It’s amazing what you find when you’re bored at work

And again I found something I didn’t know about Anderson. “I Want Media” had an online poll up that elected him the “2005 Media Person Of The Year”. To be honest, he always is my personal Meadia Person Of The Year.
I know he was named several stuff like People’s Sexiest (Ok, he didn’t make it number one), Vanity Fair’s Best Dressed (I’d like to meet the people that chose him to be “best dressed”, they are certainly kinda blind) or Ok Magazine’s Sexiest Silver Fox (We all know he made the second place and George “Salt’n'Pepper Clooney won, whatever), but this one was totally new for me. He even beat the Google guys.^^
I also didn’t know that Jon Stewart made it in 2004. To call him the “Fake News Anchor” is just too funny. 

 

Here’s the whole article:

 

Anderson Cooper, the host of “Anderson Cooper 360°” on CNN, was named the 2005 Media Person of the Year in the annual online poll held by I Want Media. Cooper was announced as the year’s top figure in the media industry on CNBC’s “The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch” on Dec. 5.

The readers of I Want Media nominated 10 candidates and sent thousands of hits to the two-week-long Internet poll. The winner last year, in 2004, was Jon Stewart of Comedy Central — a “fake” news anchor.

Following Cooper, the figures who earned the most votes this year were, in order: Steve Jobs; Howard Stern; Google guys Sergey Brin and Larry Page; and Martha Stewart. Here are the 10 candidates:

Anderson Cooper. The former reality television show host may very well be the news anchor of our age. The youthful, telegenic ex-host of “The Mole” is a contributor to metrosexual magazine Details and possesses solid journalistic chops from his reporting stints in locales like Bosnia and Rwanda. His “emotive” reporting during Hurricane Katrina connected with viewers — and helped catapult him to his new role as the centerpiece of CNN. Fans favorably compare him to fake news anchor Jon Stewart (the 2004 Media Person of the Year), which, says Cooper, is “high praise.” Updated: Q&A interview with Anderson Cooper.

Nick Denton. Blog pal Arianna Huffington calls him “the Rupert Murdoch of the blogosphere.” Actually, his Gawker Media stable of popular blogs seems more like Conde Nast of blog world, attracting desirable demos and big-name advertisers. While Jason Calacanis sold his Weblogs outfit to AOL and Andrew Sullivan hooked up his blog to Time.com, Denton licensed Gawker content to Yahoo, insisting that “the whole point about blogs is that they’re not part of big media.” Denton and his crew of scrappy, buzz-making bloggers have probably done more than about anyone to establish blogs as a legit alternative medium.

Google guys. Sergey Brin and Larry Page are scaring the bejesus out of the mainstream media. The founders of the omnipotent search giant seem to be continuously launching — or rumored to be launching — new projects with the potential to crush traditional media business models. Will Google extend its ad-brokering system to TV commercials? Should Google be allowed to digitize the books of major libraries for online searches? Will Google drain classified ad revenue from newspapers? At least the ascendancy of Google and other portals gave new value to Time Warner’s much-maligned AOL.

Steve Jobs. Thanks to the efforts of the CEO of Apple Computer, you can now watch “Lost” and “Desperate Housewives” on your iPod. The announcement in October was following by a string of other revoluntary developments in the way consumers can access television programming. TiVo recently revealed plans to allow unlimited TV-show downloads to the device. As for Apple, its next move may be media domination. One analyst predicts we’ll one day see an iPod with enough storage to turn it into a “portable media center” that will play hundreds of movies and thousands of songs.

Judith Miller. The former New York Times reporter should be named Media Person of the Year “because she maintained her journalistic integrity while being pressured by the government to give it up,” says one e-mail to I Want Media. Well, perhaps. Miller was praised by her editors after serving nearly three months in jail for refusing to reveal her source in “Plamegate.” But soon after she was freed, Miller came under what she calls a “tsunami” of criticism for her role in the story. Top editor Bill Keller says she “seems to have misled” the newspaper. Did Miller give the Times a black eye to rival the Jayson Blair scandal of ‘03?

