Perfect Timing: Women’s Media Center honors Christiane Amanpour

There’s been a lot of hoopla about CNN playing catchup to Twitter in covering Iran’s election fallout (check out the Twitterartti bashing at #cnnfail &  response in an article from the New York Observer   quoting @ricksanchezcnn at the #140 Twitter Conference). On that note, some argue that  Huffington Post  also trumped the global news network.

We can argue for eternity about who reported what first.  The real “get” for me was watching seasoned journalist Christiane Amanpour whittle away at Ahmadinejad at a press conference Sunday – on CNN. She has unmatched street credibility, courage, and deliverables that I’ve yet to see anywhere else during this historic moment. Yes, through the ears and eyes of  Twitter, we witnessed real people out in the streets. It was hard to match. But reporting from that area of the world is challenging at best. Kudos to Amanpour.

Talk about work life integration. Covering her native country as it teeters on a seemingly thin line between chaos and order, Amanpour defiantly stood her ground. And she did it on CNN for the world to witness. Press conferences like that don’t just happen, and moments like that can’t be forced. Amanpour showed up in what is perceived as hostile territory. At this writing, foreign journalists are getting the boot from the streets of Tehran.

It is perfect timing however to take note of Amanpour’s journalistic prowess. Wednesday night she is being honored by the Women’s Media Center  along with other distinguished journalists such as CNN’s Candy Crowley, PBS’ Bonnie Erbe and MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow. In its first annual awards ceremony (read more about it here) the Center will also dish on the medias most sexist moments over the last year. Among the examples stated:  presidential debates sans women moderators, lack of diversity in the white house press corp and on the Sunday morning pundit shows.

Here’s a snippet from Amanpour’s tete-a-tete with Ahmadinejad which turned many a head on Sunday.

Mesmerized by the goings-on in Iran Sunday, I was admittedly glued to Twitter and the wires with CNN blaring on one of my monitors ( I anchored Sunday at News 12). But the distinctive sound of Amanpour’s voice had me grabbing the remote. Why? Because I trust her as a journalist. I think Twitter will change the journalistic paradigm – although I’m not exactly sure how. It’s bringing us news faster, but also forcing us to be very cautious about the voices behind the tweets.

For me as a journalist, Twitter has shown me how flat the world truly is in our work life nation, and how our work life scenario can change in an instant.