In Class Assignment 2

Christine Amanpour Addresses RTNDA2000 Attendees

"And I have often wondered why I do it, why we do it. Because if we the storytellers don't do this, then the bad people will win. We do it because we're committed, because we're believers." -- Christine Amanpour

Christine Amanpour has been CNN's war correspondent for the past 17 years. During her time with CNN she has covered multiple incidents. Her speech gives the audience a small insight into her life as a foreign journalists, her development as a reporter and her sacrifices and thoughts on the profession.

Starting as a young journalist, Amanpour fought for her ranking in CNN. She struggled with editors who put her down because of her minority standing.

"And I worked my way up through every level. I was a writer, I was a producer, I was a field producer, I was a reporter and I am a reporter. I managed to convert a few people in management, a few believers, and here I am," Amanpour said in her speech.

Amanpour remembers interviews with people from third-world countries that are dying as she speaks to them on camera. She has witnessed friends die,

friends get wounded and claims she has been on the front line more than any soldier. These situations have raised the question about why journalists, herself included, stay in the profession.

"And I have often wondered why I do it, why we do it. After a few seconds the answer used to come easily: because it's worth it, because it matters, because the world will care once they see our stories," Amanpour said in her speech.

Having a journalist's lifestyle, Amanpour never considered marriage or children. She thought her hectic schedule would not support either. She has been married now for two years and has a five-month-old son. Amanpour intended to keep her schedule in tact after the birth of her child, but she is finding more and more that her new lifestyle is influencing her old.

She says, "Sadly, marriage and motherhood have coincided with the demise of journalism as I knew it and I dreamt that it would always be. I am no longer sure that when I go out there and do my job it'll even see the light of air, if the experience of my network colleagues is anything to go by."

Amanpour sums up her passion for journalism and the main reason, regardless of the events that happen in her life, why she still stays with the profession.
She says, "I'll tell [my son] I am a believer and that's why I still do it. And I believe that good journalism, good television, can make our world a better place."