Anderson Cooper Takes Over CNN Lead Anchor Chair

CNN is reporting this afternoon that its 57-year-old lead anchor, Aaron Brown, is departing the network, and will be replaced by 38-year-old Anderson Cooper.

Jon Klein, CNN/US President said today of Anderson Cooper "He's got a refreshing way of being the anti-anchor. He's not quote-unquote reporting at you. He's just being himself. He's asking the questions you would like answered. He's getting involved the way you might.... He brings such a passion to the storytelling that's infectious."

Cooper, along with CNN Chief International Correspondent Christiane Amanpour (who appears today on Oprah, talking about child sex-trafficking), are modern-day pioneers of new-style advocacy journalism, which infuses breaking stories with the reporters' passions and often, on-site reporting.

Since joining CNN in late 2001, Anderson Cooper has anchored major breaking stories, including the war in Afghanistan after Sept 11, the start of the Iraq War, the DC-area sniper story and the Space Shuttle Columbia explosion.

Cooper became prominent internationally for his emotional, spontaneous coverage of aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, especially an infamous, live exchange with US Senator Mary Landrieu, when Cooper incredulously interrupted the senator, "Excuse me...to listen to politicians thanking each other and complimenting each other....there are a lot of people here who are very upset and very angry....It just, you know, kind of cuts them the wrong way right now, because literally there was a body on the streets of this town yesterday being eaten by rats because this woman had been laying in the street for 48 hours."

Both Cooper and Amanpour are fascinating studies in journalistic dedication, interpretative reporting and humanitarian passions. And they officially are the new, leading faces of broadcast journalism, replacing the late Peter Jennings, Tom Brokaw, Aaron Brown, Dan Rather, soon-to-be-retired Ted Koppel and other practitioners of yesterday's style of journalism.
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Related Articles
-- Profile of CNN's Anderson Cooper, Journalist and CNN Anchor
-- Profile of Christiane Amanpour, CNN Chief International Correspondent
-- TV News, Blog-Style: Anderson Cooper and Advocacy Journalism
-- Profile of Peter Jennings (1938-2005), Newsman, Journalist and Longtime ABC News Anchor
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