A special “Reporter’s Notebook” on what has happened in Egypt so far.  Anderson is a gifted writer, if this doesn’t evoke any emotion from you…

“Fear has been defeated.  There’s no turning back.”

(if you would like to hear more notebooks, he’s done several for Planet in Peril, Katrina, Afghanistan, Haiti, etc)

In light of what has happened in the past week, I would also like to do a little plug in for Anderson’s Army.  They’re gathering any kind of message you would like to give to Anderson, his crew and the people of Egypt.  The messages will be passed onto CNN to give to Anderson, so if you would like to contribute, please feel free to do so!

CNN's Anderson Cooper sets the bar on courage with reporting in midst of Cairo chaos »

Anyone who is seriously questioning the legitimacy of Anderson Cooper’s journalism or has a problem with him in general needs to read this article.

Anderson Cooper is my hero.

The CNN anchor was attacked again today by an angry mob in Cairo. “Situation on ground in Egypt very tense,” he tweeted. “Vehicle I was in attacked. My window smashed. All ok.”

Wednesday, he was punched by at least ten pro-Mubarak rioters. The men then chased Cooper and his two-person crew for several blocks. “Don’t run,” Cooper was heard to say to his camerman Neil Hallsworth and producer Maryann Fox. Don’t let them see you panic.

Later, barricaded in a small room with two CNN correspondents, Cooper read a tweet from the State Department urging American citizens to head out on a U.S. government plane first thing in the morning. He’s still there. Don’t run. Keep calm and carry on.

Katie Couric was menaced and Christiane Amanpour was reportedly jostled, Cooper even took a punch to the head and remained calm. And you know just by looking at those biceps bulging out of his trademark black tee that the dude could have clocked any one of those guys. 

Yes, it was all captured on his Flip, and yes, CNN’s ratings have gone up.  Understandably. But Cooper’s not doing this to boost ratings — or his ego.  You can feel his fear even as he sticks it out for the sake of the story.

Plenty more about what he’s done in the past in the article.  If you really think he’s just doing it for himself, you are completely wrong.  If you don’t like him, fine.  But don’t discredit or hate on what he’s doing.  He is the real deal.

Anderson Cooper refuses to leave Egypt after attack »

Remember, this is from an anonymous source, but from the description, this sounds like classic Anderson to me:

After Anderson Cooper and his camera crew were set upon by supporters of President Mubarak in Cairo on Wednesday, his bosses at CNN urged him to leave immediately as they no longer could guarantee his security. But Anderson has told them “no way” — this was the biggest story on the planet, and he wasn’t going to miss reporting on it.

“What people [may forget] about Anderson is that he is a real reporter. Some dismiss him as a pretty face and nothing else, but that isn’t the case. He’s the real deal,” a network insider tells me. “Anderson’s passion is for news. When a story breaks his first instinct is to jump on a plane with a camera and to document the real story. Other network hosts talk the talk from their luxury studios, but Anderson is on the ground.”

The situation is getting more and more insane by the minute.  I read about Egyptian security trying to seize BBC equipment to stop them from broadcasting, an ABC reporter threatened with a beheading (!!!), and many other reporters detained.  I can’t believe this is happening.  Earlier today Anderson tweeted that the vehicle he was in got ambushed and windows were smashed, but they’re all okay.  I’m very scared for anyone who is there right now.  I really, really hope this can somehow become stabilized soon.

Here we go y'all: the backlash begins »

There’s already criticism from people about the choice to air the footage of AC and crew being attacked.  The last thing he wants (and ever, honestly) is to make the story all about him…

This isn’t the first time that Cooper has become part of the story he’s covering. While reporting in Haiti early last year, he carried an injured boy away from a chaotic looting scene. Asked if he believes it’s important to draw the line between journalism and first-person reporting, he said that getting involved in the story wasn’t his choice. “There wasn’t any action that I took in any way to get involved,” he said. “I would definitely prefer to keep myself out of being punched in the head.”

“To me, the story today is not me being attacked, it’s the melee that continues,” he added. “This is a stunning development, and it’s not clear what kind of impact it’s going to have. Is it going to enrage people who’d been standing on the sidelines to see these anti-Mubarak protesters attacked in such an organized way, with the Egyptian military standing by not doing anything to intervene? Perhaps. Will it scare people? Maybe it will have that effect. We don’t know.”

Anderson tweeted this earlier: “Thanks for tweets of concern..I’m sore and head hurts but fine. Neil and mary anne are bruised but ok too. Thanks”

Video footage of AC and his crew getting attacked.

Cooper told CNN hosts on the telephone “I would be an idiot if I wasn’t frightened.”

AC and crew trapped inside a building »

“It was chaotic,” Cooper told The Hollywood Reporter during a brief phone interview from Cairo on Wednesday. “I’ve been in riots and melees before, but this is the first time that I’ve been in a situation that escalated to a level where we really had no control. Many people in the crowd came for a fight and that’s what they have.”
 
Cooper and his crew were in front of the Egyptian Museum, making their way across Cairo’s Tahrir Square Wednesday afternoon when Mubarak supporters singled them out. They weren’t filming at the time, said Cooper, but one demonstrator tried to grab videographer Neil Hallsworth’s camera.
 
“And then other individuals in the crowd just started screaming, pushing us around. And then someone punched me in the head, punched my cameraman, my producer [Maryanne Fox],” explained Cooper. “My producer has a large scratch on her neck. They tried to attack her.”

At the moment, Cooper and his team are in a location with a view of Tahrir Square. He declined to say exactly where they are citing ongoing security concerns.

“Where we are is rather precarious right now. I’m in an area where I can see what’s happening in the square,” he said. “But I honestly don’t know when I can leave this building. I have no idea what’s going to happen in the next couple of hours.”

But as Mubarak supporters, many of whom are reported to be members of the police force, have begun to clash with pro-democracy demonstrators it may become increasingly dangerous for media personnel there. ABC’s Christiane Amanpour and her crew were chased by an angry mob while attempting to film on a bridge into Tahrir Square Wednesday. “And angry mob surrounded us and chased us into the care shouting they hate America,” Amanpour wrote on ABCNews.com. “They kicked in the car doors and broke our windshield as we drove away.”

Several Egyptians helped Cooper and his crew make their way through the square.
 
“We didn’t want to start to run because we didn’t want to embolden the crowd,” he explained. “So we just walked determinedly. But we had about a five minute walk to get to the location where we thought we would be safe. And we were surrounded the entire time. Occasionally someone would run up and throw a punch. I pushed back every now and then. But we were advised to just keep walking and not engage. Which was wise advice.”

Slightly related, but there’s a video of Christiane Amanpour being hassled and confronted by Egyptians.  It is unclear whether they are pro or anti-Mubarak, but one person did tell Amanpour to get out because he (and I’m assuming he’s trying to speak for the crowd there) hates Americans (sigh………… not this again).  Technically Amanpour is not American but it seems as if some are getting tired of foreign media running around.