Rupert Murdoch. In April, the media tycoon delivered a pivotal industry speech, warning media folk to wise up to the potential threat of the Internet: “We need to realize that the next generation … [has] a different set of expectations …” His News Corp. is now busy buying up nontraditional media assets like MySpace.com (and has no interest in acquiring Knight Ridder). Meanwhile, his Fox News continues to dominate and may spin off a business news channel in 2006. Murdoch this year contended with the surprise resignation of son Lachlan while watching fellow longtime media boss Michael Eisner step down at Disney. But Murdoch, 74, isn’t going anywhere. “I’m sick of being told I’m dying,” he says. “I’m feeling great.”

Craig Newmark. Even Rupert Murdoch says he’s a fan of Craigslist. Within 10 short years, Newmark’s no-frills community Web service has come to rule the classified advertising marketplace worldwide. Goldman Sachs has described Craigslist — which is staffed by less than 20 people — as “a real menace” to any media company that sell classified ads. Its low-key, unassuming founder doesn’t perceive his creation to be any sort of threat. Many people turn to Craigslist because of its “culture of trust,” he says. “We are simple, effective, honest.” Newmark is now rumored to be exploring the possibility of a news site written by “citizen reporters.”

Sumner Redstone. “The age of conglomerates has ended,” proclaims the chief of sprawling media giant Viacom, which will split next year into two separate public companies, to be called Viacom and CBS, in an effort to boost “shareholder value.” Redstone may be on to something. Talk of break-ups now surrounds other media biggies, including Time Warner, Knight Ridder, Primedia, and VNU. Observing that younger audiences are fleeing traditional media and entertainment, Redstone has been steadily increasing his personal stake in a video-game publisher, Midway Games. He may be on to something yet again.

Howard Stern. The infamous shock jock is leaving his longtime radio show on Viacom’s Infinity Broadcasting at the end of the year to host a new “uncensored” show on Sirius Satellite Radio. Stern’s widely publicized move, following his confrontations with the FCC over alleged indecent broadcasts, could help propel the young medium of satellite radio more into the mainstream. Hugh Panero, the head of rival satellite firm XM, dismisses Sirius’s Stern strategy as a “gamble all on one personality.” But in an e-mail to I Want Media, one fan gushes that Stern is truly “forging new frontiers.”

Martha Stewart. She was already voted Media Person of the Year in 2002. But 2005 may be her biggest year yet. How often do media moguls get released from prison and immediately star in two high-profile TV shows? While Stewart’s version of “The Apprentice” won’t continue past December, her syndicated daytime show is going strong. Advertisers are returning to her flagship magazine and her new advice book is a bestseller. Coming soon: a Sirius satellite radio channel, a new line of home DVDs, even Martha Stewart-branded residential communities. She recently told Fortune magazine: “I cannot be destroyed.”

Honorable Mention: The “Dying” Newspaper. Barely a day goes by without a pundit declaring that the obituary of the print newspaper will soon be written, as more and more younger readers flee to the Web and other media. For now, newspapers are a profitable business. But pressure from investors to preserve profit margins is leading more publishers to cut jobs — an estimated 1,900 this year — which only fuels the perception that newspapers are on their way out.

 

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And they even had a little interview with him…I looove interviews! Andy says a lot of interesting stuff. He repeats it very often from interview to interview, but you’re also able to find out something new.
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I Want Media: You were voted Media Person of the Year. Do you believe you made an impact in 2005?

Anderson Cooper: I’m not really conscious of myself in that sense. I’m doing what I’ve been doing for the last 15 years. 2005 was a very eventful year, and I certainly went to a lot of places where things were happening. I’ll leave it to other people to judge.

IWM: What were the big events of 2005?

Cooper: It started off with the tsunami. I literally went from the ball drop on New Year’s Eve in Times Square to Sri Lanka. And certainly Indonesia was a very humbling story to be on. I was there in early August reporting on starvation, particularly among children. From there I went to Hurricane Katrina. To me, Katrina still feels like the most important story going on right now. It continues to be a disaster. It’s something we’re following every day.

IWM: Your “emotional” reporting during your early coverage of Katrina reportedly helped lead to a heightened role for you at CNN. Do you believe reporters should inject more “emotion” into their reporting?

Cooper: I don’t know what that means. I think you should be yourself and be honest. Pretending to be outraged or emotional is silly. I don’t think the lesson of Katrina is that reporters should start inserting themselves into stories. That sounds very artificial to me.

As a viewer, I don’t care about what some blow-dried anchor thinks about a political position. That doesn’t interest me. It’s not something I’d watch.

IWM: Fans favorably compare you to Jon Stewart, the host of “The Daily Show” on Comedy Central. Do you consider the comparison to be a compliment?

