Anderson IS The Future

CNN

CNN’s Mark Whitaker: Anderson Cooper is the Anchor of the Future

By Alex Weprin on July 26, 2011 -- 9:19 AM

CNN executive VP and managing editor Mark Whitaker gets interviewed by Ad Week. Among other things, Whitaker talks about the state of magazines (he used to be editor of Newsweek), diversity in media, and Tim Russert‘s legacy.

He was also asked who he believes to be the “anchor of the future.”

I think we’re in a day and age when you can have all the qualities of a great journalist but have a human side as well, and even a sense of humor. In many ways Anderson Cooper is the model that we increasingly are going to, not that everyone has to be Anderson Cooper. But he has qualities that I think we want to see in our anchors and reporters. Anderson is not ideological, but he is demanding accountability; he’s asking tough questions; he’s not histrionic. He manages to relay the importance of events without being theatrical or over-the-top in any way.