Christiane Amanpour: Reporting on the Global Stage
A portrait of Amanpour taken by Avery Cunliffe
Who Is Christiane Amanpour?
Christiane Amanpour is a famous British-Iranian journalist and television host. She is the chief international anchor and worked as an international correspondent journalist for CNN. Since 2018, she has hosted the PBS interview series ‘Amanpour & Company. Amanpour also hosted an ABC program, ‘This Week” in 2010-11. Christiane Amanpour has worked with CNN for 29 years, joining in 1993. She also worked on CBS’ “60 minutes” from 1996 to 2005. Amanpour’s decades of brilliant, professional work with CNN helped highlight her as one of the most prominent modern-day journalists.
Early Life
Christiane Amanpour was born on January 12, 1958 in London, and spent the first 11 years of her childhood living in Tehran, the capital of Iran. Amanpour’s father was an Iranian airline executive and moved his family to Tehrān shortly after she was born. Amanpour grew up in a wealthy family with many political connections. After completing most of her primary school education in Iran, her parents sent her to Holy Cross Convent School in Buckinghamshire, which is a Catholic girls boarding school in England when she turned 11. Christiane continued her education at Holy Cross until she was 16 years old when she went to the exclusive New Hall School, the oldest Roman Catholic girls’ school in the United Kingdom. Amanpour was forced out of Iran in January of 1979. The Islamic Revolution in Iran toppled the shah, forcing most of his followers to flee the country, in which the Amanpour family was one of many. With everything going on around her, she quickly grew interested in journalism. Amanpour ended up moving to the United States, and she attended the University of Rhode Island, graduating with a degree in journalism in 1983.
Famous Coverages/Interviews
Amanpour’s post 9/11 interviews with French President Jacques, Pakistani President Perez Musharraf, and British Prime Minister Tony Blair further established her as one of the elite journalists. She was the first to conduct interviews with the leaders of the world after 9/11. Another impressive interview from Amanpour is her interview with King Hussein of Jordan in 1991 before his death, where she became the last journalist to interview him. She was also the first to interview King Hussien’s son Abdullah on May 3, 1999, following his death.
In Amanpour’s journalism career, she covered the ‘Persian Gulf War’ in 1990. On August 2, 1990, Iraq invaded Kuwait, which led to the war. Many other journalists from ABC and NBC were also covering this war, but Christiane Amanpour shined. This coverage gained her more international attention, further elevating her status.
Awards
Amanpour won several awards in her decades of work. She won 11 News and Documentary Emmys, four Peabody Awards, two George Polk Awards, and more. Amanpour has also been nominated for several awards such as IDA Award, Pare Lorentz Award, Lifetime Achievement Award, etc. Her legacy is sealed.
Christiane Amanpour Today
Today, Amanpour continues to host her show ‘Amanpour & Company’ on PBS. The show focuses on reporting world events, discussions about politics, sports, technology, science, and more. The show is currently on its fourth season, airing every day of the week. She still works with CNN as the anchor to this day. Christiane Amanpour is a model for aspiring journalists. She continues to inspire others.