Cooper: Sure. Jon Stewart’s very cool and very funny. A lot of what he does is very smart. He doesn’t actually cover news — as he often says — but I’m certainly a fan.

IWM: Do you have any qualms about being compared to a comedian?

Cooper: I haven’t heard those comparisons myself, so I’m guessing that what they’re based on is the idea of a nontraditional anchor. And that comparison I’ll certainly take.

I never really set out to be an anchor. I didn’t go to anchor school. I probably don’t speak like a lot of anchors speak. Maybe I don’t look the way anchors are supposed to look …

IWM: How are anchors supposed to look?

Cooper: I’m not sure, really. 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.

IWM: You’re a popular news personality. Why do viewers find you appealing?

Cooper: [pause] If I were a more traditional news anchor I would have an answer to that question. As a viewer, I like to watch people who I believe are real and are being honest. I’ve never pretended to be something that I wasn’t. I’ve never pretended to be an all-knowing, all-seeing anchor. I just don’t buy that as a viewer.

IWM: You’re a contributing editor for Details magazine. What do you write about?

Cooper: I write a mix of stuff. Some of it is serious. I’ve written behind-the-scenes looks at covering Katrina and the tsunami, about reporting in Iraq. I’ve written about my brother’s suicide and the impact it had on my early reporting.

And I’ve written about what it’s like to read a book that your mom wrote about her sex life.

IWM: That doesn’t sound like something a traditional news anchor would do.

Cooper: [laughter] That’s probably on the list of things they tell you in anchor school to avoid.

IWM: Why write for Details?

Cooper: Frankly, no one else had approached me. I always wanted to write for a magazine. And the editor, Dan Peres, is really smart. They’ve got a great roster of writers — Augusten Burroughs, Anthony Swafford, Carrie Fisher. They’ve got an edge to them. I don’t read many magazines anymore. Details is one of the few that I read.

IWM: CNN president Jon Klein suggested recently that there won’t be news anchors within five years. People will type keywords into their handheld devices and up will pop the news they want. Are you concerned?

Cooper: [laughter] I’m not concerned, no. Look, television is changing. I don’t think five years ago anyone could have predicted where things would be right now. So I have no idea where things are going to be five years from now. There are enough things in the world that keep me up at night. That’s certainly not one of them.

IWM: What keeps you up at night?

Cooper: I knew you were going to ask that. Oh, I don’t know. Life, I guess.

IWM: What are the qualities of a good news anchor?

Cooper: Again, I think honesty is the most important. And being willing to go and see for yourself these amazing, sometimes terrible times that we’re living in. One of the things I learned from Peter Jennings early on when I was at ABC was there’s really something to be said for going to these stories. Peter used to go to Sarajevo all the time. You really learn things when you go and see it for yourself. It’s completely different from sitting in a studio.

It’s important to be passionate about news, and to figure out ways to take viewers on that trip that you take. There’s this notion that viewers don’t care about international stories. I don’t think that’s true. People care about any story that’s well told and interesting. A good news anchor is someone who lives and breathes news. I think that passion comes across on the screen.

IWM: Would Katie Couric be a good choice to take over as anchor of the “CBS Evening News”?

Cooper: She’s a remarkable talent. I think she can do anything she wanted to in this business. And out of this business, frankly.

IWM: Where do you see yourself in five years?

Cooper: Being downloaded on a handheld device maybe? Hopefully?

I’ve had an amazing experience with CNN, and hope to continue having amazing experiences with CNN for a long time. There’s a real desire here to have people who are out every day finding stories and telling stories — not just talking about the news.

IWM: Are you referring to Fox News, MSNBC?

Cooper: I’m just saying in general that there are a lot of programs that just talk about the news. It’s an expensive, time-consuming proposition to actually have bureaus and be able to respond to stories. CNN proves over and over again that it values news and reporting facts.

IWM: What’s in your news diet? Where do you get your news every morning?

Cooper: I get several newspapers delivered to my apartment. I get the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, the Washington Post, New York Post, New York Daily News, L.A. Times. I think it’s important to get a cross-section of analysis and perspective, and see what stories are playing in different regions. I try to get the Dallas Morning News, or read it online, the Chicago Tribune …

IWM: Do you go online for news?

