Veteran CNN anchor Aaron Brown known for 9/11 coverage dead at 76

A former CNN star who received special praise for his real-time reporting on the September 11, 2001, attacks has died, his family has confirmed.

Aaron Brown died Sunday at the age of 76, his wife said, without disclosing the cause of death.

Before CNN, Brown worked as an anchor and reporter for ABC News and remained at the station throughout the 1990s.

But in 2001, the Minnesota-born journalist, who started his career in Seattle, went to work for CNN, paving the way for a news anchor’s memorable first broadcast, albeit an unscheduled one.

The segment, which came to viewers from the roof of CNN’s offices in Manhattan as smoke billowed in the background from what would become known as Ground Zero, earned Brown the Edward R. Murrow Award for Outstanding Journalism after he had been covering the terrorist attacks for 17 straight hours.

And it earned him a following of viewers glued to every detail of what was initially hope for recovery in the rubble of the World Trade Center, which turned into days and weeks of searching for answers and the remains of loved ones that were lost by Osama bin Laden. coordinated attacks.

From there, his career began as a trusted anchor on CNN, covering the resulting War on Terrorism, the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster and the 2003 invasion of Iraq. He earned an Emmy for his reporting from the streets of the country during the ensuing conflict.

Brown would later go on to host an evening hour for CNN at 10 p.m. – Newsnight – but in September 2004, after four years, CNN suddenly announced that Brown was leaving the network. That came as a surprise to some, as he had built a following over the years since his persistent reporting on September 11th.

In 2008, he returned to television as the host of PBS’ Wide Angle, before leaving the spotlight for good the following year. Until 2014, he taught journalism at Arizona State University.

Tributes quickly poured in for the late news star.

“It was remarkable when we got a compliment from him,” David Fitzpatrick, a producer who worked with him on the ground during his coverage of the 2004 tsunami in Indonesia, told his longtime employer CNN.

“He was a signature anchor during his prime time,” he continued.

“His legacy will be concise writing, concise presentation and a calm demeanor in times of crisis. Impactful, insightful and measured.’

Another of Brown’s longtime producers, Molly Levinson, told ABC News: “Aaron was a true journalist through and through – so many people around the world remember his steadfast reporting on September 11… And in many ways the events that followed.’

She, like others, provided an overview of the anchor’s memorable, no-nonsense reporting style.

“On air, he provided simple, understandable – even elegant – analysis and reporting,” said the former CNN employee, who today is the founder and CEO of the leading PR firm TLG.

“Behind the scenes, as a boss and mentor, he accepted nothing less than excellence, and in return, he gave nothing less than endless loyalty.

“There is no one like him and he will be greatly missed.”

Levinson worked with Brown for four years until his unexpected resignation.

A reason for the split was never given, although many at the time attributed it to the then-experimental implementation of eventual primetime juggernaut Anderson Cooper into the network’s late-night lineup.

The New York Times reported at the time that then-CNN president Jonathan Klein said the departure was the result of a mutual agreement, and that a recent reshuffle left no room for Brown’s show.

As part of the change, Cooper’s program, which still ran Anderson Cooper 360, moved to Brown’s old 10 p.m. timeslot.

Today, Cooper, 57, is a fixture at the news station, having experienced a meteoric rise similar to Brown’s mid-career.

Cooper, in turn, described Brown as ‘a great writer and broadcaster’, while he also paid tribute when news of his long-time colleague’s death became public.

“Thoughtful, funny and diligent,” Cooper, who started at CNN in 2003, said in a statement sent via CNN on Sunday. “He really had a unique talent and a beautiful way with words.”

“When he was live on the air, he just stopped and looked at it, and paused for a moment,” added fellow CNN contributor John Vause, who witnessed Brown’s iconic work on September 11 firsthand.

“And he shared this moment that was on everyone’s minds.”

Much of the same was seen on social media, including a tweet from Chief Media Analyst Brian Stelter.

“He was one of the greatest anchors in CNN history,” Stelter said of Brown.

“NewsNight,” between 2001 and 2005, was all about Aaron: from his thoughtful writing and rigorous questioning, to “the whip” around the world with correspondents, to his signature preview of the morning papers.”

Brown, meanwhile, spoke about his own achievements as a journalist after his career ended in 2009.

“It captured what television was supposed to capture — which was the totality of a story — and it did all of that,” he said of the September 11 coverage.

‘The power of the land, the beauty of the day and the horror of the moment.’