American journalist and CNN news anchor Aaron Brown reports from CNN headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia, October 9, 2001. Brown died on Sunday at the age of 76. (Photo by Erik S. Lesser/Getty Images)
Former CNN anchor Aaron Brown, a veteran broadcaster who gained widespread acclaim for his coverage of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, died Sunday at the age of 76, according to CNN.
Brown’s television career began in Seattle, first as assistant nighttime editor at KING 5 beginning in 1976, then as 11pm news anchor at KIRO 7 in 1986. In 1991, he hosted ABC’s national overnight newscast.
A decade later, he joined CNN to host “NewsNight.” The show hasn’t started yet September 11, 2001when a group of terrorists hijacked and crashed planes into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and in Shanksville, Penn.
But Brown sprung into action, reporting calmly, sharply and candidly from the roof of CNN’s Manhattan office. He became the guiding figure for millions of viewers during one of the most significant days in American history, reporting live at 5 p.m., according to CNN.
Former CNN anchor and longtime journalist Aaron Brown earned widespread acclaim for his coverage of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the United States. He died Sunday at the age of 76, his family told CNN. (Photo by Erik S. Lesser/Getty Images)
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CNN anchor John Vause, who also reported from New York on 9/11, remembers Brown taking off his reporter’s hat when the South Tower of the World Trade Center collapsed.
“When he was live on the air, he just stopped and looked. And paused. And he shared this moment where everyone was like, ‘Oh my God. There are no words,'” Vause said in CNN report announcing Brown’s departure.
Brown won an Edward R. Murrow Award for his reporting on the attacks.
Brown’s colleagues praised him as “first and foremost a writer and craftsman” with a “biting sense of humor.” He also emphasized the importance of empathy in reporting, according to former CNN producer Amanda Turnbull.
“His storytelling was fact-driven, but his teaching was always deeply human,” Turnbull told CNN.
American journalist and CNN news anchor Aaron Brown reports from CNN headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia on October 9, 2001. (Photo by Erik S. Lesser/Getty Images)
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Brown was born and raised in Minnesota. He hosted a radio talk show in Minneapolis before attending the University of Minnesota for about a year in 1966, according to the university, and then joining the U.S. Coast Guard Reserve.
Brown’s departure from ABC was to host CNN’s “NewsNight,” but in 2005 the network changed its lineup and Anderson Cooper replaced Brown’s show.
Brown later taught journalism at Arizona State University’s Cronkite School.
