Christiane Amanpour Interview: Feminism and the Front Lines

Christiane Amanpour reflects on her experiences as a war correspondent highlighting her commitment to truth-telling and accountability. She discusses the treatment of female reporters on the front lines and advocates for gender equality in journalism. Amanpour also shares her personal journey of delaying marriage and family to prioritize her profession, and stresses the ongoing challenges women face globally. Christiane Amanpour was born on January 12, 1958, in London, England. The daughter of an English mother and Iranian father and the oldest of four sisters, she spent time in Tehran, Iran, while growing up. She graduated summa cum laude from the University of Rhode Island with a bachelor of arts in journalism. Amanpour is CNN’s chief international correspondent and anchor of Amanpour, a nightly foreign affairs program on CNN International. In addition, she is the global affairs anchor for ABC News, providing international analysis of important issues of the day for ABC News programs and platforms, and anchoring primetime documentaries on international subjects. Amanpour began her career as a journalist at CNN in 1983 as an entry-level assistant on the network’s international assignment desk in Atlanta. She worked her way up to correspondent in CNN’s New York bureau before becoming an international correspondent in 1990. During her combined tenures at CNN and ABC News, she has interviewed most of the world’s top leaders, including Iranian Presidents Mohammad Khatami and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the presidents of Afghanistan and Sudan, Prime Ministers of Israel and Presidents of the Palestinian Authority, and Moammar Gadhafi and Hosni Mubarak during the Arab Spring. After the attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001, Amanpour was the first international correspondent to interview British Prime Minister Tony Blair, French President Jacques Chirac, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, and Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai. From 1998 to 2018, Amanpour was married to American James Rubin, a former US Assistant Secretary of State and spokesman for the US State Department during the Clinton administration. They had one son in 2000, Darius John Rubin. Amanpour has earned every major television journalism award including an inaugural Television Academy Honor, nine News and Documentary Emmy® Awards, four George Foster Peabody Awards, two George Polk Awards, three duPont-Columbia Awards, the Courage in Journalism Award, an Edward R. Murrow award, and a Giants of Broadcasting honor from the Library of American Broadcasting. From the 2013 PBS Documentary “Makers: Women Who Make America”, examines how women have helped shape America over the past 150 years, striving for a full and fair share of political power and economic opportunity. Subscribe for access to interviews, series, films, and educational materials that address issues of social justice, history, politics, the arts, and culture by spotlighting relatable human stories of purpose and meaning. Learn about our work and how to support our mission here: For extended versions of these interviews and more, visit: @lifestoriesinterviewarchive Follow us on Instagram: Christiane Amanpour, Journalist Interview Date: May 9, 2011 Chapters: 00:00 Intro 00:07 Childhood 00:51 Fearlessness 02:26 Sports 04:18 Growing up in Iran 06:27 Islamic Revolution 09:00 Breaking into journalism 10:09 War reporting 16:55 Questioning Clinton 20:15 Second-guessing 22:10 Being a female journalist 27:12 Marriage 31:31 Work-life balance 33:04 The women’s movement 38:30 Advice 41:03 Overcoming fear 46:17 Q&A ©Kunhardt Productions & McGee Media. All rights reserved. #ChristianeAmanpour #KunhardtFilmFoundation