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Wolf Blitzer

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Wolf Isaac Blitzer is a prominent American journalist and television news anchor. He is best known for his long career at the news network CNN.

DIG13755-3677
DIG13755-3677

Since joining the network in 1990, he has become one of its most recognizable figures. He currently serves as a principal anchor for the network. He is most famous for hosting the program The Situation Room. For many years, he hosted the show alone. Since March 2025, he has co-hosted the program with Pamela Brown. He also serves as a lead anchor for major breaking news events.

Blitzer's life began in Augsburg, Germany, in 1948. This was during the Allied occupation following World War II. His parents were Polish Jewish refugees who survived Nazi concentration camps. His father, David Blitzer, worked as a home builder. His mother, Cesia Blitzer, was a homemaker. His family eventually moved to the United States under the 1948 Displaced Persons Act. Blitzer grew up in Kenmore, New York. He graduated from Kenmore West Senior High School before attending college. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in history from the State University of New York at Buffalo in 1970. Later, he earned a Master of Arts in International Relations from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies. During his studies, he lived in Jerusalem to learn the Hebrew language.

Blitzer began his professional journalism career in the early 1970s. He first worked in the Tel Aviv bureau for the Reuters news agency. In 1973, he joined The Jerusalem Post as a Washington correspondent. He remained with that newspaper until 1990. During this time, he covered American politics and Middle East developments. Because he was fluent in Hebrew, he also wrote for Hebrew-language newspapers. He sometimes used the name Ze'ev Blitzer or Ze'ev Barak. The name Ze'ev is the Hebrew word for "wolf." The name Barak means "lightning." He also worked as an editor for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. In this role, he focused on Middle East affairs and United States foreign policy.

One of Blitzer's most significant early achievements involved covering international diplomacy. In 1977, he asked Egyptian President Anwar Sadat a question during a White House press conference. He asked why Egyptian citizens were not allowed to visit Israel. Following this, Blitzer covered the historic negotiations between Egypt and Israel. He reported from the first joint press conference in 1977 through the final negotiations. These events eventually led to the signing of the Egypt–Israel peace treaty two years later. In 1985, he published his first book, titled Between Washington and Jerusalem: A Reporter's Notebook. This book examined the complex relations between the United States and Israel.

In 1986, Blitzer gained further recognition for his reporting on the Jonathan Pollard case. Pollard was a U.S. Navy intelligence analyst charged with spying for Israel. Blitzer was the first journalist to interview Pollard while he was in prison. He published this exclusive interview as a front-page story in The Jerusalem Post. Blitzer later wrote a book about this event called Territory of Lies. The book was included on The New York Times list of "Notable Books of the Year" in 1989. His reporting on this case was considered controversial by some media voices. However, the book was praised by reviewers for being highly readable and fair.

Blitzer moved to CNN in May 1990 to serve as a military affairs reporter. He covered the first Gulf War in Kuwait during this period. In 1992, he became the network's White House correspondent. He held this position for seven years until 1999. During his time at the White House, he earned an Emmy Award for his coverage of the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing.

Wolf Blitzer interviews Panetta and Clinton at NATO headquarters on April 18, 2012
Wolf Blitzer interviews Panetta and Clinton at NATO headquarters on April 18, 2012

In 1998, he began hosting the program Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer. This show was broadcast in over 180 countries. In 2005, he began hosting The Situation Room, which became his signature program. He has been chosen to anchor CNN's coverage of every U.S. presidential election since 2004.

Throughout his career, Blitzer has received many prestigious awards for his work. He won the Daniel Pearl Award in 2003 and the Journalist Pillar of Justice Award in 2004. His news teams have received awards for covering major global events. These include Hurricane Katrina, the 1999 Southeast Asian tsunami, and the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. He has also received several honorary Doctorates of Humane Letters from various universities. Beyond news, Blitzer has made many appearances in popular media. He has appeared as himself in films like Skyfall and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. He also appeared in the television show House of Cards and the cartoon Ben 10: Omniverse.

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