When we were here in September, many American soldiers told us they felt forgotten.This quote was posted on his blog on Monday, April 16th. One day later he is on his way back to Virginia to report on the shooting at Virginia Tech. Apparently Anderson has a short memory because he is leaving the forgotten soldiers behind after one day of reporting, four days before he was expected to leave. This could have been somebody elses decision at CNN, but I would think Anderson Cooper has enough pull to convince Ted Turner that since he was already on ground in Afghanistan that he should stay there and report on the forgotten war.
Over the last several months, I've received a lot of letters from the parents of soldiers serving here, and I promised many of them we would not forget about what their sons and daughters are doing in Afghanistan. So we've returned here, in part, to bring attention to this often overlooked war.
Is this guy serious? There are more than enough reporters flocking to Blacksburg, VA to cover this horrible tragedy. Anderson Cooper will not be adding anything substantial to the coverage. Undoubtedly he will show the same cell phone video and badger the same students that everyone else already has interviewed into submission.
Anderson Cooper is about ratings.
4 comments:
You are not thinking big picture here. AC doesn't make these decisions, CNN does.
And besides, how fair would it be to the soldiers in Afghanistan to be an aside to the VT coverage? Its best that 360 cover the VT tragedy and then return to Afghanistan when viewers mindsets are ready for other news.
People are so keyed into this massacre that they are not going to be watching anything else.
360 should return to Afghanistan when the coverage of the VT tragedy has disapated. That way, the war in Afghanistan will get 360's full attention.
I completely disagree with you.
I have been a soldier sitting in a foreign war zone wondering if anyone in America cares what is happening to me. Anderson Cooper is a high profile reporter and if I was one of the soldiers that he was scheduled to meet with I would be excited to show the American people the hard work I was doing over there.
The whole reason he was going there was to show them that they are not forgotten and then he picks up and leaves the moment a bigger news story comes along?
You are right, it might not be totally his decision. However, like I said, I think Anderson Cooper (the poster child of CNN) has enough pull to demand that he stay in Afghanistan considering they took the time to fly him 5,000 miles to get there.
As for the soldiers getting the coverage they deserve after this "tragedy has disapated," I also disagree with your statement. First of all, who is the ruling body that lets all of us know when this story has sufficiently disapated? To me that statement is an absolute slap in the face to the soldiers that are risking their life everyday over there. You are telling me that CNN couldn't break for 2 hours from reporting on the VT shooting and dedicate some time to the war on terror?
The bottom line is that CNN is too afraid to break from the VT story because they fear they might lose some viewers to one of the other 24 hour yap networks. Anderson Cooper is caught in the middle of it and comes out looking like the ass, in my opinion.
I forgot to mention that I honestly do welcome your point of view and thank you for reading my post. I just happen to disagree with you.
First, I totally agree with your frustration here. I think this war, no both wars should be the lead story every night. I believe the Afghanistan war is so under-reported on all networks and cable stations.
But Danny, don't you think these soldiers deserve the complete attetion of the public. Two days into this tragedy, the public (as sad as this is to say) is more interested in the VT story. Who is the ruling body? The public unfortunately.
I think this war should have its own spotlight. CNN could break coverage but would anyone watch?
Its like the Anna Nicole Smith story. People are more interested in this story than hearing about the two wars going on across the world.
It blows my mind what the people in this country find important. Unfortunately, the media has picked up on this trend and feels the need to feed their viewers.
Sad commentary on our society, isn't it? Thank you, by the way for being respectful and not chasing me off your blog for our difference of opinion! Its refreshing!
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