Christiane Amanpour

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Christiane Amanpour, CBE, (born January 12, 1958) (Persian: کریستین امان‌پور) is the chief international correspondent for CNN.

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[edit] Early life

Shortly after her birth in London, her father Mohammad, an Iranian airline executive, and her British mother Patricia, moved the family to Tehran. The Amanpours led a privileged life under the government of the Shah of Iran.[citation needed] At age 11, she returned to England to attend first the Holy Cross Convent School in Buckinghamshire, England, and then the New Hall School, an exclusive Roman Catholic girls' school. Her family had to flee Iran after the Islamic Revolution of 1979.

Amanpour moved to the United States to study journalism at the University of Rhode Island. During her time at U.R.I. she worked in the News Department at WBRU-FM Providence. One of her college housemates was John F Kennedy Jr, who was attending Brown University; they remained close friends until his death in 1999. Amanpour graduated from URI Summa Cum Laude, with a B.A. in journalism, in 1983.[1]

[edit] Career

After graduation in 1983, she worked for NBC affiliate WJAR in Providence, Rhode Island as an electronic graphics designer.[2] In 1983, she was hired by CNN. In 1989, she was posted to Frankfurt, Germany, where she reported on the democratic revolutions sweeping Eastern Europe at the time.

It was her coverage of the Persian Gulf War that followed Iraq's occupation of Kuwait in 1990 that made her famous, while also taking the network to a new level of news coverage. Thereafter, she reported from the Bosnian war and many other conflict zones. Her emotional delivery from Sarajevo during the Siege of Sarajevo led some viewers and critics to question her professional objectivity, to which she replied, "There are some situations one simply cannot be neutral about, because when you are neutral you are an accomplice. Objectivity doesn't mean treating all sides equally. It means giving each side a hearing."[3] From 1996-2005, she contracted with CBS to file four to five in-depth, international news reports a year as a special contributor on that network's newsmagazine program, 60 Minutes. These reports garnered a Peabody Award in 1998, adding to the Peabody she was awarded in 1993.

Based out of CNN's London bureau, Amanpour is one of the most recognized international correspondents on American television. Her willingness to work in dangerous conflict zones has reportedly made her one of the more highly (if not the highest) paid field reporters in the world. She speaks English, Persian, and French fluently.

She has had many memorable moments in her career, one of them being a telephone interview with Yasser Arafat during the siege on his compound in March 2002, during which Chairman Arafat hung up on her.[4] Another was landing the first and only post-election interview of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad by a Western journalist in 2005, despite some trepidation that this strident disciple of the now deceased Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini would raise the issue of the Amanpour family's ties to Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, who was deposed by a revolution led by Khomeini with Ahmadinejad's active involvement. The interview proved this concern to be unwarranted.

[edit] Personal life

In 1998 Christiane married James Rubin who at the time was an Assistant Secretary of State and spokesman for the U.S. State Department. A son, Darius John Rubin, was born in 2000. The family resides in London. While Amanpour's father is a Muslim, Christiane herself is part of Iran's Christian minority, and reports no problems from the Muslim majority.[5]

Amanpour's sister, Lizzy Amanpour, is a producer for British television Channel 4.

[edit] Awards and recognition

[edit] Footnotes

  1. ^ Deborah White. Profile of Christiane Amanpour, CNN Chief International Correspondent. Retrieved on 2007-08-24.
  2. ^ CPJ Board of Directors. Committee to Protect Journalists.
  3. ^ Five Years Later, the Gulf War Story Is Still Being Told. New York Times (1996-05-12).
  4. ^ Israeli Troops Surround Arafat Compound. CNN (March 29 2002). Retrieved on 2007-11-28.
  5. ^ Christiane Amanpour on "Revolutionary Journey". CNN (February 28 2000). Retrieved on 2007-11-28.
  6. ^ Previous Polk Award Winners. Retrieved on 2007-08-24.
  7. ^ [http://www.ksg.harvard.edu/press/backup/pr_goldsmith_amanpour_030802.htm Christiane Amanpour to Receive Goldsmith Career Award Ceremony to Highlight 10th Anniversary Celebration] (March 8, 2002). Retrieved on 2007-08-24.
  8. ^ London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 58358, page 7, 15 June 2007, Retrieved on 2007-11-28.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

v • d • e
60 Minutes Correspondents
CurrentAnderson Cooper • Katie Couric • Steve Kroft • Lara Logan • Scott Pelley • Morley Safer • Bob Simon • Lesley Stahl • Mike Wallace
FormerChristiane Amanpour • Ed Bradley • Dan Rather • Harry Reasoner • Diane Sawyer • Meredith Vieira
de:Christiane Amanpour

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