Barbara Arvanitidis is an Emmy award-winning senior producer based in London.

Arvanitidis helps to lead CNN’s investigative unit, working alongside Chief International Investigative Correspondent Nima Elbagir and a team of writers, reporters and open-source intelligence (OSINT) specialists to create some of CNN’s most powerful and impactful reports.  Arvanitidis deploys to locations around the world to report on the ground, combining compassionate human stories with a variety of investigative tools to uncover not only what is happening but also who is responsible.

Her work with Ellbagir on human rights abuses has been directly and extensively referenced by lawmakers like the International Court of Justice and has triggered sanctions by the United States and the European Union.  Working as part of the investigative unit, Arvanitidis’ deployment and work on a series of reports in the Northern Ethiopia region of Tigray helped the team to win an Emmy Award in 2019.

In addition, Arvanitidis works as part of CNN’s breaking news team to shape editorial coverage on location by managing multiple teams for large news events. She played a key role in coordinating and managing CNN’s on-the-ground response to the assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi – reporting which won the 2019 Alfred duPont-Columbia University Award for breaking news.

Arvanitidis also has extensive experience producing and directing documentaries, most recently in 2023 when Nima Elbagir returned to Sudan to report on the civil war. In 2019, Arvanitidis directed an hour-long investigative documentary “The Case of the Predator Priest”. The piece investigated Father Luk Delft, a Belgian priest whose religious order sent him to work with vulnerable families in Africa for a Catholic charity, despite knowing of a previous child abuse conviction against him.

Combining a variety of storytelling techniques, Arvanitidis has been able to bring to life stories that can be visually challenging, such as that of Noura Hussein, sentenced to death in Sudan for killing her rapist husband. Arvanitidis was able to tell Noura’s story through animation and actors. Hussein’s death row conviction was later overturned after the report was released.

Before moving to CNN’s London bureau, Arvanitidis lived and worked in Sao Paulo, Brazil for six years, reporting on Latin America. Stories she covered included Pope Francis’ first foreign visit, and his subsequent Latin America tour. Arvanitidis worked on breaking news coverage during the Chilean earthquake, the FIFA World Cup in Brazil and the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

Prior to working for CNN, Arvanitidis was a producer anddirector at the BBC’s current affairs department for nine years, winning the Wincott Award as part of the team that worked on The Love of Money and press accolades for programmes such as A Life Without Work, Explore, Coming of Age, One Day of War and Ethiopia; A Journey with Michael Burke. She has worked on high profile British news programs such as Newsnight and Panorama.