WORK EXPERIENCE
2020 – Present - CNN BERLIN BUREAU – Senior Correspondent
2018 – 2020 – CNN BUREAU MOSCOW – Senior Correspondent
2015 – 2016 – RTL GERMANY – Anchor RTL – NACHTJOURNAL News Journal
2016 – 2018 – CNN BUREAU LONDON – Senior Correspondent and Anchor
2007 – 2015 – CNN BERLIN BUREAU – International Correspondent
2006 – 2007 – ZDF GERMAN TV – Reporter in Berlin
2000 – 2006 – RTL / n-tv GERMANY – Reporter, Executive News Producer in Berlin and Cologne
MAJOR AREAS OF EXPERTISE
2014 – Present – Extensive travals and reporting from Russia and Eastern Europe while also living in Moscow for three years.
2014 – 2022 – IRAN: 25 trips to Iran traveling the country and reporting on every major event in that time from the Iran Nuclear Agreement to the Assassination of General Qassim Soleimani.
2013 – 2018 – SYRIA: 23 Official visits with visa to the Syrian Arab Republic including coverage the major battles in Homs, Aleppo, Deir-Ezzor, etc. Also several trips tp Syria with the Russian military.
2011 – Major coverage of the uprisings in Egypt and Libya as well as the ensuing turmoil.
2007 – 2010 IRAQ: Extensive travels and reporting from Iraq during the conflict there.
2007 to present extensive reporting on European affairs across the continent and also wide-ranging environmental reporting in Europe, Russia and the Arctic regions.
FAMILY
Spouse: Justyna Pleitgen – Psychologist/
Children: Hannah and Levin Pleitgen
EDUCATION
Freie Universitaet Berlin – M.A. in North American studies, Communication and Politics
New York University – Two semesters in the graduate journalism program for broadcast journalism
Rheinische Friedrich Wilhelms Universitaet Bonn – North American Studies and Constitutional Law
High School: German School Washington DC and Deutzer Gymnasium Schauertestrasse, Cologne, Germany