who has done horrible, irresponsible reporting. This is only from the little I have seen over the years.

[HEyHEY]

20. It's always the same shit here man

So many don't take their meds and are all over the map

[Cooley Hurd]

24. Thanks for reminding me!

;) :D

[Armstead]

25. We donated them to Shep Smith

He needed them more than we did

[HEyHEY]

27. Did you hear what O'Rielly said to that fucker?

Smith is signing off, with thousands of starving people behind him and O'Rielly says, "Good job Shepard, I hope you win the highest award in journalism for this."
WHEN ALL THIS SUFFERING IS LITERALLY A FEW FEET AWAY... no class

[I Have A Dream]

26. I think that we get emotional and allow our emotions to take over.

Also, I think that we're also just so thankful when a "reporter" or "journalist" finally tells the truth that it overcomes us with appreciation. We then feel horribly disappointed when they return to form.

We respond from the heart rather than from the head in times like this. I think that there are worse things. (It's better than not having a heart the way many on the right are.)

[WhollyHeretic]

28. I don't agree that people are fickle for praising him

He has done a good job with this story and a bad jobs with some others. What would be dishonest is to not admit someone doing a good job because they did a bad job on something else. Much of the media deserves to be criticized some of the time, that's not shooting the messenger. The MSM in this country has gotten pathetic for the most part, they do very little investigative journalism and take what the government says and parrots it.

[TankLV]

29. We call 'em and grade 'em on each performance.

He doesn't get a "pass" or "failure" because who he is - he get's graded on WHAT HE DOES.

The slate is swept clean each time he finishes a segment.

He needs to "step up to the plate" each and every time.

It is not "we" who are being "fickle".