• The New York Times, Sunday, June 20, 2010 10:22 PM

CNN's Anderson Cooper has spent more time in Louisiana -- about 20 days -- than any other national television anchor since the leak began. Evincing his frustration and his perseverance, he keeps a daily on-air tally of the number of days BP has ignored his interview requests. Cooper's 10 p.m. program, "AC360," and others like it have gained notice for trying to hold BP and the government accountable for the oil leak and the cleanup effort.

As the crisis nears the two-month mark, the news media is taking on a more adversarial role, just as they did after Hurricane Katrina. Various networks have challenged Pres. Obama at briefings. For Cooper, the oil spill coverage has been a "defining moment," said Verne Gay, the television critic for Newsday. Inside CNN Cooper is Mister Disaster, first among American anchors to arrive in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, the morning after the earthquake there in January, and among the last to leave. He says he has always been drawn to places of conflict and feels an obligation to take television viewers there, too.

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