emo-anchor

[Benjamin Zimmer]

A _New York Observer_ piece back in January ("CNN's Midlife Midwife") used
the term "emo-anchor" in reference to Anderson Cooper, and it was recently
picked up again by _New York Magazine_ in a profile of Cooper. This
strikes me as a significant extension of the term "emo" from its musical
sense (see: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emo>).

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New York Observer, Jan. 17, 2005 issue (posted online, Jan. 12, 2005)
Invigorated by CNN's coverage of the tsunami disaster, Mr. Klein dissolved
the network's trademark political talk show, Crossfire, while proclaiming
a healthy future for "storytelling" — old-fashioned news, soaped up with
reality-TV drama and delivered by emo-anchors like Anderson Cooper, the
gray-ghost newsman who is becoming the embodiment of the new CNN.
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http://www.belgraviadispatch.com/archives/004275.html
The Belgravia Dispatch (blog entry), Jan. 13, 2005
If blogging is "glorified Web-site hosting"--what is "emo-anchoring" or
absurd pretenses to poetry from the anchor seat?
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http://newyorkmetro.com/nymetro/news/features/14301/index.html
New York Magazine, Sep. 19, 2005 issue (posted online, Sep. 12, 2005)
He was, as the New York Observer put it, the "emo-anchor" — his befuddled,
sardonic style sometimes tipping over into adolescent excitability or
deeply felt compassion. ...
When I ask Cooper what he thinks about being labeled the "emo-anchor," he
says, "As in Emo Philips? Or emo-tive? I hope it's not Emo Philips." He
can't resist one more crack. "Let me emote here, if I may."
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http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2005/09/11/publiceye/entry833549.shtml
Public Eye (blog comment), Sep. 13, 2005
I for one love the new breed of Emo-Anchor. Anderson Cooper has
abandonement issues? We need to know! Its all part of the new
decentralized approach to news media, (versus the old school single anchor
voice-of-god thing.) And don't forget: Dan Rather crying like a baby on
Letterman.
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http://slate.msn.com/id/2126102/
Kausfiles (blog entry), Sep. 15, 2005
At first I wasn't sure that one effect of the post-Katrina "emo" broadcast
news trend--unleashing Tim Russert to say what he really thinks, which
turns out to be an even more overwrought and pompous version of the
CW--was at all beneficial.
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--Ben Zimmer