Ivan Watson

{{Short description|American journalist (born 1975)}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Ivan Watson

| image = Nic Robertson, Tony Maddox, Arwa Damon, Ivan Watson, and Anderson Cooper, May 2012 (cropped, Watson).jpg

| caption = Watson at the 2012 Peabody Awards

| birth_date = {{birth year and age|1975}}

| birth_place = Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.

| alma_mater = Brown University

}}

Ivan Watson (born 1975) is a senior international correspondent for CNN based out of Hong Kong.{{cite web|url=https://www.cnn.com/profiles/ivan-watson|title=CNN Profiles - Ivan Watson - Senior international correspondent - CNN|website=CNN}}{{cite web|url=https://www.adweek.com/tvnewser/ivan-watson-rejoins-cnn/23659|title=Ivan Watson Rejoins CNN|website=www.adweek.com|date=26 January 2009 }} Earlier in his career he was a producer for CNN based in Russia and was then a reporter for NPR.{{cite web|url=https://www.broadcastingcable.com/news/ivan-watson-moves-cnn-34029|title=Ivan Watson Moves To CNN|first=John|last=Eggerton|website=Broadcasting & Cable|date=26 January 2009 }} Watson has covered civil unrest in Egypt, the Second Chechen War, Haiti,{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KoTDCAAAQBAJ&q=ivan+watson&pg=PT27|title=Moving Forward|first=Claude|last=Pierre|date=April 30, 2015|publisher=Page Publishing Inc|via=Google Books|isbn=9781681391090}} conflicts in West Africa, the war in Iraq,{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/reportingfromfro0000sylv|url-access=registration|page=[https://archive.org/details/reportingfromfro0000sylv/page/167 167]|quote=ivan watson.|title=Reporting from the Front: The Media and the Military|first1=Judith L.|last1=Sylvester|first2=Suzanne|last2=Huffman|date=February 13, 2005|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|via=Internet Archive|isbn=9780742530607}} and the War In Afghanistan.{{cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/sections/theprotojournalist/2013/11/16/245180228/how-reporters-deal-with-dark-news|title=How Reporters Deal With Dark News|website=NPR.org|date=16 November 2013 |last1=Challa |first1=Janaki }}

Watson was born in 1975 in Atlanta, Georgia. He graduated from Brown University in 1997 with a degree in international relations.{{cite web|url=http://www.browndailyherald.com/2016/04/13/cnn-correspondent-ivan-watson-97-reports-on-tragedy-maintains-hope/|title=CNN correspondent Ivan Watson '97 reports on tragedy, maintains hope|first=Julia|last=Choi|date=13 April 2016}} He has reported from Moscow and for NPR based in Istanbul, Turkey{{cite web|url=https://m.newstimes.com/default/photo/Ivan-Watson-is-a-correspondent-for-National-575615.php|title=Ivan Watson is a correspondent for National Public Radio,... 575615 - NewsTimes|website=m.newstimes.com|access-date=2018-10-25|archive-date=2013-07-25|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130725051448/http://www.newstimes.com/default/photo/Ivan-Watson-is-a-correspondent-for-National-575615.php|url-status=dead}} 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.{{cite web|url=https://niemanreports.org/articles/five-years-later-afghanistan-faces-new-threats-from-an-old-foe/|title=Five Years Later Afghanistan Faces New Threats From an Old Foe|website=niemanreports.org}}{{cite web|url=https://nieman.harvard.edu/authors/ivan-watson/|title=Ivan Watson - Nieman Foundation|website=nieman.harvard.edu}} He was detained for 30 minutes during a protest in Turkey.{{cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/cnn-reporter-ivan-watson-detained-by-turkish-police-live-on-air-9465926.html|title=CNN reporter Ivan Watson detained by Turkish police live on air|website=Independent.co.uk |date=2014-05-31}}

Watson has a Russian Orthodox background{{cite web|url=http://www.brownpoliticalreview.org/2015/05/bpr-interviews-ivan-watson/|title=BPR Interviews: Ivan Watson - Brown Political Review|date=5 May 2015}} and was a Moscow based reporter for CNN in the 1990s.{{cite web|url=https://littlesis.org/person/178472/Ivan_Watson#|title=LittleSis: Ivan Watson|website=littlesis.org}} 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.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Mq2HtNYjGVIC&q=ivan+watson&pg=PA211|title=This Is NPR: The First Forty Years|first1=Noah|last1=Adams|first2=David|last2=Folkenflik|first3=Renee|last3=Montagne|first4=Cokie|last4=Roberts|first5=Ari|last5=Shapiro|first6=Susan|last6=Stamberg|first7=John|last7=Ydstie|date=August 24, 2012|publisher=Chronicle Books|via=Google Books|isbn=9781452120218}}

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.