Christian Amanpour: the television tigress

Today, CNN comes on the television and so does the familiar face of none other than Christiane Amanpour. She has been our eyes to the world's biggest political debacles, the most cataclysmic tragedies and the most shocking discoveries. Our society buys into every word she says, and some of her opinions have been known to globally take over the minds of the population.

How and why is Christiane Amanpour one of the most influential women in the world and why is what she says believed by all? It has taken her several years to make the name she's made for herself. She has used her power of integral journalism and the strength of her voice and words to convey her opinions about world issues to us. Her career, however, is not her only expertise. She is doing what most women today dream of, balancing a family, a husband and an extremely powerful job all while keeping her sanity and loving every minute of what she does."I have made my living bearing witness to some of the most horrific events of the end of our century, at the end of the 20th century."

Born in London, England, on January 12, 1958, she is the daughter of Patricia and Mohammed Amanpour. Her father is an Iranian airline executive. His job took him back to Iran shortly after Christiane's birth and consequently she was raised in Tehran up until the age of 11. In Tehran she lived a privileged life, as her father was very wealthy and was considered to have a lot of power. She lived under the regime of the Shah of Iran. Her sister, Lizzie Amanpour, is the reason Christiane is in journalism today.

Joining journalism by coincidence

As a result of the wealth of her parents and her privileged upbringing, Christiane Amanpour's education was done in very high class and elite schools. She began at the Holy Cross Convent School in Buckinghamshire, England when she was 11 and had recently returned to England. Following this, she attended an exclusive Roman Catholic girls school called New Hall School. Around this time, her family had to flee Iran because of the Islamic Revolution in 1979. She then moved to the United States, where she studied journalism at the University of Rhodes Island. She graduated Summa Cum Laude from this university in 1983 with a BA in Journalism.

Interestingly enough she wasn't supposed to go into this field, but was forced to when her sister was accepted but backed out of the offer. Little did she know it was going to turn out to be her life's passion. "And I believe that good journalism, good television, can make our world a better place,” she says. "Mostly, as I said, a desire to do a bit of good, and the quaint notion that this is what we signed up for, this is the business that we have chosen."

This desire to do well has not gone unnoticed in the case of Christiane Amapour. She has been recognised for her talents, her contributions to the journalistic world and for her courage and determination, in a myriad of ways. In 1993 and 1998 she won the ‘Peabody Award’, which is the most prestigious award given for distinction and achievement in the areas of broadcast journalism, documentary making, educational programming and children's programming. Her awards don't stop there as Forbes Magazine named her one of the ‘100 Most Powerful Women.’ In 1994, the New York Chapter of Women in Cable and Telecommunications named her ‘Woman of the Year.’ She then received a ‘Courage in Journalism Award’, along with nine Emmy awards for documentaries and broadcasts she's done. Her most recent distinction is that she was named a ‘Fellow of the Society of Professional Journalists’. This is a great honor that signifies her contribution and excellence in journalism.

Love affair with reporting

In a head rush of passion for journalism, Christiane Amanpour once said in an interview, that she would never have children and a family, because it would interfere with her career and her love affair with reporting. Today, she has a son named Darius John Rubin who is six years old. She married James Rubin in 1998, who was at the time a spokesman for the US State Department. They all live in London, England.

In a recent interview with Oprah, when asked where her baby was, she said : "Well, I have a very, very, very good nanny, obviously, and I have a fantastic husband, and we do not travel at the same time. I had this romantic, rather naive, notion as a first time mother that I could take my child on the road with me...you know, Afghanistan, Somalia...it just wasn't possible.” She often feels like it's her responsibility to stay alive now that she has a child. It might be her passion to run from bombs and duck from gunfire, but when there is a child at home; she is scared to leave him abandoned.

Although she is most known for her contribution and position with CNN, her journalism career did not start there. After graduation, she worked for NBC affiliate WJAR in Providence, Rhode Island. Interestingly enough, she worked as an electronic graphics designer for WJAR-TV. This internship was her biggest work before CNN.

She arrived at CNN in 1983, with her suitcase, her bicycle and about 100 dollars in her pocket. To her surprise, they hired her and assigned her the network's international assignment desk in Atlanta. Following this, she reported on the democratic revolutions sweeping Eastern Europe in 1989, when she was posted in Frankfurt, West Germany. She is generally assigned exclusive interviews with world leaders or reporting from the heart of war zones; she has received high acclaim for both of these. She is now based in London, England and is CNN's Chief International Correspondent.

Christiane Amanpour is famous for securing the most exclusive interviews with world leaders and group leaders. She has a way with words, and a reputation that precedes her, that world leaders want to divulge information to her and let her be their link to the world. After September 11, 2001 she was the first person to secure an interview with British Prime Minister Tony Blair. She has had a meeting with Iran's new president Mahmoud Ahmaadinejad and former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri. In the aftermath of the riots in France, she secured an interview with French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin and the French President Jacques Chirac. She also spoke with the French Prime Minister prior to the 2003 conflict in Iraq. Prior to long-reigning King Hussein's death, Christiane Amanpour was the last journalist to interview him.

One of her greatest accomplishments, however, was in 2005 when she traveled the world following the major stories that happened. "I have made my living bearing witness to some of the most horrific events of the end of our century, at the end of the 20th century." She reported on the Tsunami in Sri Lanka and showed the world what a wave of devastation it was. She was our ear to the London terrorist attacks that left us shaken. She was our mediator of information in the riots in France. She was right there in the Louisiana hurricane disaster. She informed us on the first democratic elections in Iraq, something most of the world could not be privy too. Finally, she brought the death of Pope John Paul II and the election of the current Pope, Benedict XVI. In 2005, Christiane Amanpour was our number one source for current events.

While spending her years acting as one of the military, ducking bombs, and hiding from snipers, scarcely does she talk about fear. It must be scary, and a good part of society cannot relate to this kind of fear. Christiane Amanpour lives her life in a state of constant repressed fear. It takes courage to live in this state. She says that with experience and time she learns how to avoid the danger while on the job. She understands the parameters of the dangers and how to get herself out of the most compromising positions.

No one is fearless, and Christiane Amanpour is no different. She is an ordinary person who has been thrown into a world of extraordinary unknown and fear. "And then there's always the crying and the weeping that we hear-children, women, even men. And these images and these sounds are always with me," she says.

For an ordinary person, her opinion is valued above most others. She has earned the respect and trust she gets from society. She puts a human face on society. She breaks it down for her viewers so that they can understand the full effect of the story she is reporting on, or the world leader she is interviewing. She believes that the viewers are interested but the stories need to reach them, to affect them, to be humanised for them so that everyone can understand what is happening in their world.

Christiane Amanpour is one of the most powerful and courageous women of our century. She has touched each and every one of our lives. It has not been an easy journey and one she struggles with everyday, but she does it for the good of mankind.