CNN REPORTER ANDERSON Cooper was roughed up while walking on the streets of Cairo as citizens protested. Is that news?
NOTE: The video that was originally attached here was removed from YouTube. You can see Cooper getting pummeled here, and talking about it here.
10 comments:
I think it is absolutely news by showing a first hand experience by a nationally recognized journalist. This gives us an accurate depiction of what really is going on in Cairo.
There is a nation of people whose lives are in turmoil. Every day, they struggle with poverty and oppression - and now, violence.
Anderson Cooper parachutes on to the scene, gets roughed up, and he's the big story?
In a week or so, Cooper will be back in his million dollar flat in Manhattan.
The Egyptians will continue living in dangerous uncertainty.
- George
(the teacher who thinks journalists should cover stories, not glorify themselves)
The clip is a fine addition to the website perhaps, but breaking news? Absolutely not. There are more ground breaking things happening over there right now.
The headline labeled as 'breaking news' here is "900+ Wounded, 1 Killed in Cairo". I think the anchor looks a bit foolish reporting about a few journalists being 'roughed up' with that headline beneath her. While on the calmest of days this might be considered news, under the circumstances it is hardly relevant. Cooper is an American celebrity and he couldn't be less of an integral part of what is going on in Egypt.
Is Cooper really glorifying himself here? I wouldn't go so far as to say his little tiff is 'news,' but in this day and age the fact that this tidbit became a national soundbite is totally out of his control. CNN would have reported the shit out of that whether Cooper asked them to or not, simply because America loves her celebrities.
Its all in your perspective. I think your average american who watches Anderson Cooper identifies with him and when we report that he is being roughed up then people here understand the severity of the situation because without something they can directly correlate to it's just something happening "over there". I think he does a good service and reaches a vast audience if he gets a little glory and fame on the side I can live with that. Must you BE poor to be able to be an objective journalist? Does where you live dictate your ability to do your job? It is news to me, i want to know and I agree with Hillary Clinton on atleast this one point, assault on press is unacceptable!
I would have to say that I definitely do not think this is worthy of breaking news, but I do believe that it is a little out of the ordinary and should be reported because aren't journalists supposed to be neutral grounds for things like this. The journalists are only there to tell the whole, unbiased story and get it out there for people to debate and possibly find a solution for but they are being roughed up now for possibly not being from their country? I just don't think its right for them to have done that when reporting what is going on there in Egypt when it could be helpful to them.
It's sad Anderson Cooper was hurt while covering the story in Egypt, but what's really sad is that without his fame, many Americans wouldn't even know that there are people dying in Egypt. Cooper's famous, and I'm sure many people are concerned, but there are many more people out there that should be our focus. A journalist's fame shouldn't divert attention away from the current events that are shaping a country's entire government.
I'm uncomfortable with the fact that CNN is focusing so much on Anderson Cooper's condition when they should be focusing on what he was actually reporting on when he got hurt. I like the fact that journalists are getting to the scene where they can report first hand, kind of like journalism during Vietnam. Yes, journalists are being attacked by protesters, but instead of focusing on the injuries of Anderson Cooper let's try and learn why they are attacking all the reporters. It's not just Anderson Cooper getting hurt because he's going all 360 up in Egypt. It's reporters from ABC and CBS and the BBC. Why protesters are attacking the media-- that's news!
- Payne Schroeder (J1111)
He knew what he was getting into. He was going into a country that was clearly having problems. Chances were that he was going to get hurt. I feel kinda bad for him, just because he did get hurt, but people have survived worse.
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