anderson cooper in a vacuum

Submitted by jacob on Mon, 01/25/2010 - 15:22

Every once and a while, something pops up that really makes me appreciate Twitter. Today, one of those, from cable news phenom/occasional heartthrob Anderson Cooper:

@andersoncooper: From ac: it was a bit surreal

This can be taken two ways, either as hilariously vague and unhelpful or as maybe the one most relevent piece of journalism to come out of that country...

That it popped up on Twitter in the form of a <140 character statement couched in not one but two qualifications is incredible. "From ac" qualifies that this tweet is actually from Anderson Cooper, not part of his "newsteam" and "a bit" qualifies "surreal," because saying it was surreal might be going too far...and these two qualifications achieve opposite effects: the statement is first validated as being "real news" and then almost immediately is watered down. What's more, the statement is made in relation to the television reality show "The Doctors" - so the point when Anderson Cooper, internationally syndicated news personality, breaks down is when he sees a van full of reality show stars go by, and all he can say is "it was a bit surreal." I don't mean that in a derogatory way, I mean that in the sense that that is all he is able to say. But somehow, despite the fact that it is not about Haiti, specifically, but rather a reality show, and despite that it is made via Twitter, maybe the most mediated form of communication possible, it is still a very powerful statement, a throwing of hands up into the air by somebody who is not supposed to do so under any circumstances...

Here's the stream in its entirety:

@andersoncooper: From ac: stage 7 of a disaster is when the reality tv crews show up. Just saw a multi-vehicle convoy from that show "the doctors." They had...

@andersoncooper: From ac: ...they had multiple security guys with big guns. Not sure why they feel the need for all that...I knew it was that show cause I saw

@andersoncooper: From ac: one of "the doctors" step out of his suv for a moment in scrubs, then get back inside. Not sure where they are off to.

@andersoncooper: From ac: it was a bit surreal

Whoa.