Katrina: Is it all about Cooper?
Powerline has a superb post on Anderson Cooper’s CNN Katrina theatrics. The powerline post indicates Cooper has done two things: he’s cast himself in the role of moral arbiter– because he saw a dead body in New Orleans, and –because of his “rage”– made the story about him. Last week I watched a few minutes worth of Cooper’s work, then shook my head and changed channels.
Cooper isn’t the only culprit. 24/7 tv craves drama and emotion — especially easily identified emotions, like anger, rage, fear. Think Greek dramatic masks, the cork or linen masks Greek actors wore in the ampitheater so the audience could quickly identify the character and the emotion. The masks exaggerated the portrayed emotion. The 24/7 “news” producers also want “big sad,” “big mad,” and occasionally, “big happy” — especially when they hype the current “big story.”
Of course Katrina isn’t about Anderson Cooper, but ratings matter to Anderson Cooper. If he becomes an even itsy bitsy part of the story he benefits commercially. Sean Penn is playing this game–Sean Penn, actor, adventurer, boat sinker. The purveyors of infotainment also play it. Unfortunately, they insist they’re reporters.
Look for a lot of “corrections” to come out of these emotional broaddcasts. I lot of reporters were simply relaying unsubstantiated rumors - you could watch them doingit! THese will becorrected by credible witnesses who can refute them. Has the media completely done away with fact checkers? Maybe they can’t afford them any more.
Comment by Fiona — 9/13/2005 @ 10:52 am
Why do you think the blogosphere is exploding? Because we out here in flyover land are sick of the MSM and the slanted message they feed us disguised as gospel. Makes that James Bond movie about the bad guy, media mogul taking over the world look prophetic!
Comment by JDGUT — 9/13/2005 @ 10:52 am
Perhaps he could just go to Homestar Runner and then he could get Strong Bad, Strong Sad and Strong Mad instead.
Comment by BlogDog — 9/13/2005 @ 11:09 am
CNN/AndersonCooper, NBC/Katie Couric, Brian Williams–all these dudes want you to think that if they were running things it would be SOOOOOO different, and they are RIGHT–thing would be totally screwed up and 100 times worse than the worst mess Bush/Nagin/Blanco could cook up in a month of Sundays!
Comment by Marlowe Anderson — 9/13/2005 @ 11:13 am
I has been a very interresting couple of weeks. CNN and the MSM focus on “slow response” and the bodies. The bloggers that I read concentrate on the news and information, usually from people who are there with a local perspective. It is a better world now that we don’t have to rely on Anderson Cooper for news any more. As Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez (Dem-CA) said’ “We don’t control the media anymore”.
Comment by tyree — 9/13/2005 @ 11:38 am
Cooper’s anger last night was directed towards a Gretna police chief who refused to allow evacuees cross the Mississippi River Bridge into his “locked down” town after the storm. He did not mention at any time that the police chief, and mayor, of Gretna are both Democrats. He left it to the viewer to assume the chief was a red state republican redneck.
Comment by Charles Garrison — 9/13/2005 @ 11:43 am
It’s not really 24/7 news - it’s 24/7 entertainment… and yes this includes the favorite of the “right” - the vaunted and reviled Fox News. I have a difficult time watching any of it. No one broadcasting what they call “the news” seems to understand what news is… give me the facts and without histrionics - this would really catch my attention. Since that doesn’t seem to be forthcoming - I’ll stick with blogs that I think provide information without hysterics. (thus I am here)
Comment by Teresa — 9/13/2005 @ 11:43 am
If only these people could be embarrassed into behaving like decent human beings instead of the mercenary little twits they are.
Comment by RebeccaH — 9/13/2005 @ 11:47 am
Katrina Jambalya An interesting “Katrina Jambalaya” of narcissism, fakery, ignorance, adolescent and criminal behavior, incompetence, lots-o-money, grandstanding, laziness, finger-pointing, and stupidity is being served up post-Katrina. But this jambalaya isn’t just…
Trackback by ishkabible — 9/13/2005 @ 11:50 am
“infotainment” is the operative phrase. Just like the home shopping channels, if something does not sell, the LSM (read as Lame Stream Media), they move on to something else. Sadly, what sells is sex, blood, and controversy. If they don’t exist in the story, and the LSM can’t create it, then it’s not news. It is all about the money. And, of course, power, too.
Comment by Dave — 9/13/2005 @ 1:55 pm
Anderson Cooper, son of Gloria Vanderbilt, is simply not used to such frustrations as a dead body or the inability to control ones surroundings. Grandfather simply never would have stood for it.
Comment by Larry Folb — 9/13/2005 @ 2:33 pm
What is interesting to me is how the MSM is becoming more and more shrilly leftist as the Blogoshpere busts them on their mistakes. You would think being caught in misstatements would cause them to become more circumspect; rather they have become more shrill and vengeful.
