Christiane Amanpour to Leave CNN After 43 Years
Christiane Amanpour, 68, will leave CNN after 43 years, ending her daily program on CNN and PBS at the close of this year. A transition agreement will keep “Amanpour” on CNN once a week through June. She said she reached the decision after months of consideration but gave no specific reason for her departure.
The announcement comes weeks after Paramount Skydance completed its merger with Warner Bros. Discovery, CNN’s parent company, on October 6. The deal brings CBS and CNN under the same ownership and has prompted concern about CNN’s editorial independence because the Ellison family, which controls the merged company, is closely allied with US President Donald Trump. Amanpour did not directly connect her decision to the takeover, but stressed that she had always been “fiercely independent” and warned of growing political, financial and physical pressures on journalism.
Born in London to an Iranian father and British mother, Amanpour joined CNN as an assistant in 1983 and became known internationally for reporting from the Gulf War, the Bosnian War and conflicts across Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia, Rwanda and the Balkans. She said she expects to pursue new projects while continuing to support CNN’s tradition of independent journalism. CNN chief executive Mark Thompson praised her “43 extraordinary years” at the network and said he accepted that the time was right for her to leave, both personally and professionally.
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