Jeanie Moos

Jeanne Moos
National News Correspondent, CNN

By Marisa Guthrie for Broadcasting & Cable

Jeanne Moos has a finely tuned eye for the absurd. As CNN’s national news correspondent and resident satirist, Moos has put her wry spin on everything from the smoking baby in Indonesia to Kentucky Fried Chicken’s much disparaged double-down sandwich and the heartbreaking oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. While Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert are the mocking class’ current gold standard, Moos’ expertly targeted critiques predate both.

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Odds & Ends Monday

Photo Credit: David Joles, Star Tribune

Cyn has the night off, so I'm afraid that you're stuck with an odds and ends post from me. There always seem to be things that I come across that just don't make it into my latest post and eventually the opportunity arises to put together a mixed bag post of articles and videos.

First, is an article from the Star Tribune that mentions Minnesota native, Poppy Harlow.

The TV reporters covering Wall Street's meltdown are generating their own heat.

Three years ago, Rebecca Jarvis was best known as a finalist on "The Apprentice." Poppy Harlow could be found interviewing celebrities at movie premieres. Today, the two Minnesotans operate from the front lines of the biggest story in the world. They're financial reporters caught up in one of TV's most compelling dramas, with ratings climbing at double-digit rates, and young, relatively green journalists becoming the equivalent of the Gulf War's "scud studs."

"It's the biggest story of my life," said CNN's Harlow. "I'm aware of it every day and every night."

Check out the Star Tribune for the full article: The TV reporters covering Wall Street's meltdown are generating their own heat.

Harlow recently spoke with BeetTV about online reporting: Online Video Gives News Reporters More Flexiblity and Time

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CNN International's Kristie Lu Stout did a story about Shark Soup as part of the Going Green series.

First off, yes -- I've eaten the fin. Being half-Chinese, I grew up eating shark fin soup at special family functions. At the time, I didn't know about the brutal practice of "shark finning" or the impact it had on the environment.

Today, I stay away from the dish. But I'm also aware of the cultural stigma of saying "no" when it's served at a Chinese wedding. Thankfully, there's a compromise out there -- imitation shark fin soup. I go to Hong Kong's Kin's Kitchen to try it out.

The rest of the article is available on CNN.com.

The first video clip is a report on the issues surrounding the soup.

The second video clip is her Reporter's Notebook on the shark fin free version of the soup.

Here are the latest columns written by Tom Foreman that have appeared in the Philadelphia Metro:

The president is expecting

The first time I ever went out on a real date it was marvelous. She was lovely and nice, with long brown hair, and a beautiful smile. We held hands and laughed, and briefly made out in her driveway until I inadvertently let the clutch go and the Biscayne lurched backward into the street scaring the life out of both of us.

Like I said, it was a great experience. And it was also a huge mistake. Because Jera (that was her name ... no kidding) had wanted to go out with me for weeks, an anomaly of dating that I’d never experienced before and that I would meet precious few times in the future. She thought I was the nazz. The bee’s knees. Cool with a capital Q. When in truth, I was a skinny guy with glasses, an acne-constellation of Orion across my face, a forehead that excreted oil like a canola processing plant, and the fashion sense of a color-blind octogenarian.

In short, her expectations were far too high.

... for the rest of the article: The president is expecting

Fundamentally not fun in office

Less than a year ago, John McCain uttered seven words that proved disastrous to his presidential dreams: “The fundamentals of our economy are sound.” September 2008. Wall Street was in freefall. The housing market was reeling. Massive companies were trembling card houses in the teeth of a gale. Unemployment was climbing like a cat on the curtains. McCain looked out of touch and Barack Obama pounced.

For too many voters, McCain’s gaffe was a political infield fly. “We can see that things are collapsing. Don’t try to tell us they are not.” The first George Bush lost to Bill Clinton the same way: trying to tell voters that the economy was fine when they knew otherwise.

... for the rest of the article: Fundamentally not fun in office

Message in a bottle

Listen to one of the most impassioned speeches for health care reform: “We must not surrender to the relentless medical inflation that can bankrupt almost anyone and that may soon break the budgets of government at every level. Let us insist on real controls over what doctors and hospital can charge, and let us resolve that the state of a family’s health shall never depend on the size of a family’s wealth.”

The speaker goes on to say, as we’ve all heard by now, that the president, vice president and members of Congress already have a generous public health care plan, and regular Americans deserve the same. It was a great speech for President Obama. Only he did not deliver it. It wasn’t even made this year. Those words were part of Ted Kennedy’s address to the Democratic Convention, in his failed presidential bid, almost 30 years ago.

... for the rest of the article: Message in a bottle

And finally, Jeanne Moos recently reported on TVNewsCloset.com, a site that allows TV News Anchors and journalists to sell clothes that they no longer want, need, or have been told not to wear again. She visited Kiran Chetry's closet for examples of items that could end up at a site like this.

All content, unless otherwise cited, is © All Things CNN and may not be used without consent of the blog administrator.

Viewing History Globally

Before the final primaries were held on Tuesday night the matter of seating the Florida and Michigan delegates had to be settled. CNN contributor Donna Brazile is a member of the DNC's rules and bylaws committee and during Saturday's meeting, Donna had the chance to speak. The first was during the Florida debate.

Donna Brazile also spoke during the Michigan debate.

While the citizens in the United States were experiencing this historic night, nations around the world were waking up to the news. As a Canadian who has been watching these primaries with extreme interest I am also interested in what other countries have been thinking. CNN had correspondants in various nations share thoughts on the news of the first African American becoming the Democratic nominee. In this first video clip we see reaction from Hong Kong, Germany and Japan.

The second clip of reactions from around the world features France, Kenya and Isreal.

