Mann was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, to Adina and Harry Mann. His mother was a travel agent and his father a general practitioner and amateur actor. He received his primary school education at the Jewish People's School, where he also learned Hebrew and Yiddish. Mann received a bachelor's degree in philosophy from York University in Toronto, Ontario.

Early in his career, he worked as a freelance journalist in India covering the aftermath of the assassination of Indira Gandhi in 1984. He captured Canadian and international headlines when, defying a ban imposed on foreigners in the state of Punjab, he was arrested and placed in police custody in the city of Amritsar.^[1] Upon receiving the news, his parents travelled to Ottawa to lobby Canada's federal government to intervene on his behalf. The incident received widespread media coverage and was even debated during question period in the House of Commons. Thanks largely to a concerted diplomatic effort by the Canadian government, Mann was released one week later. The attention drawn to Mann during the affair is credited with helping launch his successful journalistic career, leading to work with the CBC Radio, NBC Radio, and later CNN, where he became the 24-hour news network's first Paris correspondent. As a Montreal native, he speaks fluent French.

• "CNN-ikon: - Derfor nekter jeg å gå på Nobels gallamiddag". Nettavisen. (in Norwegian)
• "When Jonathan Mann and Israelis meet". Jewish Journal.
• "Jonathan Mann on privilege of interviewing Nobel Peace Prize winners". Philippine Daily Inquirer.
• "Montreal reporter jailed in India appears before Amritsar court". The Montreal Gazette.
• "CNN Dildo Blooper: Jonathan Mann Confuses Flightless Bird For Adult Toy During Interview". The Huffington Post.
• "Jonathan Mann retires from CNN after 30 plus years".

• https://twitter.com/jonmannexanchor?lang=en