Christiane Amanpour Gets Cozy with Tina Brown, Touts Newsweek Editor's List of Important Women, Including Amanpour
Newsweek and Daily Beast editor Tina Brown flattered This Week host Christiane Amanpour by placing her on a list
of 150 women who "shake the world." The ABC anchor responded to this
praise by featuring Brown on her Sunday show, touting the females on the
list (which described the host as "one of the world's most renowned
journalists"). She enthused, "Who could fail to be optimistic?"
On the show, Amanpour never mentioned her inclusion in this profile.
Those not featured? Amanpour's ABC News colleagues, World News anchor
Diane Sawyer and Good Morning America co-host Robin Roberts, despite the
fact that their shows are on five days a week and have higher ratings.
In addition to ignoring her place amongst these women, Amanpour also neglected to note that she will be participating in a panel on the same topic. "And we'll be watching the women's summit, the Daily Beast/Newsweek that's coming up this week," she vaguely explained at the close of the segment.
The ABC anchor hyped Brown ..."You are also going to show us the new
cover of 'Newsweek,' which we're going to put up. And it is about 150
women who shake the world with Hillary Clinton as the cover."
Amanpour's entry in the list asserts:
One of the world's most renowned journalists, Christiane Amanpour is anchor of ABC's Sunday-morning political-affairs program and also hosts prime-time documentaries on international subjects. She has reported on and from Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan, Somalia, and Israel, among other regions. She has received every major broadcast award and was made a Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire for her "highly distinguished, innovative contribution" to journalism.
Unsurprisingly, the list is full of liberal women. Democratic Senator
Kristen Gillibrand, Democratic Congresswomen Gabrielle Giffords and
Nancy Pelosi were included. A few token Republicans, such as Laura Bush
and Fran Townsend were allowed.
A partial transcript of the relevant sections of the segment, which aired at 10:45am EST on March 6, follows:
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR: And the big question, how much will the newly empowered women of the Middle East shape their emerging democracies? It's something the United States, as well as much of the world, is looking at closely. Tina Brown, editor-in-chief of the Daily Beast and "Newsweek," is joining us. And she's hosting a women of the world summit this week. Some of the women involved are joining us now. Dr Nawal el Saadawi, a long-time activist for women's rights in Egypt, Zainab Salbi, the Iraqi founder of Women for Women International, and Sussan Ahmadabad, who has been at the forefront of the struggle for women's rights in Iran. Ladies, thank you for joining us. Who could fail to be optimistic? When you look at that piece, do you think gains are solidified and set in stone?
...
AMANPOUR: And she's hosting a women of the world summit this week. Some of the women involved are joining us now. Dr Nawal el Saadawi, a long-time activist for women's rights in Egypt, Zainab Salbi, the Iraqi founder of Women for Women International, and Sussan Ahmadabad, who has been at the forefront of the struggle for women's rights in Iran. Ladies, thank you for joining us. Who could fail to be optimistic? When you look at that piece, do you think gains are solidified and set in stone?
AMANPOUR: Well, let's discuss that. Tina Brown, you are also going to show us the new cover of "Newsweek," which we're going to put up. And it is about 150 women who shake the world with Hillary Clinton as the cover. What can somebody like the U.S. secretary of state and the rest of the global community do to help these women in these revolutions?
TINA BROWN (EDITOR-IN-CHIEF OF THE DAILY BEAST): Well, I think what is interesting right now is that Hillary Clinton, in fact, has actually met her moment, in a sense, because her long-held conviction has always been that women are the leading indicators. That women, if you empower women, you're going to make huge changes in the democracy movement and of course in the GDP of the countries concerned. And she's been pounding that drum for a long time. So this issue of "Newsweek," you see her really in action, what she is doing. We followed her to, for instance, on a trip to Yemen, just a few weeks before the Arab revolution, and saw her conducting a really robust town hall, where people were being encouraged to talk, women were being encouraged to ask about women's rights. And after that meeting, she met with a few of the women who clustered around her and asked them, said, can you help us educate women here? About the country here.
...
AMANPOUR: Thank you all so much. And we'll be watching the women's summit, the Daily Beast/Newsweek that's coming up this week. So thanks very much for joining us. And we will be right back.
- Scott Whitlock is a news analyst for the Media Research Center. Click here to follow him on Twitter.