Cooper: Throughout the day I check Web sites and stuff. But I wouldn’t say I’m obsessed with it. There are a bunch of blog sites from a variety of political backgrounds that I’ll read just to see what people are talking about. Like Daily Kos, AndrewSullivan.com.

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.

IWM: Your hair turned gray at an early age. Have you ever thought about dyeing your hair?

Cooper: I thought about it for about 30 minutes. I asked the guy who was cutting my hair one time what it would take. I have a big enough ego that I was considering doing it, but not so big that I was willing to sit for two hours in a salon reading old copies of Rosie magazine with tin foil in my hair.

IWM: I guess it’s too late now.

Cooper: Yes, if I did it now it would be kind of sad and pathetic. 

______________ 

Lol, that last sentence is so cute – and true. I’m glad he won’t dye it. 

Andy, we love your hair the way it is!

Who’s Speaking? – Loveline!

Amazing how people change, right?

Let’s take Anderson for example: He blushes whenever embarrassing or not so embarrassing things happen. You can’t show funny vids of him on the show and you can’t talk about the sex habits of Americans or about “bits’n'pieces” or whatsoever without turning Andy’s face into a nice red color. Well that is now…..but what was THEN?

Then…was soooo different.

Googling for new Andestuff I found this nice article on Pop.nography.com. It’s about Anderson visiting Loveline, the sex advice radio and TV show hosted by Adam Corrolla and Dr. Drew Pinsky:

Here’s the article:

Anderson Cooper and his dorky little laugh, sounding less uptight than we’ve heard him in years, confessing to being a teenage compulsive liar, being fascinated by a discussion of how to suppress a gag reflex and strongly disagreeing when Adam says most people are only attracted to people of the same race.

Of course he was hosting ABC’s reality show The Mole at the time, and as far as he knew that was going to be the high point of his career. Witness this early exchange:

Adam Corrolla: Anderson, you’re a journalist, are you not?
Anderson Cooper: Sort of, right.

So who would care — back then — if he joked with a caller, “I whacked off right before I came on here!” Or if he asked substitute therapist Dr. Bruce, “Does Dr. Drew smell so pretty?”

Other highlights, and believe me the context doesn’t add or subtract much:

> “If you watch TV too much, you’ll get hair on your palms.”
> “After you broke up you gave him head?!”
> “Have you heard that Dorothy Parker quote, ‘Those born to the storm find the calm very boring’?” [Close, but no cigar. The quote's actually: "They sicken of the calm, who knew the storm."]
> “Can you get hard and stuff? It’s just not ejaculating?”
> “I like to call it ‘brushing the mole.’”
> “But sex with an old friend can be nice, right?”
> “My banana seat bicycle, it just won’t do!”
> “I had to have separate security guards just for my penis!”
> “He’s the only one who can get hard in the whole rave!”

And, at about an hour and ten minutes into the segment, in response to a caller concerned about her gag reflex, Anderson asks, “Does he do stuff [oral sex] for you?” The girl says yes, and Anderson presses on. “Well, that’s good. Does he, like, coach you at all? Give you advice about what he likes?” When Adam enthusiastically calls out coaching tips for blowjobs, Anderson says: “You’re making me hard!” Adam reports that Anderson has “perked up” for this gag reflex discussion, that he’s “very inquisitive.”

When a caller asks for help with being a compulsive liar, Anderson says he totally understands, because he did the same thing as an adolescent, lied about things as trivial as what he had for lunch. “Ultimately it all comes out and you end up looking like a complete jerk,” he says.

It’s a little depressing, actually — once you get past the hysterical laughter, which, frankly, lasted for most of this 90-minute show. Anderson sounds completely unfazed by the callers’ obscene issues — simply amused and willing to play along, no matter how many sleazeballs an undereducated 16-year-old girl thinks she should sleep with. Now he won’t answer a simple question about who keeps the home fires burning while he’s out dodging bullets. It’s almost enough to make me miss The Mole.

You can even listen to it here.

I know he had some “sex-moments” before, e.g. when he wrote about “Talking Sex With Mom” or “The Agony Of Adult Nails Biters” (“…but really, how often can you masturbate a day?”) on Details Magazine. But these seem to be very rare moments. I wonder if he’s more prudish when he’s on TV and he can be seen by millions of people. He even refused to do Kelly’s workout on Regis & Kelly, because it could act out to be embarrassing.

Maybe he just got more prudish with age. I can’t really imagine, but that would be a reason.

Time to whack?