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February 10, 2012
 
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A letter to Anderson Cooper

by Bob Sassone, posted Feb 8th 2008 10:42AM

Anderson CooperDear Anderson:

I was just reading about you over at TV Newser. I guess this is the new trend in TV news shows, anchors blogging live while their show is still going on. Greta Van Susteren over on Fox News has been doing it, and now you're doing it too.

You called Wednesday night's first effort "an experiment." As far as I can tell, you didn't actually blog during the broadcast, you just answered viewers questions in the comments section of the blog (if I'm wrong about this let me know), but I can see how you're all trying to connect television to the web, and I'm not sure how I feel about it. I blog all day for a living, but I'm not sure I want to see my TV news anchors live blogging while they're doing a live show on television.

It would be one thing if Soledad O'Brien was doing it on her old MSNBC show The Site (ah, memories) since that show was about the web and technology. And I'm sure this would fit in well over on G4 too. But I don't know if I want you or Katie Couric or Brian Williams actually live blogging while the news is going on.

You certainly don't have time to blog anything too worthwhile (at least I hope you don't - you must already be busy during commercial breaks), and it could just turn into some lame attempt at "interactivity." In the comments last night, you answered a viewer's question about Britney Spears and told us you were taking TheraFlu for a cold (that stuff is good - I took Comtrex one time and it made me feel worse). Yeah, that's fun and all, but I just find it a bit disappointing that everything we do now has to have some "multi-tasking" aspect to it. I'd rather you do the show and then blog when you're not on the air. It won't interrupt what you're doing on the show, and the blog posts will be more substantial.

But as you said it's an experiment, so we'll see how it goes. If you keep going, you should definitely get some sort of official icon so people don't impersonate you like they did the other night.

Hope you feel better!

Best,

Bob

P.S. Please, no more stories about Britney, OK?

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7 Comments

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Martha Brill

Comment # 3 should be removed since it claims to have been posted by Anderson Cooper but was obviously posted by an imposter (check the link!).

February 09 2008 at 4:08 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Karamia

A comment from Mr. Anderson himself? Wonder who that really is?!

I too agree with Bill. The fancy gadgets in the Election Center are great, and even better if they worked all the time. There's way too many glitches, and the neat "tricks" come off as flashy and ridiculous in some instances...the magic pizza...err...the pie chart that was never used again after it's debut.

February 09 2008 at 4:42 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Matt

I agree. No more Britney stories!

I like Anderson Cooper. It makes me sad to see his show covering the tabloid stories.

February 08 2008 at 5:26 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
BJ

I agree Bob. It looks like CNN will try any gimmick they can, from stupid caption photos to live blogging to having their guests comment about Anderson's good looks to keep the viewership up on 360. I can't imagine Anderson enjoying this new task of "interacting" with the viewers, it is well known that he doesn't even respond to his e-mails. For the record, John King did a little better last night.

February 08 2008 at 1:43 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Joey Geraci

Who are you to question my reporting style, Mr. Sassone? I have been working in TV News most of my life, and I think I have the self control and concentration to answer a few simple questions online during commercials of my broadcast.

As far as getting an "official" icon, I don't think that is necessary. I can't imagine anybody being able to convince other that they were me just by saying so.

February 08 2008 at 1:38 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
BillS

I don't think there was an appearance on Super Tuesday of the magic floating pie chart or the sweeping of circles into candidate labeled sections via touchscreen. They've kept the zoom-able state map, which I think is a decent way to get information across.

So in general, I think they've been good about trying stuff out, and getting rid of the things that are clearly goofy and pointless.

February 08 2008 at 11:49 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Scott

Once again proving that CNN's operating philosophy is "the more technology, the better, even if it serves no useful purpose".

Anyone who saw their Super Tuesday coverage, or Blitzer in that ridiculous show of his with all the TV screens (or just watched clips of them on "The/A Daily Show") already knows this.

February 08 2008 at 10:49 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply

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