CNN's Christiane Amanpour to become host of ABC's Sunday news show, "This Week"

ABC, a unit of The Walt Disney Company, announced a few hours ago that it has recruited CNN's most respected reporter, Christiane Amanpour, to be the host of its weekly Sunday news program, This Week, beginning in August 2010.

The deal is a major coup for ABC - which has found a credible and reputable successor to George Stephanopolous - but it's also the chance of a lifetime for Christiane, who has long been the only bright spot at CNN.

ABC News President David Westin celebrated the announcement in an email to staff of the network's news division, writing:

With Christiane we have the opportunity to provide our audiences with something different on Sunday mornings. We will continue to provide the best in interviews and analysis about domestic politics and policies. But now we will add to that an international perspective. All of us know how much the international and the domestic have come to affect one another – whether it's global conflict, terrorism, humanitarian crises, or the economy.

The great thing about Amanpour is that she is an actual journalist. Not a pundit, not a former spinmeister, not a Villager. An actual journalist.

Her hiring seems to have left many on the right wing speechless. Here's a priceless comment from the ABC News website left by an unhappy conservative:

Mr. Westin, are you nuts?? Why would you pick a Left Winger to host a supposed talking head program. I know her liberal, anti America and israel bias will show thru. Jake Tapper would have been a better choice. I guess you were afraid you would not have gotten invited to the right cocktail parties if you had hired a conservative.

Notice Ron in Texas' word choice. He wrote "talking head program". See, his expectation is that Sunday morning news shows are supposed to be hosted by Villagers who book lots of establishment conservatives.

Amanpour is not a Villager. Rather, she's an courageous newsgatherer who has extensively worked abroad, outside the New York/D.C. media axis. Strike one.

Amanpour's reporting has never had a conversative slant, and she herself is not a product of the Republican Noise Machine (which inherently means she's a liberal, since reality has a liberal bias). Strike two.

Finally, Amanpour is not a cheerleader for the United States, because she knows that real journalists aren't cheerleaders. Real journalists seek truth and report it. That's just what she's done as CNN's chief international correspondent... from the Balkans to Rwanda to Iran. Strike three.

It's easy to see why the right wing is unahppy with the selection of Ms. Amanpour. But we're excited, and we commend ABC News for making a great choice. With Christiane, This Week finally has a chance to rise above Press the Meat (er, Meet the Press) and Face the Nation on Sunday mornings.