I was watching Anderson Cooper 360 on CNN last night, as I regularly do... and perked up when Anderson reviewed a new theory that is circulating called "Terror Babies." This theory, which is propagated by Republicans, proposes that massive numbers of pregnant illegals come over to the USA to have citizen children who they then take back home to train as terrorists against the USA, the ultimate goal of which being to later transplant those babies back into USA for an attack. Debbie Riddle, a Texas state House member, came on to Anderson's show to spread this nonsense... and, well, Anderson DESTROYED the no-brained hick when he called her out on either (1) not having any evidence whatsoever or (2) making everything up. I knew the second after watching this interview on cable that it would go viral on the net within a day... and guess what, I was right. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Check it out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7A5Z1QnXhx8 Hilarious. Check out 3:53 when Debbie becomes visibly angry at Anderson for insisting that she disclose her sources. What a sorry, lying, loser. "It's being talked about." Uh huh, I'd be surprised if this southern-fried hick wore shoes for the occasion. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
thats fing amazing her top lip does not move a nanometer up down left or right i cant stop staring at it
Yes is still works. I always like it when a journalist asks the hardball questions. It is so rare that you see this kind of journalism any more. It is pretty obvious that this Republican congresswoman was totally unprepared to provide proof of her outrageous claims. And I think it is typical of right wing rhetoric, they make the most dramatic and outrageous claims on the fly without a shred of evidence. Facts to them are unimportant and not relevant. What is important is drama and fear....terror babies. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! How much more scary can you get. And notice how she keeps trying to shift the discussion to another topic. Cooper has to keep dragging her back to the topic at hand. It is sad that that fear and lies are the core of the Republican agenda these days. Kudos to Cooper, he knew is topic! It is rare to see a journalist who knows something of the issues they are discussing. And he kept a tight reign on the interviewee...a rare event! We desperately need to see more of this kind of journalism!!!
Cooper is OK, but if he strays too far from the CNN formula, he'll be as gone as Octavia Nasr. I'm dubious that genuine journalists can actually work at CNN in the present culture, and I wonder if people like Cooper don't do more harm than good, by providing corrupt institutions with veneers of credibility.
He is the ONLY TV journalist I respect and that respect continues to rise when I see him tear apart hypocrites. What institutions are those that he legitimizes? The guy was the only journalist to endlessly call out the US/UN during the Haiti crisis and spent three months standing on BP's doorstep (and still focuses on them both when the popularity of the two has waned). The guy doesn't need to work. His inheritance alone could set him up on a tropical island somewhere with servants and nice cars. The fact that he can do whatever he wants gives him significant sway over anything he's involved in. ~String
Cooper lends a veneer of credibility to a superficial infotainment sensationalism-circus passing itself off as a news service. I think that less personable barkers and hacks (Wolf Blitzer for example) may do less damage, because more people are able to recognize through their performances shallow character and move on to better informed and more informative sources. Cooper's charisma would be better employed in a less-artificial news organization.
That sounds pretty. But how, exactly? Anybody can make lofty claims and phrase those claims in such a way to grab attention. You just engaged in sensationalism right now, and failed to substantiate your claims one bit. Such as. . . ~String
That's not likely. He is very popular, handsome, and cute. He is loved by women and gays. He is probably worth more to CNN than most of their advertisers.
Grabbing attention is in deed what the leading news media is dedicated to- that is, grabbing the fleeting shallow attention of an audience that is being shaped by the major media in self-fulfilling underestimation of the sophistication of the audience. Cursory dashes of incisive journalism have become (in venues like CNN) part of shaping perceptions of the program, and not a consistent part of better informing the audience about the issues driving the news. Television news is in the midst of a panicked identity crisis, and unfortunately producers fearful of emerging alternative media are falling back on glitz instead of content. In their panic these producers are accelerating the decline of television journalism. Cooper's charisma would be more positively employed in a less-artificial news organization. If sincere broadcast journalism is really his passion, and if AC is as liberatingly affluent and independent as you say, then he is particularly free to break out of corporate orbit to enhance or create more informative alternatives to the CNN carnival. Look at the flat personalities fronting the Real News Network, and consider RNN's admirable intent to inform their audience more thoroughly than the leading brands. As bandwidth increases throughout the internet there are many opportunities ahead to provide audiovisual broadcast content without restriction to the narrow and monopolized markets that organizations like CNN are hyping up and dumbing down. A defection by a cable news personality into realms where higher standards of broadcast journalism would lead many viewers to heights and depths of information that many are not accustomed to in their news diet. CNN is not a platform for dedicated journalists- it is a platform for circus-performers and actors playing superficial roles as journalists and news anchors. You may think it unfair to judge Anderson Cooper by the professional company that he keeps. But in my opinion CNN is representative of junk media that fools many people into assuming that they are well-informed about the world and interested in it, when the true effect is the opposite. I consider this phenomenon a dangerous threat to the stability of nations, to our species, and our planet. Tittillating spiced-up pablum passing for major broadcast journalism in the USA is becoming ever more shallow, and all who participate in this degenerating process are participating in the intellectual malnourishment and endangerment of millions of people. The pace of human events is accelerating, and organizations that deceive and stunt the awareness of large audiences at a time when we must learn (and learn to learn) like never before, about all that's going on- these marketers of stupefaction and manufacturers of consent are doing us great harm.
Update: Anderson Cooper invited both Rand Paul and Christine O'Donnell to his show in order to keep them honest. Both of them refused to show up. I wonder why. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
