Recently John Friedman at marketwatch.com wrote about ' 12 Broadcasters Who Are Making a Difference, They Create a Buzz and Shape the Public's Opinion'. Only one CNN'er made the list, coming in at number 11. 
The print media and Web pundits say television news doesn’t matter any more, right?
You know the argument by heart. Nobody watches. Nobody listens. Nobody cares. Come on — the game is on the Internet nowadays. TV news is the 8-track of the modern media world. Sure, Walter Cronkite was great “back in the day.” But it is the digital age now. Not exactly.
While the advent of the Web has created competitive forces, TV news still has relevance and vitality. No, TV news can’t have the kind of monopoly that the powerful Big 3 — CBS, NBC and ABC — used to boast about decades ago.
I can think of broadcasters who are making a difference. They have a buzz. Viewers notice their work. Other journalists talk about them. Their successes are noted — and, yes, Gawker is likely to take an extra special delight in their flubs.
I’m not saying that any of them is necessarily the best at what he or she does, either. This list goes beyond the Nielsen ratings, critics’ favorites and pedigrees. It is wholly unscientific. It focuses on another kind of aesthetic.
Let me put it this way. If any one of these folks walked through Michael’s restaurant -- the hub in Manhattan for the media industry -- at lunch time, heads would turn. That, more than anything else, is my main criterion for determining who has the buzz.
12) Charles Gasparino, Fox Business Network, and Maria Bartiromo, CNBC (tie) — When Gasparino moved from CNBC to FBN, the blogs acted as if a member of a royal family was changing countries. Bartiromo is the most recognizable face in business TV news. Gasparino and Bartiromo have managed to accomplish something unique: stand out by dint of ability and on-air persona.
11) Anderson Cooper, CNN — Plenty of people are turned off by his shtick of openly empathizing with his story subjects. But he couldn’t care less — and nor should he, or his employer. Cooper has become CNN’s most-recognizable journalist — and he is getting noticed at a time when the network needs all of the good vibes it can get.
