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Christiane Amanpour
 CNN's Chief International Correspondent Christiane Amanpour has been on the frontlines of every war zone in the world over the past 15 years. A wife and mother, she's dedicated to telling the stories she believes the world needs to hear.
On Fear
Oprah: You seem so fearless, but underneath all of this, are you scared? A little bit?
Christiane: Yes, yes, a lot in fact. I think it's a myth that any one of us who does this job, whether it's a man or a woman, is completely fearless. I think that we're all normal, ordinary people who have mostly come from normal ordinary upbringings, and we've been propelled largely by our own will into the most extraordinary, testing and difficult situations...but experience teaches you to understand the parameters of the risk, the boundaries, what you can expect, what you might not expect. And you tend to grow slightly more familiar with danger and how best to stay out of it while [doing] your job. Putting a "Human Face" on the News
Oprah: I've heard you say, "let me put a human face on this." Is that your goal when you go in, to try to bring it down to a level that each one of us can connect to another human being?
Christiane: I believe that people care, viewers care, but they care if the stories are told in a way that reaches them, that connects with them, that makes the stories relevant, or that are done in a 'human way.' And in the end, every one of these stories that we cover is a human story; particularly because these days, war reporters are covering civilian conflicts. Creating a Window to the World
Oprah: Do you feel that what is going on in other parts of the world is important for those of us in countries where there is little risk?
Christiane: I think September 11 has shown the people of the United States in a very brutal and tragic way how we can all potentially be at risk, and how these kinds of fears and dangers can potentially hit even the most unlikely of countries. I think that as a country that is so powerful, so good in its values, so determined to spread values such as democracy, morality around the world...it's absolutely vital, particularly in this globalized, internationalized world that the people of the United States get a look at what's going on outside. It's our role and it's our job to be able to go to these places and bring back stories, just as a window on the world. Where's the Baby?
Oprah: Every time I see you though, I have this running joke in my head that I say, "Where's the baby, who has the child?" Who's keeping [your two-year-old son]?
Christiane: 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. [Motherhood] has made me think many, many times before doing some of the more dangerous stuff that I have done. I still do it, but I'm much more prudent, I'm much more careful, I'm much more conscious of the risks that I take now. Discovering Her Passion
Oprah: As you covered the Terry Anderson case, you two have become friends over the years...
Christiane: We have. I did one of my first major stories covering his release, and when he was kidnapped, it was when I first joined CNN as a desk assistant...an entry-level position...and it was people like him and covering his story that made me want to go to Beirut and be a war correspondent. Living In Danger
Oprah: You are the international spokesperson, you're the most known international reporter there is. You know that all of the good guys and the bad guys are watching you. I hear a lot of the troops watch CNN to see where they're going to be deployed next by seeing where you are.
Christiane: Being on CNN is two things: one, it's a very powerful position to be in and with it obviously comes a lot of responsibility; but two, you are being viewed by everybody in real time, by the people who agree with you and the people who disagree with you, and that puts you in a particular position of danger. Oprah: Thank you for being one of the women who's on the frontlines running towards [danger]. You're one of my personal heroes, Christiane. From the show Reporters' Notebooks
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