Leave a Comment   
Add "anchor" to Christiane Amanpour's long list of accomplishments: starting next year, the longtime CNN field journalist will head up a new weekend news program for CNN International. The foreign correspondent will take the reins for CNN's as-yet-to-be-named weekend show.

The 50-year-old British journalist developed a reputation as a skilled field reporter covering conflicts in the former Yugoslavia, the Middle East and across Africa. And while she'll handle desk duty for the show, she'll also continue to travel, because, "I'm a field person at heart, in my bones and in my DNA."

Check out these other women we love to watch!


Amazing Anchorwomen

    Rachel Maddow. This funny, out Rhodes Scholar is being credited with bringing young people back to TV news, possibly due to her super-close friendship with former Air America co-worker Chuck D.

    AP

    Elizabeth Vargas. Vargas won accolades for criticizing an imbalance in media coverage between missing white women and women of color. And she can learn from her mistakes: after taking heat for soft-balling president Bush, she's developed a majorly intimidating cold-eyed glare that we practice daily.

    Getty Images

    Candy Crowley. This multitasker makes her own documentaries and served up killer coverage of the 2008 elections. Plus she's Anderson Cooper's best friend, and we kinda want to sit around and eat nachos and be bitchy with them.

    Getty Images

    Naamua Delaney. Delaney's break-neck fast, super comprehensive online coverage of the elections kept us informed, and her outfits kept us envious.

    CNN

    Campbell Brown. Her hilarious "Free Sarah" campaign (to protest the GOP's denying journalists access to Sarah Palin) smashed any lingering doubt that she deserved her own show.

    Getty Images

    Katie Couric. Sure, she's struggled a little in her new lead anchor role, but Katie redeemed herself with her strong, unblinking (heh) election interviews.

    Getty Images

    Gwen Ifill. Although her moderation of the 2004 VP debates were met with near-universal acclaim, controversy arose in 2008 when some worried that her forthcoming book on Obama could taint her impartiality. Gwen's response? "The proof is in the pudding." We love Gwen. And pudding.

    Getty Images

    María Elena Salinas. Univision's lead anchor, Salinas' under-publicized but incredibly thorough interviews and opinion pieces actually inspired people to get out and vote. Oh, and she loooooves to party.

    Getty Images

    Team Jessica Yellin/Dana Bash. Despite Yellin's weird hologrammery on election night, we're always impressed by her co-coverage of the Capitol Hill with Bash, and not just because "Bash and Yellin" sound like an awesome drunken wrestling duo.

    CNN

    Christiane Amanpour. With too many awards, honors, and distinctions to count, Amanpour has no problem keeping cool while literally dodging bullets or interviewing despots... all while looking unbelievably gorgeous and wearing cool jewelry.

    Getty Images