To give us a propective like no one else can Jeanne Moos gives us the Moos Unusual look at history in the making.

Tonight I end with a great clip from this morning's "American Morning". Kyra Phillips and Sanjay Gupta were discussing the uses of the Nintendo Wii as Ali Velshi and Sunny Hostin demonstrated the hoola hop game. If you caught our sister blog, All Things Anderson you know Anderson Cooper received a Wii for his birthday. Hopefully Mr. Cooper saw this segment and will give the Wii a try.

All content, unless otherwise cited, is © All Things CNN and may not be used without consent of the blog administrator.

CNN Heroes and Jeanne Moos

CNN Heroes Looking For a New Batch of Heroes

Last year CNN set out to look for people that they could honor in a special ceremony they called CNN Heroes. After a successful campaign with over 8000 nominees CNN is doing it all over again.

CNN has opened the nomination field this year to include the following 7 categories.

* Championing Children
* Community Crusaders
* Defending the Planet
* Everyday Superhero
* Medical Marvel
* Protecting the Powerless
* Young Wonders (21 or under)

If you know a person or group that you believe is deserving of some recognition for the hard work they do, you can nominate them by following the link. Once there just click on the nomination form and fill in as needed. No date or host information for the 2008 CNN Heroes ceremony has been announced yet but as soon as we have some details, we will let you know.

Alissa Krinsky of TVNewser recently did 5 questions with Jeanne Moos. I personally am a huge fan of Jeanne’s segment “Moos Unusual” so I thought I would share this article with everyone

5 Questions For...Jeanne Moos
Alissa KrinskyTVNewser Contributor

1. TVNewser: Of all my stories, the one that got the biggest viewer response was:

Moos: Gay penguins? Two-headed turtle? Three-legged pantyhose? It's all a blur.Actually, the stories that get the most response are the ones that make people mad. It's impossible to do humor without offending SOMEONE. And when I occasionally do something serious (for instance, a recent piece on how reporters demonstrate water boarding on themselves), people get upset because they think I'm being funny when I'm not. They miss the missing joke.

2. TVNewser: As a former hard news reporter, when big stories break, I feel...

Moos: Irrelevant.Itchy to get past the big news so I can get back on the air.Relieved it's not me out there doing live shot after live shot.Though these days I AM covering the biggest news story of the year. I'm more or less a video columnist covering the Presidential race. A media blog once called me "CNN's commenterista"...a title I liked a lot, though I'm not sure what it means.

3. TVNewser: My most adrenaline-pumping moment while on assignment:

Moos: My most adrenaline-pumping moment involved a cranky circus hippo famed for her excess slobber. Would you like to see the video (from 1997)?

4. TVNewser: The secret to continually coming up with pun-filled witticisms for my stories is...

Moos: Screening every frame of tape. As long as I'm not at a loss for pictures, I'm not at a loss for words.I like to bounce my story ideas off the girls in the makeup room while they plaster me with makeup.

5. TVNewser: Ten years from now, I'd like to be...

Moos: Alive.And kicking...maybe kicking the last block of whatever the hottest news magazine show is 10 years from now.

All content, unless otherwise cited, is © All Things CNN and may not be used without consent of the blog administrator.

Only 365 Days Left

Happy New Year and welcome to 2008! I hope you had a wonderful New Year's Day. One of my family's traditions for this day is watching the Mummers Parade (go Fralinger!). It's one of the things about this time of year that I really look forward to and at least it keeps us from talking about politics for a few hours!

In a recent post, TVNewser had responses from several journalists about their expectations for 2008 for themselves. Below is an excerpt from the post that includes the responses they received from three CNN journalists (past and present):

... our respondents complete the sentence, "In 2008, I expect...":

• MSNBC's Tucker Carlson: "To spend more time in sub-zero primary states, and to wear more makeup. I've got a pretty good shot at achieving both."

• CNN's Don Lemon: "To continue to harness my no-nonsense, aggressive reporting style; viewers tell me it's refreshing and they appreciate it. I also would like to help as many children as possible to get a decent education in New Orleans, as knowledge is the power that will eventually lead them out of their current morass."

• CNN Headline News' Linda Stouffer: "To spend more time reading novels and less time getting stressed out."

For you news junkies out there, TVNewser also posted 5 Questions with broadcasting legend Walter Cronkite.

The weather this time of year can be frightful, but that doesn't stop CNN correspondents from reporting on the candidates running for President.

Tuesday was the CNN Ballot Bowl '08 which spent seven hours taking an unfiltered look at the candidates. The Ballot Bowl included reports from Suzanne Malveaux, Bill Schneider, Candy Crowley, Jessica Yellin, Mary Snow, Dana Bash, and John King. Sometimes those reports came from nice heated spaces indoors, but others had journalists braving the elements.

Later on in the day, Jeanne Moos filed her own report focusing on those cold temperatures.

I have one more video clip for you, this one comes from Monday's American Morning. John Roberts recently received some get well wishes from a well known fan.

Tricks & Treats

Welcome to your All Hallows Eve edition of All Things CNN.

First, a clip from yesterday's The Situation Room. Does Wolf Blitzer have pre-Ellen dance anxiety? He showed a clip of yesterday's Ellen featuring Presidential candidate Barack Obama.



We're still waiting to hear when Wolf will be Ellen's show or vice versa.

What do you dress your horse up as for Halloween? I found this clip on the CNN website: As part of a Halloween competition at a pet store, a woman brought in a Clydesdale horse dressed as a poodle.



I couldn't resist pulling this out of the CNN archives. Last Halloween (2006), then White House Press Secretary Tony Snow had all "eyes" on him during a briefing. CNN's Jeanne Moos explains:

Happy Halloween! Or if you're celebrating the Celitc festival, Happy Samhain!