Journalist Christiane Amanpour leaves CNN after 43 years

Culture Journalist Christiane Amanpour leaves CNN after 43 years Amanpour, 68, will also end her program on PBS, "Amanpour & Co," at the end of the year, she said in the same statement, shared by CNN. The CNN journalist, Christiane Amanpour, who started as a junior assistant and became one of the most visible correspondents and anchors, with reports from war zones and hot spots for decades, leaves the television network after 43 years of career. Amanpour, the main international anchor of the CNN network, will reduce her daily program, "Amanpour," on CNN International to once a week in early 2027, and end it in May, leaving TV the following month. The journalist said today in a statement that she is looking forward to "interesting new projects in the future." Amanpour, 68, will also end her program on PBS, "Amanpour & Co," at the end of the year, she said in the same statement, shared by CNN. However, Christiane Amanpour will continue with her podcast, "The Ex Files," with her ex-husband, Jamie Rubin, a former US diplomat. "After many months of reflection and some sleepless nights, I decided to separate from CNN, my fantastic 43-year partner!", Amanpour stated. And she stressed that she would "always root for CNN and maintain her history of independent journalism. Remember: always be honest, not neutral." Amanpour did not give a reason for her departure, nor did she specifically mention changes in the television network. But, her departure coincides with a new era at CNN, as it passes to a new owner, Skydance. After a process that lasted a year, Paramount, owned by Skydance, completed the acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery for 81 billion dollars on October 6. The merger unites under one roof two giants of television journalism, CBS and CNN. Personally, Amanpour has spoken openly about her ovarian cancer diagnosis in 2021, and two subsequent recurrences, calling it "the invisible killer." And she has encouraged others to "do all the tests they can." Amanpour joined CNN as an assistant in Atlanta in 1983. In her message today, the CNN executive, Mark Thompson, wrote that at the time, her potential was not universally recognized. "Curiously, one of her bosses told her at the time that she 'didn't have what was necessary to become a foreign correspondent, or to hold any on-air position'", wrote Thompson. But, Amanpour became a reporter, and seven years later an international correspondent. She gained fame in the early 1990s, covering the Gulf War, Middle East conflicts, and many other hot spots. Reporting on wars is "a sense of mission, a sense of purpose, the ability to tell a story," she stated. Her goal was to bring international news, including complicated stories, to the American public. "I never believed that things were too complicated to make it on American television," she said to the news agency Associated Press in 2023. "I never spoke to the public condescendingly. I never believed they only want to know what's happening in their backyard." At that time, Amanpour also mentioned that her education gave her a unique perspective. "Because of my education - I am half Iranian and half British - I had the great privilege of being able to see the world from two very different perspectives," she added. "I always defended the need to reduce divisions. I know we can live in a world that is not 100% tribalized," she stressed. In her statements today, Amanpour thanked the reporting and programming teams. "From my first great and emotional mission to cover the First Gulf War, to the horrors of the Bosnian War, Rwanda, Afghanistan, Ukraine, Iran, and all the points in between, it was the teams and the camaraderie that told so much," she wrote. "While together we fought to find the facts, the evidence, and humanity, so that CNN could always transmit the truth about the world and for the world, without fear or favoritism," she concluded.