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Natalee Holloway Coverage "Is Getting Downright Ridiculous," Cooper Says

Last night on 360, Anderson Cooper took aim at the "media madness" surrounding the Natalee Holloway case. From the transcript:

COOPER: Well, in Aruba, not much happened in the 11th week of the disappearance of Natalee Holloway, but you'd never know that if you listen to just about every other cable news channel.

We did a number of stories after the American teen went missing and her family's anguish is and hard to imagine and we understand why they want the story to remain in the news, but we've been kind of stunned, because every night, our cable competitors devote hours and hours to this story, even though, sadly, nothing new is happening. We decided to start tracking their coverage, because to be honest, it's getting downright ridiculous. Here's what the other guys were reporting just last night...

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BILL O'REILLY, FOX NEWS HOST: Not much new in the Natalee Holloway mystery.

RITA COSBY, MSNBC HOST: The big mystery, of course, is taking place on the island of Aruba.

DAN ABRAMS, MSNBC HOST: Let's go to Aruba. It's getting ugly. Natalee Holloway's mother is fighting back.

JOE SCARBOROUGH, MSNBC HOST: Meanwhile, a new battle is brewing between Natalee's mom and a key suspect. We brought you that story last night.

GRETA VAN SUSTEREN, FOX NEWS HOST: Tonight, Natalee Holloway's mother just received a tip in the search for her daughter.

Does this tip tend to corroborate existing theories or is this a new theory that's separate and apart from the three who have been suspects thus far?

BETH HOLLOWAY TWITTY, MOTHER OF NATALEE HOLLOWAY: Right now, I really don't want to comment on the nature of it, right now.

SCARBOROUGH: You're not going to believe it, courthouse filings today and Joran's lawyer's claiming that the Dutch boy's human rights were being violated. Are you kidding me?

VAN SUSTEREN: In terms of this tip, one-to-10 scale, 10 being the most helpful, how do you possibly rate this tip?

TWITTY: There's no way I can, Greta. There's no way I can.

O'REILLY: It's a phenomenon. It's a phenomenon.

VAN SUSTEREN: Are people responding or does it sort of seem unrelated to the tips coming in?

TWITTY: You know, I don't know, Greta.

O'REILLY: ...2 1/2 months, I've never seen in my 30-year career, a crime story covered this way, ever. It's a mystery. It's a soap opera. It's a reality show and each night, people come in for the latest. I thought it would dissipate. I thought it would go away. It has not.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: It truly has not. The only thing we can honestly report to you tonight is that a young woman is still missing. A family is still in anguish. Until something else happens, until there really are developments, we'll leave the rest to the other guys.

We're going to hold you to that, Anderson!

Posted by brian | 03:06 PM | CNN