Don’t Compare Cooper To Banfield

A CNN employee e-mails a response to the Anderson/Ashleigh comparisons:

“Anderson Cooper did not just have a good run reporting from the field on one story and get his own show like Ashleigh Banfield. Cooper has anchored a weekday program for over a year and weekends for a year before that. He has delivered real ratings and has a real following…not something imagined or speculated about as in the MSNBC case. The comparison is a sham and should be off the website.

Keep in mind Anderson has not just been a show anchor — he anchored WEEKS of War Coverage during the breaking news overnight period when ALL the news was unfolding from the field and he was virtually flawless. There is no tougher anchor role than that. That was when he earned his stripes and got his own weekday program. Since then he’s not only risen as an anchor but in subsequent stories from the Tsunami, to Schiavo, to the Pope’s death, to the Iraqi elections, to the famine in Niger, to the hurricanes. He dwarfs Banfield in every way…even longevity ALREADY.”