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Jim Bittermann is Senior European
Jim Bittermann is Senior European correspondent
A correspondent or on-the-scene reporter is usually a journalist or commentator for a magazine, or an agent who contributes reports to a newspaper, or radio or television news, or another type of company, from a remote, often distant, locati ...
for CNN
CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...
since 1996.
Career
Bittermann graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree fromSouthern Illinois University
Southern Illinois University is a system of public universities in the southern region of the U.S. state of Illinois. Its headquarters is in Carbondale, Illinois.
Board of trustees
The university is governed by the nine member SIU Board of Tr ...
in 1970 and began in print journalism from 1965 to 1970 as a reporter for the Waukegan News-Sun in Waukegan, Illinois
''(Fortress or Trading Post)''
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. His television career began at WTMJ-TV
WTMJ-TV (channel 4) is a television station in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States, affiliated with NBC. It is owned by the E. W. Scripps Company alongside Kenosha-licensed Ion Television station WPXE-TV (channel 55). WTMJ-TV's studios are ...
in Milwaukee
Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee ...
from 1970 to 1972. From 1972 to 1973 he worked at WQED-TV in Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...
and 1973 to 1975 he was as a reporter for WKYC-TV
WKYC (channel 3) is a television station in Cleveland, Ohio, United States, affiliated with NBC and owned by Tegna Inc. Its studios are located on Tom Beres Way (a section of Lakeside Avenue in Downtown Cleveland named after the station's lon ...
in Cleveland, Ohio. Bittermann was with CBC News
CBC News is a division of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the news gathering and production of news programs on the corporation's English-language operations, namely CBC Television, CBC Radio, CBC News Network, and CBC.ca ...
as a Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...
-based correspondent and producer for the broadcaster's newsmagazine from 1975 to 1978.
From 1978–1990, he was a European correspondent for NBC News. Based in Rome from 1978–1979, he covered two Papal transitions and the travels of Pope John Paul II. From 1980–1990, he was based in Paris. While there, he reported on many of the decade's major international stories in Eastern Europe, Northern and Western Africa, the Middle East, the Philippines, Japan and the Soviet Union. He received a national news Emmy Award for his coverage of the 1988 Sudan famine.
He became Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
correspondent for ABC News
ABC News is the news division of the American broadcast network ABC. Its flagship program is the daily evening newscast ''ABC World News Tonight, ABC World News Tonight with David Muir''; other programs include Breakfast television, morning ...
from 1990 to 1996. He has reported wars and revolutions in the Mideast
The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...
, Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
and eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is a subregion of the European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russia, whic ...
as well as such stories as the Soccer World Cup
A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...
, the travels of Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...
, and Princess Diana
Diana, Princess of Wales (born Diana Frances Spencer; 1 July 1961 – 31 August 1997) was a member of the British royal family. She was the first wife of King Charles III (then Prince of Wales) and mother of Princes William and Harry. Her ac ...
's death in 1997. In 2015, he covered the devastating terrorist attacks in Paris for which he and the CNN team shared in the Royal Television Society Breaking News Award in 2016
Since 1998, Bittermann has been an assistant adjunct professor of communications at The American University of Paris
The American University of Paris (AUP) is a private, independent, and accredited liberal arts university in Paris, France. Founded in 1962, the university is one of the oldest American institutions of higher education in Europe, and the first t ...
. 2015 marked his 50th year in journalism.
Bittermann's wife, Emmy-winning television producer Patricia Thompson, died in 2010. The couple's one daughter, Dr. Tess Bittermann, is a gastroenterologist at the University of Pennsylvania Hospital in Philadelphia.
In April, 2017, Bittermann married Mary Jean Lowe, a counselor at the American School of Paris.
Bittermann serves on the board of governors of the American Hospital of Paris and the board of trustees of the Centre des Etudes des Communications Internationales.
Awards
He was awarded the French Legion of Honor on January 1, 2009. * Royal Television Society Group award for coverage of the Paris Terrorism Attacks * An individual National Emmy for coverage of the Sudan Famine and group National Emmys for various NBC News programs * CableACE Award for CNN's coverage of the civil war in Zaire * Southern Illinois University's Journalism Alumnus of the Year 1989 * SIU Alumni Achievement Award 2000.References
ABC News personalities NBC News people CNN people American television reporters and correspondents American expatriate academics Southern Illinois University alumni Living people Academic staff of the American University of Paris Year of birth missing (living people) {{US-tv-bio-stub