I've worked with Paris Hilton. Anderson Cooper is no Paris Hilton.

Fox News has called Anderson Cooper "the Paris Hilton of TV News." Now you can see the FNC clips regarding the full page ad on YouTube.

It all started when CNN debunked a false report on Barak Obama last week. Reports from Insight magazine were picked up by several Fox News shows, and CNN sent reporter John Vause in Jakarta, Indonesia to investigate. Vause even posted on the Anderson Cooper 360 blog how he found that the Obama's elementary school was not a fundamentalist Muslim madrassa.
"I spoke with the bosses back in New York and Atlanta and outlined the facts, not entirely sure what they would want me to do next," he writes. "The response was pretty simple: Do the story, report what you find, nothing more, nothing less. So that's what I did."

Vause appeared on both The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer (YouTube video clip) and Anderson Cooper 360 that night (Monday, January 22nd). Both called Fox out on the carpet regarding their journalistic integrity.

Blitzer said, "CNN did what any serious news organization should do in a case like this. We conducted a first-hand investigation and we went right to Indonesia to check out the school that Obama attended as a little boy." (from The Situation Room transcripts.)

Cooper said, "Well, that's the difference between talking about news and reporting it. You send a reporter, checks the facts and you decide at home." (from Anderson Cooper 360 transcripts.)

That's when a Fox News spokeswoman, Irena Briganti, was quoted in the New York Times on Wednesday January 24th. Briganti said CNN was mainly looking for publicity in attacking its higher-rated rival. Of Mr. Cooper’s comment, she said, “Yet another cry for attention by the Paris Hilton of television news, Anderson Cooper.” (per the New York Times article by Bill Carter "Rivals CNN and Fox News Spar Over Obama Report.")

And then on Monday, the Fox News ad appeared "Meet the Paris Hilton of Television News".

CNN responded with it's own ratings findings. According the that mediabistro article, CNN Responds To Cooper: "Roger Is Apparently Spinning Out Of Control", "CNN says Anderson beat Greta 40 times in the demo last year, and three times in January.

CNN also points to awards -- A Peabody, DuPont, and three Emmys for 360 in 2006. Greta Van Susteren? Zero."

In addition, CNN released more ratings numbers in this mediabistro article, Jan #s: CNN says Cooper is Closing Gap with accompanying graph "Anderson Cooper at 10pm Has Radically Altered P25-54 Viewing vs. Fox News."

There's also a brief overview article available on tvsquad all about this latest spat between Fox News and CNN.

Seems that Fox News has the same problem Stephen Colbert has with CNN, in that they (CNN) report the NEWS.

And what is Paris Hilton's response to this whole mess?

Sadly, yes, I have worked with Paris Hilton. I loathe to admit it, but I did one day of background work on The Simple Life where I was paid to ride on a Greyhound bus with Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie. Though I've never had the pleasure of working with Anderson Cooper (yet), I can say that at least the folks at Fox got one thing right with their analogy - Cooper is HOT. Not just good looks, but ratings too.