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Anderson Cooper

It was totally unexpected… by us anyway.  We recently watched Anderson Cooper’s interview with former Presidential spokesperson, Scott McClellan, and we were very surprised at how tough, probing and confrontational the interview was.  It seemed like this would be a good time to feature quotes by Anderson Cooper.

The Emmy Award winning American journalist, author, and television anchor, Anderson Cooper, is currently working as the primary anchor of the CNN news show Anderson Cooper 360°. Cooper often broadcasts live on location for breaking news stories. As the anchor of his own fast-paced news hour, Anderson frequently travels worldwide the to cover such events as the tsunami damage in Sri Lanka, the 2005 elections in Iraq and the Cedar Revolution in Lebanon. His emotional and intense live coverage of Hurricane Katrina’s aftermath, also in 2005, helped increase his profile and made him a media star, and one of the most recognizable journalists in America.

Cooper was born to the writer Wyatt Emory Cooper and the artist, designer, writer, and heiress Gloria Vanderbilt. As a baby, he was photographed by Diane Arbus for Harper's Bazaar. At the age of three, Cooper was a guest on The Tonight Show, when he appeared with his mother. From age 10 to 13, Cooper modeled with Ford Models for Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein and Macy's. Cooper's father died when he was ten and his older brother, Carter, committed suicide in 1988. Carter’s suicide is apparently what sparked Anderson to become a journalist. He has said, “Loss is a theme that I think a lot about, and it’s something in my work that I dwell on. I think when you experience any kind of loss, especially the kind I did, you have questions about survival: Why do some people thrive in situations that others can’t tolerate? Would I be able to survive and get on in the world on my own?” 

After graduating from Yale, Cooper moved overseas to film his own reports in regions that were receiving little coverage stateside and sold them to Channel One, the ‘in classroom’ source of news to Jr. and Sr. high schools. Cooper ended up in Burma, where he reported on the student movement against the Burmese government. In the end, Anderson became the network’s chief international correspondent. He later relocated to Vietnam, where he studied Vietnamese at the University of Hanoi for a year. 

He has said this about his job as an anchorperson: “I think the notion of traditional anchor is fading away, the all-knowing, all-seeing person who speaks from on high. I don’t think the audience really buys that anymore. As a viewer, I know I don’t buy it. I think you have to be yourself, and you have to be real and you have to admit what you don’t know, and talk about what you do know, and talk about what you don’t know as long as you say you don’t know it. I tend to relate more to people on television who are just themselves, for good or for bad, than I do to someone who I believe is putting on some sort of persona. The anchorman on The Simpsons is a reasonable facsimile of some anchors who have that problem.”

“I just found it interesting to talk to adults I admired, and to discover that the path they took was never all that clearly defined. It was comforting to me when I figured out that you don’t have to know what you want to do with your life; you just have to take a few steps in one direction, and other opportunities will open up.”

- Anderson Cooper  (1967- )

 

“A lot of compelling stories in the world aren’t being told, and the fact that people don't know about them compounds the suffering. To me, there is value in bearing witness to what is happening to people who are living their lives with great dignity in the face of horror.”

- Anderson Cooper  (1967- )

 

“I think it’s a good thing that there are bloggers out there watching very closely and holding people accountable. Everyone in the news should be able to hold up to that kind of scrutiny. I’m for as much transparency in the newsgathering process as possible.”

- Anderson Cooper  (1967- )

 

                                        

“I think if you’ve suffered, if you’ve experienced loss, you’re probably more open to understanding it and more comfortable talking about it and experiencing it.”

- Anderson Cooper  (1967- )

 

Anyone who says they’re not afraid at the time of a hurricane is either a fool or a liar, or a little bit of both.”

- Anderson Cooper  (1967- )

 

“The world reacts very strangely to people they see on TV, and I can begin to understand how anchor monsters are made. If you’re not careful, you can become used to being treated as though you’re special and begin to expect it. For a reporter, that’s the kiss of death.”

- Anderson Cooper  (1967- )

 

“I’m not trying to be something that I’m not. I’m just trying to be myself and talk about what I know, and admit what I don’t know.”

- Anderson Cooper  (1967- )

 

“Everyone says buying your first apartment makes you feel like an adult. What no one mentions is that selling it turns you right back into a child.”

- Anderson Cooper  (1967- )

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