''Yes. I cry.'' So says the world's best TV journalist and most authoritative global TV voice in journalism of our age, Christiane Amanpour, whose brand-new weekday show Amanpour starts on Monday, 21 September at 21:00 on CNN International (DStv 401).I spoke to Christiane in New York where she's preparing for her new daily, half hour news show, simply titled, Amanpour. In her terrific stories, usually first on the scene, with the best sources, and usually reporting live from hotspots around the world, you hardly ever see her waiver in her investigative approach or getting the story out. So I wondered if she ever gets sad about some of the things she sees.
''Yes. I cry. I'll tell you, what gets me the most is injustice,'' she reveals. ''The sense of the world's injustice. The sense and shape of justice is something that is close to my heart. And when I see gross violations of people's rights, typically children or women, it really does touch me. And there's so many instances where the emotion of it is so overwhelming,'' says Christiane.
''Now obviously I have to keep it together, I have to be an effective communicator, but I am very touched by the human drama and I try to tell those stories and use all my energy to tell those stories.''
I asked the multi-award winning journalist, recognized for her truthful and hard-hitting reporting, about the team putting Amanpour together – and her vision for her new show.
''I think its going to take a huge amount of effort to do this. It's not easy putting together a daily programme. And the team is working incredibly hard. It's a small team, it's not huge and we're all incredibly dedicated. [Amanpour] is different from being in the field – this takes a huge amount of effort and dedication and team work.''
''I must say that I've had the good opportunity of travelling to South Africa several times, I have been there many times for work and holiday, I have incredible colleagues throughout South Africa, and photographers and shared my experiences with correspondents all over the globe and they're all committed to real news. We want to be the place where real news cannot hide. And that will continue to be my commitment.''
Check back all week this week, as I share some more of what Christiane had to say in the runup to the debut of Amanpour on Monday, 21 September at 21:00 on CNN International (DStv 401).