Comment by CommonCents — 9/13/2005 @ 2:53 pm
I saw that interview with the Police Chief. I thought he did a great job holding up against Cooper. Cooper kept hammering at him with the same question masked in a different way and the Chief didn’t lose his cool, he kept with the facts. I wish more people wouldn’t wither under the camera’s eye.
Comment by Michael — 9/13/2005 @ 2:55 pm
Teresa nailed it. I can’t stand to watch clowns shouting over each other - from either side of the political spectrum. O’Reilly is sometimes right, sometimes wrong, but never uncertain. Hannity and Colmes - food fight. Greta the ghoul, forget it. Natalie’s dead, like a lot of other poor souls who rode off with the wrong guy. I’m waiting for Greta to trot out the psychic. How can people watch this stuff? CNN and MSNBC are worse. Nothing Bush does will ever placate those clowns. If I were him, I’d restrict press briefings to print journalists.
Comment by MarkD — 9/13/2005 @ 2:56 pm
Did anyone actually watch Cooper interviewing Landrieu? With death and destruction all around, Landrieu completely ignored Cooper’s opening question and launched into a long, fawning monologue of thanking President Bush, thanking the congress, thanking every politician in sight… She came across as completely out of touch with reality. I was every bit as angry at her response as Cooper was. How anyone could take Landrieu’s side against Cooper surpasses all understanding. The actual facts of the case matter. Canned diatribes against mainstream media, bereft of any information about what actually happened in this specific case, are about as relevant as Landrieu’s comments.
Comment by Mick — 9/13/2005 @ 3:08 pm
My worst fear is that Katrina results in a greater and accelerated rending open of the divide present in America since the 2000 election. As disasters go, in a technical sense, 9/11 and Katrina do not hold enough similarities to validly measure governmental response between them as good or bad. However, I do believe that comparing the response of Americans not directly involved in either disaster is a valid comparison and has value, as the impacts from both disasters would be roughly equivalent in terms of real daily impact to that vast group. I’m talking about the vast majority of us, those lucky enough to not be directly effected. Those that can only help by donation, and who suffer from the perceived enormity of the event as viewed through the TV and newspapers - not as those who experience the specific and near-infinitely greater suffering of direct loss. How we reacted to the two disasters may well be very telling as to our future as a nation. There is little disagreement that for a period of time after 9/11 there was a unity present in our nation that is not present after Katrina. True, there were differences of opinion and perspective, but by and large they were not expressed in ways that cause and increase the painful, hurtful divisions that we see today. Where post 9/11 primary expressions of the national conscience could be best signified by the words caring, grief, and unity; they are replaced now after Katrina by the words blame, recrimination, and division. Not that American’s economic response - as usual - is less than absolutely wonderful - it is. My fellow Americans of all stripes are nothing if not generous - that is a trait we share to our enduring credit. The outpouring of money to help the victims of Katrina is astounding, and the hard work of so many paid and unpaid Americans toward saving and helping those in need (99.999% of which is behind the scenes of the national stage) is encouraging and I am damned proud of all those people. But highly visible non-monetary contributions to the disaster, emotional and spiritual public expressions if you will, are critical - especially in the long days ahead as those responses set the national tone for the required further very difficult actions and discourse. In those important areas, from what I can tell, the response of America as measured through our major media sources - is possibly the worst in our history and may be a sad and dangerous precedent of things to come. Of course, we’ll get past Katrina. Soon, the vast majority of America will be at most marginally interested and effected by Katrina as we pursue our daily lives. Other things both profound and mundane will command our attention leaving little for Katrina. But we may nonetheless be changed as a nation due to our own behaviors in the relatively brief period of time that was Katrina. Changed - unlike after 9/11 and other disasters - in that the divisions between us became far deeper and wider and more inflamed than before.
Comment by F15C — 9/13/2005 @ 3:57 pm
Shep Smith. Geraldo. FOXNews sets the standard. Sean Hannity coaches ‘nurses’ during the Shiavo affair. Here’s Powerline on Shiavo: “The memo benefited the only party that it could possibly have benefited: the Democrats.” And this: “The memo ‘does not sound like something written by a conservative; it sounds like a liberal fantasy of how conservatives talk. What conservative would write that the case of a woman condemned to death by starvation is ‘a great political issue’? Maybe such a person exists, but I doubt it.’” Not much room for crying. Watch Outfoxed.
