On Sunday Christiane Amanpour made her debut as the host of ABC’s “This Week,” and already some critics are weighing in:
The New York Times Alessandra Stanley:
Ms. Amanpour is not an election expert and hasn’t spent her life covering Washington politics, but she is smarter than many of those who have, with a range of international experience that is hard to match. More important, she has panache and a no-nonsense briskness.
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The Los Angeles Times Robert Lloyd:
She speaks loudly and intently, as if she has not lost the habit of yelling over heavy artillery and wants to get her questions out before the bombs get too close. This can make her sound pushy at times, and she will sometimes insist on a point long after it’s clear that her interlocutor will not respond in any meaningful way. But one would say it’s because she cares.
And then there is the Washington Post‘s Tom Shales. Shales referred to the anchor as “Grand Duchess Amanpour” in his review, and was almost universally critical of everything she did on the program.
Shales first criticized ABC for hiring Amanpour back in March, drawing a rebuke from the network:
“There have always been all kinds of fretful ink spilled about decisions we’ve made that ultimately turn out quite well for ABC News. If we are being accused of hiring one of the most well respected journalists in the world we proudly plead guilty and are looking forward to having Christiane focus her considerable talents on the Sunday morning landscape.”
A spokesperson for ABC says the statement still applies.
Our sister blog FishbowlDC helpfully point out a few of the other predictions Shales has made about the network, including that George Stephanopoulos would never leave “This Week” to go to “GMA,” and that “Nightline” would flounder without Ted Koppel.