It is a fairly common (though sometimes socially unacceptable) practice for internet users who post on forums to add to their own post in order to make its posting date more recent.  This has the effect of “bumping” it to the forefront, where people actually see it, even though there is nothing new to the topic.

CNN has apparently taken on the practice, as they have chosen to headline an essential repeat of their April 28th story on Jeremy Hall’s MRFF lawsuit.

One possible reason for the repeat may be in the source.  The story was produced for Anderson Cooper 360 by Randi Kaye, who also wrote “The US Christian Military?” and conducted the interviews for the show.  Both articles were carefully written, though mildly sympathetic to Hall’s cause.  The AC360 show was headlined with the topically neutral “We’re keeping the Department of Defense honest over an atheist soldier.”

More interestingly, one of Kaye’s fellow AC360 contributors is Reza Aslan, a critic of Christianity in the military and member of the advisory board of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, a co-plaintiff in Hall’s lawsuit.  Notably, Aslan did not disclose his affiliation with the MRFF when he wrote an AC360 article on its behalf.

The MRFF appears to be adept at managing its press releases, and it seems Anderson Cooper is happy to help.  In the end, if they had waited only a few more hours, there would have been a newsworthy update to the case.