Sunday, January 07, 2007

Is "Anderson Cooper 360" Another "Entertainment Tonight"?

NewsBusters
By Rich Noyes, January 4th. 2007

Someone at CNN needs to buy a dictionary, or at least visit dictionary.com once in a while. Just a couple of days ago, as MRC’s Scott Whitlock noted, 'American Morning' had a major graphic gaffe, showing a headline asking “Where’s Obama” as the anchors talked about the hunt for the most-wanted terrorist Osama bin Laden, not the Senator from Illinois.

Last night on 'Anderson Cooper 360,' as the anchor introduced a tabloid item on the ongoing spat between Donald Trump and Rosie O’Donnell, a giant graphic over Cooper’s shoulder carried the headline “SAME FUED, DIFFERENT YEAR.” If that misspelling of “FEUD” was meant as some kind of an inside joke, Cooper didn’t say a word about it. More likely than not, it was just another embarrassing example of the need for all of the 24-hour cable news networks to slow down just enough to double-check their work.

Incidentally, Cooper’s angle seemed to be that the Rosie vs. the Donald F-E-U-D was a play for ratings: “Rosie O'Donnell goes back to 'The View' on Monday. And call it cynical, but a new season of Donald Trump’s 'The Apprentice' starts this coming Sunday. Coincidence? You decide.”

Which begs the question: Why is Cooper’s '360' mimicking 'Entertainment Tonight' by following the F-E-U-D so closely? Could that also be a cynical ratings-based decision? You decide.

11 comentarios:

Lee said...

In my opinion, NewsBusters is little more than a Fox fan site but, in this case, I agree. CNN does have an embarrassing number of spelling errors.

eliza said...

I'm loath to give NewsBusters any credit, but I agree too. They took the Donald/Rosie thing way too far and the very noticeable spelling errors are unacceptable. Is their editor sick or something?

Anonymous said...

In the minority here, but I didn't mind the Donald-Rosie diversion at all, it was sort of the way 360 was in the past when it first began and Anderson and Jeff Toobin already pointed out that the ratings would increase because they were talking about it, they knew that. Was 360 the ONLY news program to cover it? I'm glad to see some humor in the show again along with the more serious stories.

They do need a spell checker immediately though.

Lee said...

You're not in the minority, Anon. I didn't mind the Donald-Rosie diversion either. I was just commenting on the spelling mistakes.

Anonymous said...

@Lee, great! I thought I was the only person who sort of got a kick out of the whole silly mess.

Anonymous said...

@lee -Hi!
I didn't mind rosie vs donald story when it started but they're taking it too far. It should've forgotten it a while ago, there are more important things to talk about. And as for spelling - hey, maybe it's also part of the ratings strategy? just like their ET segment -- media and blogs will write about it, maybe more people will tune in to see what's the buzz about

Anonymous said...

@all OT anyone watch the Apprentice tonight? Not here and Rosie's back on the View tomorrow thankfully I have to work.

eliza said...

I agree with Ivy. Initially the Rosie/Donald stuff was a funny diversion with the popcorn gag and everything. But like usual, they took it too far.

Anonymous said...

If it hadn't been for Anderson mentioning that Apprentice was airing Sunday night...I would have not even thought about watching it!

Unfortunately, I did watch it because it came on right after the "Grease, You're the one that I want" new show which I got sucked into watching.

Trump was his usual arrogant self!

marie said...

Jade, I am not sure why AC360 is continuing the coverage on this. It may be a ratings thing with all three people (Cooper, O'Donnell, and Trump). I think "The Donald" has gone too far and has stooped lower than Rosie. Anderson, imo, is having fun at their expense.

@all
I have a feeling that this spat is not going away anytime soon.

Anonymous said...

This stupid Rosie/Trump thing was and still is being covered by all the other cable news stations, in fact FOX had several phone ins from Trump to O'Reilly and Greta.
Go figure!

MANIFESTO

Don't think for me. Don't assume what I want to hear or read. Give me facts. Give me reasons. But not yours. Bring me debate. Enlighten me. Today, accountability is masked behind anonymity; bylines are hidden by zeros and ones. Everyone publishes; everyone is "in the know." Ethics are non-existent. Speculation is king. The truth is masked and a hostage. Empowered by our minds, WE ARE THE FREAKSPEAKERS!

FAIR USE NOTICE

This site contains copyrighted material, the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of issues of environmental, political, news and humanitarian significance. We believe this constitutes a "fair use" of any such material as provided in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with the title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this blog is distributed and available without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.

If your obsession against us and our content endures, you might find more information at: Law.

If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond "fair use", you must obtain permission from the blog owner.