Ben Wedeman Profile
Ben Wedeman is an American Award-winning journalist working as CNN’s senior international correspondent based in Rome, Italy. He has been working for the station since joining in November 2012 and previously worked as a freelance print journalist based in Amman, Jordan.
Ben Wedeman Education
Wedeman has lived in the Middle East on and off since 1974, earning a Bachelor’s degree in Oriental Languages and Linguistics from the University of Texas at Austin and a Master’s degree in Middle Eastern Studies from the School of Oriental and African Studies at London University.
Ben Wedeman CNN
Wedeman is CNN’s senior international correspondent based in Rome, Italy. He was previously based in Cairo, Egypt, where he oversaw CNN’s coverage of the uprising against then-President Hosni Mubarak as well as the wider Middle East unrest.
Wedemen previously worked as a CNN Jerusalem bureau correspondent, covering the peace process, battles between Fatah and Hamas, politics, and society in Israel and the Palestinian territories. In July 2007, Wedeman was the first reporter to report on the release of kidnapped BBC journalist Alan Johnston from Gaza.
During Israel’s late 2008-early 2009 offensive, he was also the first Western reporter to enter Gaza from Egypt. Wedeman reported from south Lebanon in the summer of 2006, where he was CNN’s senior reporter in Tyre during the war between Israel and Hezbollah. Wedeman and the CNN team he was working with at the time won the RTNDA Edward R. Murrow Award for their coverage of Lebanon.
From 1998 to 2006, Wedeman was CNN’s bureau chief in Cairo. He closely followed the so-called “Arab Spring,” during which human rights and political activists frequently clashed with Egyptian security forces in their pursuit of democracy. He covered a series of Balkan wars, the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, and numerous crises in Iraq. Wedeman also covered famine and conflict in Africa, including award-winning coverage of Sierra Leone’s brutal civil war. In 2003, he covered the US-led invasion of Iraq from Kurdish territory in the country’s north, where he was one of the first journalists to cover the fall of Kirkuk.
Quick Facts About Ben Wedeman
| Age | 63 years old as of 2023 |
| Nationality | American |
| Spouse | Yasmine Perni |
| Net Worth | $1 Million – $5 Million |
He continued to follow developments in Iraq after Saddam Hussein’s regime fell, traveling throughout the country and highlighting the plethora of challenges that coalition forces would face as they attempted to impose order in the post-Saddam era.
Wedeman was the first Western journalist to interview Iraqi detainees tortured by American soldiers in the infamous Abu Ghraib scandal. In 2002, he was a key figure in CNN’s coverage of Operation Defensive Shield, in which Israel reoccupied the West Bank in retaliation for a series of bloody suicide bombings.
He was present at every pivotal moment in the story, including suicide bombings in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, and Haifa, as well as Israeli incursions in Ramallah, Bethlehem, Tulkarem, and Jenin. Following the September 11th, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States, Wedeman was one of the few journalists granted access to Iraq, picking up on Iraqi fears that Washington’s wrath would eventually be felt in Baghdad.
In Afghanistan, he covered the Taliban’s demise and was the only Western journalist to interview Al-Qaeda fighters holed up in the rugged mountains of Tora Bora via radio and in Arabic. Wedeman then obtained the first interview with Marianne Pearl, the wife of kidnapped – and later executed – Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl, in Karachi, Pakistan. Wedeman has been with CNN since 1994 when he began working as a fixer/producer/sound technician in the network’s Amman, Jordan bureau.
In 1995, he became the network’s Amman bureau chief, where he was in charge of not only Jordan’s evolving relationship with Israel following their historic peace treaty but also Iraq under Saddam Hussein. In 1996, he was a member of the CNN team that won the Edward R. Murrow Award for Best TV Interpretation or Documentary on Foreign Affairs from the Overseas Press Club.
When it came to CNN’s renowned coverage of Iraq, he was the first journalist in and the last one out. During that time, he covered a grueling series of crises involving Ira. During that time, he covered a tumultuous series of crises involving Iraq and the United Nations over weapons inspections. Along the way, he focused on the plight of ordinary Iraqis under the UN’s draconian sanctions regime, and he distinguished himself for his in-depth coverage of the sanctions’ impact.
Wedeman was also the only Western journalist who was granted an exclusive interview with Udai Saddam Hussein, the notorious son of Iraq’s dictator. Wideman’s reporting on the brutal civil war in Sierra Leone has earned him an Emmy and an Edward R. Murrow award.
Wedeman was a freelance print journalist based in Amman, Jordan before joining CNN. Wedeman previously worked as a freelance print journalist based in Amman, Jordan, covering news in Syria, Jordan, Israel, the Palestinian territories, and Sudan.
Ben Wedeman Age
Wedeman is 63 years old as of 2023. He was born on 1 September 1960 in Washington, D.C., United States. He celebrates his birthday on 1 September every year.
Ben Wedeman Height
Wedeman stands at a height of 5 ft 7 in (1.7m).
Ben Wedeman Family
Wideman’s late father, Miles G. Wedeman, was a diplomat and civil servant from Pennsylvania. He was a devout Quaker. His mother, Martha Jean Wedeman was a reporter for The Washington Post”. Wedeman spent most of his childhood outside the United States, after having moved with his family to South Korea in 1968. Following that, the family relocated to Bangkok and Phnom Penh, Cambodia. His father also worked for USAID in the Ivory Coast and Syria.
Ben Wedeman Wife
Yasmine is married to Yasmine Perni. The couple has three children. More information about Wedeman’s marriage life is not known for he has managed to keep his personal life away from the limelight.
Ben Wedeman Salary
Being one of the top journalists for CNN, Wedeman earns an annual salary ranging from $ 20,000 – $ 100,000.
Ben Wedeman Net Worth
Wedeman has an estimated net worth of between $1 Million – $5 Million which he has earned through his successful career as a senior international correspondent.
Ben Wedeman Accent
Wedeman is obsessed with languages, speaks Arabic, Italian, and French fluently has a working knowledge of Hebrew, and has studied Japanese, Russian, Farsi, ancient Egyptian, and classical and contemporary Mongolian.
Ben Wedeman Injured
While Wedeman was enclosing a clash between Israelis and Palestinians, he was shot in the back near the Karni border crossing between Israel and Gaza. He immediately received medical assistance and got well within a couple of months.
Ben Wedeman Awards
- He led the team that won an Emmy award for its 2000 coverage of the civil war in Sierra Leone. This coverage also earned him an Edward R. Murrow award.
- With his team, Wedeman won the 1996 overseas press club Edward R. Murrow Award for Best TV interpretation or documentary on foreign affairs for the network’s coverage of Jordan’s relationship with Israel after their peace treaty, as well as for its coverage of Iraq under Saddam Hussein.
- In 2012, his team won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Live Coverage of a Current News Story – Long Form for his reporting in “Breaking News Simulcast of Revolution in Egypt: President Mubarak Steps Down”
Ben Wedeman CNN
At CNN Wedeman works alongside
- Brianna Keilar
- Brian Stelter
- Ana Cabrera
- Victor Blackwell
- Dan Simon
- Sunlen Serfaty
- Clare Sebastian
- Jessica Schneider
- Andy Scholes
- Jim Sciutto
- Alex Thomas
- Gary Tuchman
- Nick Valencia
- Derek Van Dam
- Bob Van Dillen