FAQ
Many
of the answers here are vague,
but I will update this whenever something new
surfaces.
Date of
Birth?
March 25, 1969 (thank you, Anderson
Cooper)
What color are
his eyes?
Blue.
Height?
Around six feet, based on times he has been on-camera next
to Anderson Cooper (5'11") and Nic Robertson (6'2").
Weight?
All I can come up with is this mention from
March of 1994:
Ware,
his frame as light as 87kg (192 lbs) when he returned, has
started this season weighing 103kg (223 lbs) after
undertaking a weights and dietary programme in the
off-season.
(He did mention in the
Monocle
interview that
he was back to what he weighed when he was 17.)
Is he
married?
One of the most-asked questions. Michael has frequently
stated that for security reasons he does not discuss his
personal life. Earlier in his career he mentioned his
parents on occasion and in
one article from 2002 he mentioned that he
was living with a girlfriend, but it has been several years
since he talked about family. (One exception being some
childhood memories about his father in the
Monocle
interview
conducted in October 2007.)
However, in the Men's
Journal interview, his current
girlfriend is identified as photographer Lorena Ros.
How did he break
his nose?
One of the other most-asked questions, this was finally and
definitely answered
during the RWC coverage: playing rugby, more than 10
times, and yes I think he was serious when he offered to
break it again on-camera.
Is it true that
he, like most reporters, stay safe in the Green Zone most
of the time?
Nope. While many reporters who "parachute in" for short
periods of time do spend their time in the GZ or on
American bases, the reporters who are based there live and
work in the so-called Red Zone -- meaning the rest of
Baghdad. When he worked for Time,
their house was
near the Al Hambra hotel on the eastern side of the river
(footage of his room after one of the frequent bombings
there was included in the Frontline
episode
about
the insurgency; the CNN bureau is on the
western side of the river, within a half-mile of Haifa
Street.) Like all media compounds, both locations
required extreme security fortifications. A
recent
article discussed the status of many
of the international news bureaus.
CNN once aired a
video that showed a sniper targeting American troops. Is it
true that Michael was with the sniper?
Absolutely not. As is made extremely clear during
the
report, Michael added a voice-over
narration to a video that was sent to CNN:
"CNN
obtained the graphic tape through intermediaries from
the Islamic Army of Iraq, one of the most active
insurgent organizations in the country."
CNN debated for
several days as to whether they should air any portion
of the video, and determined that it was not appropriate
to shield the American public from the nature of the
warfare our troops were facing. Michael has never had
prior knowledge of an attack and he always made
extremely clear to his insurgent contacts that no
information they gave him would be kept secret.
What about the
rumors of a relationship with CBS' Lara
Logan?
I don't really do gossip, but Lara has confirmed their
relationship in an interview she gave to the Washington
Post, saying that it ended in November 2007. (If you
care about my personal opinion on the way the gossip was
covered by the media, you can read my thoughts on
the blog or at ATC.)
Contacting
Michael
While the best way for the public to contact Michael is
still via the CNN Contact page, he does now have a PR firm
handling media contacts. CrocMedia has offices in New York, Los
Angeles, Singapore, and Melbourne; for further
information please email Brooke George directly.