eNewsHound

What if you could bring home CNN anchor Anderson Cooper to live with you?  You might think he would object, especially if you’ve never met.  However, for a price, you can bring back Cooper to wherever you live after you visit the CNN gift store at the Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. over on 190 Marieta Street in Atlanta, Georgia.  Okay, it’s not actually Anderson Cooper, but a life-size cardboard cut-out of him.  The gift shop, though, shouldn’t be your only goal if you visit the TBS headquarters; instead, you should aim at the CNN Studio Tours, which are available from nine in the morning to six in the evening, Monday through Saturday (closed Sunday).

The tour lasts about fifty minutes, with a friendly and expert guide.  You won’t be able to take pictures during the tour, but you’ll be able to see how CNN puts together the news and you may even get the opportunity to play news reporter for a few minutes.  The cost of all this?  Around thirteen dollars for adults and ten dollars for a child (the good news is that a child is considered anyone from the ages of four to eighteen — and if you have a Triple A or an AARP card, it may be less).  The CNN tour is actually a destination spot for locals to bring their guests, which really gives you a behind-the-scenes look at the news and the morning shows offered on CNN.

If you hadn’t yet considered a CNN tour as part of your itinerary, I’d certainly put it on the list.  I would grab a hotel room, and make a call or on-line visit to CNN and reserve a spot on the tours.  You can have your choice of a number of shows.  There’s the Morning Express Tour with Robin Meade, or Inside the Conversation Tour with Rick Sanchez, as well as the CNN Studio Tour.  And while, like any tour anywhere, CNN does deposit you into the gift shop at the end of fifty-five minutes, that’s where you can pick up the cardboard cut-out of Anderson Cooper.