Blitzer, Albright Roast Christiane Amanpour At Fourth Estate Award Fete (VIDEO)

Last Friday night, the National Press Club bestowed its Fourth Estate Award on CNN reporter Christiane Amanpour, whose world travels and remarkable reportage have made her one of the most recognizable and well-regarded media figures in America. Amanpour became the thirty-sixth recipient of the award, which has gone to Walter Cronkite, David Brinkley, and Helen Thomas, among others. Friday night's celebration took the form of a roast -- a strange way to celebrate a reporter best known for traveling to far-flung and dangerous locales. One of Amanpour's roasters, Madeleine Albright, confessed to being uncomfortable with the format ("I accept that [a roast] is more fun than a eulogy," said Albright), but, in the video shot by Liz Glover, below, Amanpour's CNN colleague Wolf Blitzer made the best of it, quipping, "When leaders from all over the world...hear that Christiane is coming, they say, 'Oh, my God, Christiane Amanpour is coming here. Obviously something very, very bad is happening."

Here, Albright and Richard Cohen take their turn at the dais, followed by Amanpour herself.

Comments

[benchy]

Always liked her reporting. There is always a sense of integrity in her journalism, and also you can tell she cares about the issues deeply without revealing what position she is taking. I am not so much for the type of shows we see today of O'Reily and Olberman. Too polarizing. It would be great if they took a page from Christiane's book. Well done to you Christiane and congratulations on the award.

[MyThought]

At least she can say Iraq properly. Most Americans say eeeeRaq or EyeRaq......it's like listing to chalk on a chalk board.

[amirtalai]

just wondering- do you call the capital of France "Pareee"?

[DesertKayaker]

Sure hope Helen Thomas gets her front row seat back at the White House press conferences. She's brilliant and I sorely miss her front and center.

[screwedrus]

I emailed her with a similar sentiment and told her to Hold Obama's feet to the fire when he needs it, too and she replied,

"Kind words-couldn't agree with you more; no one gets a pass even a freshman-helent"

[Vuki]

As I read the singers of praise for Christiane Amanpour I can see Americans lack political intelligence, and ability to see through the bullshit which the media particularly Amanpour feed the American public.She was her husband"s parrot during the invasion of Yugoslavia. She lied about 500 thousand Albanians killed. We know that only 2000 died in Kosovo and most by the hands of the Albanian terrorists KLA who kidnaped victims and killed them for their organs. She interviewed a mother and a child in Albania. She asked the women, "where is your husband", and the women responded that "he was taken away by the Serbs and killed". The same question was put to the child who responded that daddy was with the KLA. The live interview was never played again.
Amanpour goes where NATO wants her to be in order to do what NATO wants and those that are its Eichmans like her husband James Rubin. These people throw out principles and ethics and go along with a system of injustice that their masters created for others but would not accept the same thing for themselves. Amanpour is a liar, she writes nonsense and the uninformed swallow it because she supposedly looks good. Palin looks good but she is dumb Amanpour is ugly but she is smart. She reports using all the euphemisms innuendo and slant of propaganda that I see from people like Glenn Beck and Russ Limbaugh

[CologneCitizen]

I have to agree. She is just an outlet for NATO, CNN streamlined versions of the truth. And because she is a woman, she gets subconsciously extra credit for reporting from war zones. To a certain extent CNN is FOX NEWS for better educated people without the hate mongering .

I followed the latest American elections on CNN INTERNATIONAL in Germany, very disappointing. If it was not for the internet or other sources, you had the impression Obama was a dark horse in that race. Wolf Blitzer will say anything to get his career going, he is a bad caricature of a journalist, pathetic.

[fussygorilla]

Cologn,

To get better and more real news about U.S. and the rest of the world skip CNN alltogether. I have for years. BBC comes close to CNN (the Anglo-Saxon club). I would suggest you watch CCTV(China), DW(Germany), Persstv(Iran) and with a grain of salt Aljazeera(Dubai).

[fussygorilla]

Sorry, I meant to type Presstv.

