Tuesday, September 13, 2005
Reporters Gone Wild
Here's another article about coverage of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Media is a Plural's Rory O'Connor wonders if the tough questioning by news orgs will continue after all is said and done. Below is an excerpt from the article:
Although the on-air breakdown of “anti-anchorperson” Cooper (as CNN/U.S president Jonathan Klein ludicrously dubbed him) may well have been “an honest expression of his complicated personality,” it hardly qualifies as “a breakthrough for the future of television news.” Nor does NBC’s new-kid-on-the-anchor-block Brian Williams deserve the accolades he’s been given for actually being a reporter instead of just playing one on TV. The Associated Press, for example, reported that while “Hundreds of reporters, in all media, did heroic work on the Gulf Coast in the deadly storm’s aftermath. None arguably was as financially and symbolically important to his company as the job turned in by Williams. It could solidify his spot as network news’ top anchor.”
But after all, weren’t Cooper and Anderson – along with Tim Russert, Ted Koppel and Shepard Smith and other “Reporters Gone Wild” famously featured in video clips on Salon’s Web site asking angry questions of Bush administration officials – only doing their jobs?
Echoing the new common wisdom, Williams told the AP that Katrina’s lasting legacy for journalists may signal the end of an unusual (sic) four-year period of deference to people in power, and that the mute button seemingly in place since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks has been turned off.
“By dint of the fact that our country was hit we’ve offered a preponderance of the benefit of the doubt over the past couple of years,” the “Nightly News” anchorman said. “Perhaps we’ve taken something off our fastball and perhaps this is the story that brings a healthy amount of cynicism back to a news media known for it.”
Read the full article HERE.
Although the on-air breakdown of “anti-anchorperson” Cooper (as CNN/U.S president Jonathan Klein ludicrously dubbed him) may well have been “an honest expression of his complicated personality,” it hardly qualifies as “a breakthrough for the future of television news.” Nor does NBC’s new-kid-on-the-anchor-block Brian Williams deserve the accolades he’s been given for actually being a reporter instead of just playing one on TV. The Associated Press, for example, reported that while “Hundreds of reporters, in all media, did heroic work on the Gulf Coast in the deadly storm’s aftermath. None arguably was as financially and symbolically important to his company as the job turned in by Williams. It could solidify his spot as network news’ top anchor.”
But after all, weren’t Cooper and Anderson – along with Tim Russert, Ted Koppel and Shepard Smith and other “Reporters Gone Wild” famously featured in video clips on Salon’s Web site asking angry questions of Bush administration officials – only doing their jobs?
Echoing the new common wisdom, Williams told the AP that Katrina’s lasting legacy for journalists may signal the end of an unusual (sic) four-year period of deference to people in power, and that the mute button seemingly in place since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks has been turned off.
“By dint of the fact that our country was hit we’ve offered a preponderance of the benefit of the doubt over the past couple of years,” the “Nightly News” anchorman said. “Perhaps we’ve taken something off our fastball and perhaps this is the story that brings a healthy amount of cynicism back to a news media known for it.”
Read the full article HERE.
# posted by ATN @ 6:49 PM 