Comment by Jim Jones — 9/13/2005 @ 5:30 pm
Katrina doesn’t change things so much as it does polarize them a bit more. Even acts of God are opportunities to bash the opposition. The best thing anyone could do is simply not watch television. Got rid of ours in 1979 and haven’t missed it. Kissed NPR goodbye about 5 years ago. Sometimes in the car, with poor reception, the only thing I can get that is not music (or something loosely defined as “music”, though I’m waiting for them to change the name on that)is either NPR, something in Spanish or baseball. I’m becoming more knowledgeable about RBIs, etc. Like the bumbper sticker says, Kill Your TV. You’ll be doing yourself and the rest of us a favor.
Comment by dymphna — 9/13/2005 @ 6:08 pm
The media are a bunch of real innovators. Shepard Smith’s anger and obvious distress at the lack of response on I-10 and at the Superdome was successful because it was legitimate. He did not appear to have any point of view other than frustration at a situation that was terrible. CNN simply tried to copy it, and having no real, compelling scene, decided to vent their “anger” according to political bias. The only thing I’ve seen CNN do well is Blitzer’s companion who lived in New Orleans and can translate what you are seeing by helicopter to his interactive map. Strange how no politics, just information works.
Comment by Bob — 9/13/2005 @ 6:33 pm
Changed … in that the divisions between us became far deeper and wider and more inflamed than before. You say that as if it’s bad thing. We’re stuck in a two party system - even if the Dems implode or the Repubs fracture we’ll end up with two major parties, it’s the way our system reaches equilibrium. Given that, there will always be a divide. It’s a bit vitriolic at the moment, but by historical standards not much, if any, worse than “usual”. A clear divide makes choosing easy. I don’t much care for Mr. Bush - but YIKES! Mr. Kerry as an alternative? (Mr. Lieberman on the other hand…, but he, and those like him, will always get destroyed in the primaries - again, it’s the way our system works.)
Comment by mrsizer — 9/13/2005 @ 7:28 pm
Where F15C made comments regarding the aftermath of 9/11 versus Katrina and the huge divide, there was one major difference. Our leaders and how they reacted to these disasters. That’s why I’m so happy that President Bush took responsibility (whether he was personally responsible or not does not matter), since that is what leaders do. We now must get past the mistakes and move on — first step to move on is to acknowledge the mistake. Of course, the left calls it ‘blame’. Notice however that the LA Governor/New Orleans Mayor aren’t speaking up, nor did they give the people hope when they really needed it as was the case after 9/11. Rather it was more along the lines of fear, anguish, and ‘what are we gonna do?’ In disasters of any sort, leaders are what we need no matter what the political party. Note that when the leaders (i.e., the disaster relief folks that are truly fixing the problems) arrive, (and hooray for the Coast Guard!), when the Police and National Guard showed up at the SuperDome, even those poor folks that were extremely stressed and lost so much were celebrating. We voted for them to be our leaders, it’s time they get past this garbage and realize it. Hopefully when the next disaster comes, better leaders will come forward and we will be unified again. Sure is difficult with the MSM out there though - thus I’m here too!
Comment by Jan — 9/13/2005 @ 11:30 pm
“What is interesting to me is how the MSM is becoming more and more shrilly leftist as the Blogoshpere busts them on their mistakes. You would think being caught in misstatements would cause them to become more circumspect; rather they have become more shrill and vengeful.” Exactly what seems to be happening, unfortunately. I used to think that the advent of blogs would improve the performance of the media, but instead they are getting observably worse.
Comment by CJ — 9/14/2005 @ 12:43 am
Did you know that our troops “screwed up” New Orleans? Look at the cartoon referenced in the first post here: http://newjerseyblog.blogspot.com/
Comment by Justin — 9/15/2005 @ 10:29 am
I have a question. Watching CNN, FOX, etc. the Superdome situation, I kept wondering why no one in the press had called the Red Cross to ask why no supplies were being delived to these people. I heard much hang wringing, sympathy, outrage but nobody with the sense to make some phone calls or demand that the Red Cross, FEMA, give them a call ON AIR. Supposedly, they were the only people on the ground with the ability to communicate to the rest of the world. I got so frustrated, I almost called them myself! The press has power, the power to get people’s attention. I know it is not their job but it looked to me that the general attitude of the powers that be didn’t consider it theirs either. From purely a journalistic view, what a scoop it would have been on Tue. or Wed. to taken the cameras to the Red Cross head quarters and demanded an answer and the answer was the Governor refused to let them in or stonewalling. Can’t believe Cooper, Rivera, or Brian didn’t think of it. Or even better yet, loading up some trucks with food and water and filming them being stopped by any of the agencies involved but all we got was handwringing and finger pointing. We have all seen them embarrass several people into action before, why not now? Perhaps the ratings were just too good too consider any action that would shortened the suffering. Too cynical? may have shortened the suffering.
Comment by Janeway — 9/16/2005 @ 6:03 am
Anderson Cooper - Opportunist
Trackback by The Tao of Jeff — 9/18/2005 @ 4:48 pm