[fussygorilla]

Vuki,
You said it. I have to agree that unfortunately the majority of Americans, being ignorant of international politics, simply accept what Amanpour and her ilk dish out. She is a System propagandist without any principles except to be promoted and paid a good price for her performance. So tragic!

[anchises868]

OK, so Wolf's a nerd, and some of his jokes aren't funny unless you're a CNN-insider nerd, too. But come on, "Quaker Ninjas." That's great stuff right there!

[nanton29]

Look up the meaning of ' wooden personality ' in your dictionary and you will see a picture of Wolf Blitzer.

[benpaul12]

Blitzer is crap.

[WhereIsTheTruth]

Wolf Blitzer is as entertaining as a wet diaper.

[LeeCalif]

Very nice to see.

[GhostwriterDoF]

If only more women with character like this could be celebrated in our culture, maybe our daughters would be able to grow up believing there is more to life than becoming a pop-star....

[fussygorilla]

Ghostwrite,

Some "culture"! What "culture"?

[DisgustedTexan]

Christiane Amanpour is the sexiest woman alive.

[SBrooksB]

The sexiest woman alive, absolutely. I couldn't agree with you more.

[TimesArrow]

Witness? Yes, I've witnessed at least a million people murdered in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Philippines.... 100,000 Americans dead or wounded.... Why didn't any of those journalists stand up and say that they aided Republican slaughter? The journalists are the reason it happened, because they didn't tell the truth.

It makes me sick to hear Woflie make jokes about weapons, AK-47, sniper rifles... these weapons are being used to kill American soldiers. Really funny Wolfie, you filthy pig.

[Mikeeee]

Ditto!!

[unrepentantlib]

Yes, she's married to Jamie Rubin. She is a remarkable reporter. I find her voice soothing and reassuring, even when she is reporting the most horrendous stories. She's the female Edward R. Murrow. Oh, for a few dozen more like her.

But I agree that it's time for Wolf Blitzer to hang up his hat. He has no skills, no charisma, no credentials. . .and yet there he is, night after night. He batters the English language almost as badly as GWB, and yet there he is. Why?

[Bitsko]

Wolf Blitzer is the best cure for insomnia ever produced.

[DisgustedTexan]

Blitzer was a 3rd rate TV reporter at the Pentagon until the first Iraq War started which brought the Pentagon back into the news. He was a dismal reporter then and hasn't changed. What happened to the star reporter of first Iraq War, The Scud Stud?

[roshni]

Wolf is a rethug shill. I stopped watching CNN. He kept talking about the "best" political team, as though saying it enough times would make it so.

[Gasparilla]

He is also a Rush listener, every day. I've heard him say it.

[LeeCalif]

Does anyone remember when Blitzer dressed in Army fatigues near the beginning of the Iraq Invasion??

I couldn't believe my eyes. It was shocking.

[vshdst]

Jack Cafferty is the only one worth watching.

[AmbivalentGuy]

Christiane Amanpour is a journalist,
Wold Blitzer is a poor excuse for a teleprompter reader.

[JackND]

'tis heartwarming to see so many others loathe Wolf as I do.

As for Christiane...simply the best there is.

[DC]

I do not know why but every time I hear her voice promoting one of her oh sooo serious report and expose, I turn off the sound or turn the channel. Her reporting seems so pretentious, not real, all CNN showbiz pretending to be important documentary. I've seem MUCH more informative reporting on foreign channels from Poland or Germany.

[pakiman]

Or Al Jazeera English...

[TheImpaler]

By large, Americans are very ethnocentric, knowledge or attention to international affairs is not a priority; with that in mind, I think she is one of the best foreign affairs TV journalists we have. If her coverage appears superficial it is probably not due to the lack of insight on her part, it is tailored to accommodate attention span of an average viewer. Fortunately we have satellites and " internets" for those seeking more comprehensive coverage from abroad.

[mrcontinental]

Christiane Amanpour is the best... period.

[TheImpaler]

Speaking of the best; she is no Robert Fisk!

[fussygorilla]

yes. The best of the propagandists this system can produce. Shameful.