Journalists as Ideologues

I have thought a lot about Anderson Cooper and his role as a journalist and as a human being. In this bio he says about covering the Rwandan Genocide: "On the side of the road [Cooper] came across five bodies that had been in the sun for several days. The skin of a woman's hand was peeling off like a glove. Revealing macabre fascination, Cooper whipped out his disposable camera and took a closeup photograph for his personal album. As he did, someone took a photo of him. Later that person showed Cooper the photo, saying, "You need to take a look at what you were doing." "And that's when I realized I've got to stop, [...] I've got to report on some state fairs or a beauty pageant or something, to just, like, remind myself of some perspective." I think this experience explains why Anderson Cooper is the type of journalist he is. This video of Cooper in Haiti has over 300,000 views on YouTube. I don't see a problem with journalists appearing human. You must stay objective and removed from your story and sources to some degree, but I don't think being a journalist should ever trump being human. In his case, I think he was able to be both a journalist and a human being.

Because of his experience in Rwanda, Cooper put down his camera and helped this Haitian boy. I have no doubt that his intentions were pure; he didn't care whether or not a camera was rolling on him. At that moment, he took off his journalist hat and put on his human hat and did what anyone should have, and hopefully would have, done. This didn't affect his credibility as a journalist, nor did it make him a less objective reporter. If anything, it helped him understand the post-earthquake Haiti better than if he would have stood by and filmed it.