Christiane Amanpour broadens appeal of Sunday morn TV

The face of Sunday morning television continues to change, largely due to women.
A year that began with Candy Crowley succeeding John King as anchor of “State of the Union” now continues with one of their former CNN mates, Christiane Amanpour, beginning a new role on a different network. The much-honored international journalist follows David Brinkley, the duo of Sam Donaldson and Cokie Roberts, George Stephanopoulos, and interim host Jake Tapper in presiding over ABC’s “This Week” starting Sunday, Aug. 1. While the Washington, D.C.-based job is a fresh challenge for the literally worldly Amanpour, the subjects and conversations it will entail are extremely familiar to her.
Q: How do you view this new chapter in your career?
A: I feel very excited. I really have a vision for this opportunity.  I’ve spent my whole career trying to make the world more accessible to viewers, and I look forward to having this slot to be able to do that and build on this incredible tradition that is “This Week.”
Q: Would you ever have foreseen something like this for yourself? 
A: No! Look, I’m a foreign correspondent who’s spent most her career abroad and in the field.  When this came up, I was thrilled.  Now finding myself living in the United States, I feel very strongly about getting to the heart of the matter, really being able to delve into issues and stories. My aim is to try to make “foreign” less foreign. America does not operate on its own anymore. Everything that happens in the United States affects the rest of the world, and basically vice versa. And people know that.
Q: How do you regard forecasts of how your global view might impact your hosting a U.S. Sunday program?
A: There will always be critics and people who have their own point of view. I’ve always said, whenever I’ve done new and different things, that my work will stand for itself. “This Week” is solid and established, going back decades, and this is my opportunity -  and ABC’s  – to broaden the conversation. Today is a different era than five or 10 years ago, and it’s not possible for the U.S. to shut the world out anymore. Nor do people want to.
Q: Do you envision having your husband, professor and former U.S. State Department spokesman James Rubin, as a “This Week” guest or panelist?
A: Well, it’s a crazy world, isn’t it?  He’s certainly one of the best brains there is on foreign policy and how it coincides with domestic policy.
Q: You were aiming for a summer vacation between leaving CNN and starting at ABC News. How’d that go?
A: For the last several years, I’ve combined time off and work. I’ve been meeting many of the people I’ll be reporting on, so I’ve been doing quite a lot of homework. It’s true that I have not spent my career steeped in American domestic politics, nor did I spend it steeped in international affairs before that time.  Like any journalist, I will be well prepared.
Q: How hard was it to say goodbye to CNN after 27 years there?
A: You don’t walk away from that easily. When you make a move to someplace new like I have done with ABC, it’s not to say that you forget all your history. One of the things I’ve felt strongly about throughout my life is keeping my family and friends around me, and by that, I mean my professional family and friends as well. I don’t anticipate this being any different.”