‘We are a vital pillar in society’: Christiane Amanpour on the threat to journalism - speech extract

We all need to stand together and make ourselves heard and seen and felt in this fight

Lately, I feel like I’m caught in an Armando Iannucci theatre of the absurd. Somewhere between the Death of Stalin, which raised bending the knee to an art form, and the cynical hubris of Veep. Frankly, I would even go so far as to toss in some Kafka and Orwell to describe our world today.

This is a perilous moment for journalists, including here in the US. In November 2016, shortly after an unprecedented presidential victory, I warned against the threat of an unprecedented crackdown on the press. You know, like what autocrats and illiberal democrats do abroad.

Christiane Amanpour is the chief international anchor for CNN and host of CNN International’s nightly interview program Amanpour, CNN’s The Amanpour Hour on Saturdays and Amanpour & Company on PBS and a press freedom advocate. This piece is adapted from the opening speech Amanpour delivered at the Committee to Protect Journalists Gala