Christiane Amanpour Headlines Tufts Journalism Forum
– Allison Goldsberry
Chief international correspondent for CNN and global affairs anchor of ABC News Christiane Amanpour was at Tufts University on Friday for its eighth annual Edward R. Murrow Forum on Issues in Journalism.
Demand was so great for the public lecture it was moved from its original location on campus. Tufts’ Asean Auditorium was packed to hear from Amanpour, who, in her thirty year-plus career, has won every major broadcast award.
The event was chaired by Tufts alum Jonathan Tisch. Tisch first participated in the journalism forum two years ago when Katie Couric came to Tufts, and he held court last year with Brian Williams.
Amanpour spoke candidly while relaying both her professional and personal experiences to the audience. The London and Tehran-raised Amanpour had a first-hand experience with war and terror while coming of age during the Iranian Revolution. That experience compelled her to become a journalist, and she knew she had to come to America to “make it in the world.”
Amanpour has been with CNN since it was a fledgling cable news network over thirty years ago, and her first official gig was actually supposed to be a technical one. A vacancy on the foreign desk gave her an opening to produce and eventually report. She has reported from trouble spots all over the world, including Somalia, the Balkans, Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Middle East.
Amanpour was frank in talking about the dangers of such a job. She said she feels genuinely lucky to not have been injured or killed like some of her colleagues. She admitted to living everyday in “repressed fear,” something she first felt while covering the Bosnian War. Amanpour said to deal with the “human emotions” of reporting from the front lines she has funneled her fear into her story-telling. She said reporters need to “understand like an emergency room doctor what [your] mission is…get a grip…succeed in getting out the information.”
Amanpour said journalists need to maintain their vigorous reporting in times of war and should not be influenced by surges of patriotism that could lead to not holding those in power accountable, which she said happened after 9/11 following President George Bush’s “you’re with us or against us” mentality.
“What is more important than war and peace?” She asked.
Amanpour said journalists should remember “truth is your master and nothing else,” and the profession is “not a popularity contest.”
“This is actually a profession where you kind of don’t want to be liked,” said Amanpour.
In addition, as if reporting from war-torn regions was not already dangerous enough for journalists, Amanpour, who is a member of the Committee to Protect Journalists, noted the leading cause of death among journalists is murder.
“People want to shut us up; they don’t want to hear the truth,” she said.
Amanpour also discussed her personal life, stating that, as a woman, she has felt like she has “had it all,” regarding a career and a family, because she did it “in stages.” She focused on her career while young and worked constantly before becoming a wife and mother “late in life.”
Amanpour noted that she hadn’t much thought about her personal life until, while in her thirties, a colleague asked her if she planned on going to bed with her awards for the rest of her life!
Tisch and Amanpour
Edward Murrow’s son Casey attended the forum named in his father’s honor on Friday. He is pictured, far left, followed by Tufts President Anthony Monaco, Amanpour, and Tisch.