Anderson Cooper fan

With all the brave Canadian reporting out of Haiti, it seems unpatriotic to compliment a U.S. journalist but I've wanted to laud CNN's Anderson Cooper for some time (and certainly not because he's Gloria Vanderbilt's son). Besides, I don't think the Haiti earthquake is the kind of story where people keep score (or I hope it's not). Cooper stood out in the coverage of Hurricane Katrina because he was the first broadcast journalist to angrily criticize the lack of help for New Orleans. He stood there, facing the camera, incredulous it was happening in the United States of America and saying so from his heart. It was as if he'd seen his country for the first time and he reacted like a normal person. His humanity showed.

It's been the same thing since he landed in Port-au-Prince a week ago, arriving so quickly due to CNN's immense resources and contacts. He was the first journalist I saw to get across the immensity of the tragedy of human beings being tossed in mass graves to remain anonymous, as if they had never existed. These are human beings, he said more than once. Simple but enough said. Sometimes he stumbles around, seemingly bewildered, but it's a sea change from his colleagues, all the brash and polished graduates of broadcast school. What he has can't be taught and I hope he never loses it. Here's a taste of how he reacts: http://ac360.blogs.cnn.com/2010/01/18/anderson-in-the-midst-of-looting-chaos/

 

Comments

[John Merritt]

If you look at the course of work Anderson has performed over the years you will find a man who is not afraid of the challenges or the issues. Living in the jungles, rolling around with the wildlife, following the aboriginal lifestyle of people in remote parts of the world. His eyes have been opened to reality as it is, and to the true realization we are destroying the earth and each other.

Growing up with a silver spoon does not mean you won't have to use a fork and knife in life, and Anderson is a master of uncovering those things that matter, or at least should. He is tremendous journalist and his heart is situated right where it needs to be. We, in the states, are all proud of him and his colleagues at CNN and I forever wish him the best. We know how to grow them here in the States.