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November 4, 2005
Cooper Populi
Part of our job is to monitor the comings and goings of media types, so it was an interesting Thursday as we witnessed the departure of CNN’s Aaron Brown and the insertion of Anderson Cooper into Brown’s “Newsnight” slot. Set aside, for the moment, the insincerity of the move on CNN’s part. And also set aside Cooper’s obvious talent for telling a story. What this move signals is that we have ourselves a popularity contest.
Sure, we’re not naïve. We understand the game. Some of us have been in front of or behind the camera for a living. But this isn’t Lou Gehrig coming in for Wally Pipp. Cooper has decent chops. But Brown was becoming Cronkite-like.
Of course you need more than a journalism degree to succeed in television news. A pretty face doesn’t hurt any. But when the head of your news organization says one reason for the switch is that Cooper is a recurring character on “Saturday Night Live” and how that makes him “known,” you wonder where the journalism degree disappeared to (assuming the guy is a journalist and not an MBA disguised as a journalist).
As a public relations firm, we need to have a solid understanding not only of the change, but the thinking behind the change. If we do, we have a much better opportunity to develop strategies and plans that allow us to tell our clients’ stories. How is Cooper’s storytelling different from Brown’s? What kind of news does a producer feed Cooper that she wouldn’t feed Brown? What are Cooper’s hot buttons? What pressure does CNN face to produce product that appeals to prospective advertisers and viewers – and fend off FOX News?
If I was Cooper, I wouldn’t get too comfortable.
Posted by Rich Sharp at November 4, 2005 1:40 PM