Cooper (son of socialite Gloria Vanderbilt) blurs that line between entertainment and news - he’s in the pages of Maxim modeling suits this month and, lest we forget, he took two years off to host that lame reality show. So Foer seems justified in concluding that, “[a] cosmopolitan upbringing, a sophisticated wardrobe, and a few moments of genuine outrage aren’t the same things as analytical heft and moral seriousness.”

Cooper and LeDuff do have a knack for arresting attention, and it’s true enough that gaining eyeballs is the name of the game. But can we stop confusing these exercises in contrived drama and self-promotion with journalism? And stop suggesting that the practitioners of this strange hybrid of schlock and inquiry represent either our best, or our brightest?

—Gal Beckerman

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