Ivan Watson

Ivan Watson
Watson at the 2012 Peabody Awards
Born1975 (age 48–49)
Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.
Alma materBrown University

Ivan Watson (born 1975) is a senior international correspondent for CNN based out of Hong Kong.[1][2] Earlier in his career he was a producer for CNN based in Russia and was then a reporter for NPR.[3] Watson has covered civil unrest in Egypt, the Second Chechen War, Haiti,[4] conflicts in West Africa, the war in Iraq,[5] and the War In Afghanistan.[6]

Watson was born in 1975 in Atlanta, Georgia. He graduated from Brown University in 1997 with a degree in international relations.[7] He has reported from Moscow and for NPR based in Istanbul, Turkey[8] before rejoining CNN in 2009.

In 2000 Watson reported for NPR in West Africa. He then covered Afghanistan from 2001 for five years and was based out of Istanbul, Turkey.[9][10] He was detained for 30 minutes during a protest in Turkey.[11]

Watson has a Russian Orthodox background[12] and was a Moscow based reporter for CNN in the 1990s.[13] Watson has also covered the war in Ukraine.

In Iraq, an armored BMW Watson was traveling in was blown up by what was believed to be a sticky bomb while he and his crew were kept away by Iraqi security forces.[14]

Watson was among four CNN reporters who appeared on the Charlie Rose show to discuss the war in Syria.

For relief and respite from the emotional toll of covering war and devastation, Watson said he has used therapy sessions and balances his reporting with feature stories, for example a millionaire doctor in the mountains of Kyrgyzstan using hypnosis and shamanistic traditions to treat heroin addicts and Kangal sheepdogs in the Turkish highlands of Anatolia.[6]

  1. ^ "CNN Profiles - Ivan Watson - Senior international correspondent - CNN". CNN.
  2. ^ "Ivan Watson Rejoins CNN". www.adweek.com. 26 January 2009.
  3. ^ Eggerton, John (26 January 2009). "Ivan Watson Moves To CNN". Broadcasting & Cable.
  4. ^ Pierre, Claude (April 30, 2015). Moving Forward. Page Publishing Inc. ISBN 9781681391090 – via Google Books.
  5. ^ Sylvester, Judith L.; Huffman, Suzanne (February 13, 2005). Reporting from the Front: The Media and the Military. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 167. ISBN 9780742530607 – via Internet Archive. ivan watson.
  6. ^ a b Challa, Janaki (16 November 2013). "How Reporters Deal With Dark News". NPR.org.
  7. ^ Choi, Julia (13 April 2016). "CNN correspondent Ivan Watson '97 reports on tragedy, maintains hope".
  8. ^ "Ivan Watson is a correspondent for National Public Radio,... 575615 - NewsTimes". m.newstimes.com. Archived from the original on 2013-07-25. Retrieved 2018-10-25.
  9. ^ "Five Years Later Afghanistan Faces New Threats From an Old Foe". niemanreports.org.
  10. ^ "Ivan Watson - Nieman Foundation". nieman.harvard.edu.
  11. ^ "CNN reporter Ivan Watson detained by Turkish police live on air". Independent.co.uk. 2014-05-31.
  12. ^ "BPR Interviews: Ivan Watson - Brown Political Review". 5 May 2015.
  13. ^ "LittleSis: Ivan Watson". littlesis.org.
  14. ^ Adams, Noah; Folkenflik, David; Montagne, Renee; Roberts, Cokie; Shapiro, Ari; Stamberg, Susan; Ydstie, John (August 24, 2012). This Is NPR: The First Forty Years. Chronicle Books. ISBN 9781452120218 – via Google Books.