ELECTION 2016: I’ve Broken Up With Anderson Cooper

Yes, I know he’s not on my team. This was a figurative breakup with both him and a literal breakup with CNN.

The tipping point came with their incessant use of those annoying paid Trump supporters given way too much air time for having way too little to say.

CNN’s use of paid Trumpeteers has really undermined their credibility as network journalists and undercut their goal of informing the public. They waste my time, mislead facts as truths–why has CNN given them a platform?

THE TRUMPETEERS

Kaleyanne Conway
Leading the pack as Trump’s who-knows-how-many campaign managers, this former Marco Rubio manager smiles and states the opposite of any poll results. You name the debate–she says Trump won. Who cares? She gets paid regardless.

Jeffrey Lord
Clicking away on his laptop providing Who Cares Reganesque factoids.

Kayleigh McEnany
Young millennial who once compared Miss Universe to a terror suspect and purports that Trumps’s recorded sexual assault comments were, “not about sex.” Every comment she makes affirms to me a rock might be a better surrogate.

Corey Lewandowski
Fired from the Trump camp after roughing up a reporter, regularly spouts nonsense through perpetually tight-lipped pursed lips. My body language interpreter reads this as lies.

They have actively harmed the network’s pursuit of the truth.

So I have bid adieu to my long-time favorite news channel and my beloved Anderson Cooper.

Your iconic, wonderful mother must be so mortified that you have gone from a fearless reporter in the trenches of our recent wars and morphed into an entertainer trying to herd Trump Kittens.

I will also miss Don Lemon, covering everything #BlackLivesMatter from deep in the trenches as a credible journalist. I’ll miss you too, Brooke Baldwin, and Erin Burnett. You’ve both raised the bar for women journalists. And Jake, I love you but you’re one of them.

I have been with CNN since the early days when they were the first network to go to 24/7 news programming. They were always my first go-to for world news. But this historically crazy election has rubbed off on CNN and made them historically crazy and not credible as real journalists.

Oh, will I NOT miss that magic board of the United States flipping blue to red so quickly I cannot follow either candidate’s scenarios to 270 electoral college votes. My eyes cross during this segment, as well as my mood.

So, goodbye Anderson. I’m giving back the ring. I have found a new lover to replace you.

Flipping channels, I landed on MSNBC during the Rachel Maddow show. She speaks openly of being gay, something you never had the chutzpah to do on air, AC. Her one-hour show had no panels, no pundits, no Trumpeteers. Just the news. Sigh. That’s all I really want.

Bonus points for MSNBC, as it turns out that’s where they’ve been storing everyone who didn’t make the NBC cut. Tamron Hall has a show. Not so fond of Brian Williams, but maybe this is where he practices telling the truth. I believe in second chances.

Like the rest of America, I’m so tired of this election. I just want news without spin.

“Just the facts, Ma’am”
~Sergeant Joe Friday (anecdotal)

Photo Credit: Maassive Flickr via Compfight cc

Dori Owen

Dori Owen blogs on ArizonaGirlDiary.tumblr.com, is a columnist on FeminineCollective.com, a contributor/editor for The Lithium Chronicles, created the Facebook page Diary of an Arizona Girl, is an author on AskABipolar, was featured in the books FeminineCollective RAW&UNFILTERED VOL I and StigmaFighters Vol II, and is a zealous tweeter as @doriowen. She's a former LA wild child who settled into grownup life as a project manager, collecting an MBA and a few husbands along the way. Dori spent her adult years in Southern California, with a brief stay in Reno, and has now returned to where she ran away from in Arizona. She is a shown artist, writer, and her favorite pastime is upcycling old furniture she finds from thrift stores. She lives with her beloved rescued terrier, Olivia Twist, and the cat who came to visit but stayed. The love of her life is her grown son in Portland, Oregon who very much resents being introduced after her pets. But she she does love him the most.

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Dori Owen is a storyteller, writing from small town Arizona, after living a few decades in California as an LA Wild Child, with a brief stop in Reno. She settled into grownup life as a project manager, collecting an MBA and a few husbands along the way. She is a shown artist and her favorite pastime is upcycling old furniture and decor she finds from thrift stores. She lives with the cat who came to visit but stayed. The love of her life is her grown son who lives in Portland, Oregon. Her essays and poems have been published in RAW&UNFILTERED VOL I, StigmaFighters Vol 2, and Love Notes From Humanity. Her blogs have been featured on The Lithium Chronicles, Open Thought Vortex, Sudden Denouement, and The Mighty.

4 thoughts on “ELECTION 2016: I’ve Broken Up With Anderson Cooper

  1. He’s talked about being gay many times. He didn’t want to use it as a ratings gimmick so he didn’t announce it on his show. But he has talked openly about it on many talk shows.

    And I agree with the others, it is not fair to blame him for CNN’s policies. They bumped his Katrina report to cover a Trump rally, so I guess that shows how much control he has. And MSNBC is not really just the news, it’s left leaning, like Fox is right leaning. CNN tries to be impartial, which means he is not allowed to take sides on air.

    And in spite of all this, Trump has been attacking him for being unfair to him and partial to Hillary, and his supporters have been inundating him with homophobic slurs and death threats. Poor guy can’t catch a break.

  2. Love it, Dori! I just can’t wait for it all to be over. Enough already. It’s way too much. I’ve been trying to avoid any and all election news lately. But this is a really great article.

  3. I don’t think it’s fair to blame anderson for CNN’s policies. He had an issue with Corey being on the show. In fact his 10 yr anniversary Katrina special was bumped by CNN to cover a Trump rally. He is doing his best despite everything.

  4. Every single news agency is rife with opinions. Both liberal and conservative hast lost its journalistic integrity. I’m glad you’re bringing this issue into the light Dori, unfortunately, viewers won’t be able to find unbiased information from cable news. MSNBC is way too opinionated for me, let’s stick to facts and fewer opinions. All cable news have some degree of bias. This is one of the reasons I love Twitter, there you can find unbiased freelance journalists & drudge report is one of them. This is a very well written thought provoking article Dori, bravo!

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