Aaron Brown, a news anchor known for his coverage during CNN‘s broadcast of the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks, died on Sunday in Washington, D.C., his family confirmed to CNN. He was 76.
Brown began his career as a radio talk show host in Minneapolis before moving to local television in Seattle and eventually becoming the anchor of ABC’s overnight news programs “World News Now” and “World News Tonight Saturday.” He joined CNN in 2001, eventually anchoring “NewsNight,” which combined breaking news with in-depth analysis.
Brown was still in training when the Sept. 11 terror attacks occurred and though he hadn’t been scheduled to go on air that morning, but he rushed to CNN’s Manhattan office, making his first appearance as an anchor and guiding millions of viewers through the dramatic events of Sept. 11.
“I felt, in that moment, profoundly stupid,” Brown told CNN’s Brian Stelter years later in an interview about reporting the attacks live. “A million things had been running through my mind about what might happen … and it just never occurred to me that they would come down, and it’s the only time I thought, ‘Maybe you just don’t have what it takes to do a story like this.’”
For his work broadcasting during the attacks, Brown was honored with the Edward R. Murrow award, which recognizes “outstanding achievements in broadcast and digital journalism… recognizing local and national news stories that uphold the RTDNA Code of Ethics, demonstrate technical expertise and exemplify the importance and impact of journalism as a service to the community.”
In addition to the Edward R. Murrow award, Brown would go on two win three Emmys, including one Emmy for his report “Streets of Iraq.” He also won a DuPont, two New York Film Society World medals and a George Foster Peabody Award.
After departing CNN during a shakeup in November of 2005, Brown taught at Arizona State University for seven years as the school’s first Walter Cronkite professor of Journalism. Brown also served as the John J. Rhodes Chair in Public Policy and American Institutions at Barrett, the Honors College at Arizona State University.
“He was one of the greatest anchors in CNN history,” said Stelter on X. “‘NewsNight,’ circa 2001 to 2005, was all Aaron: from his thoughtful writing and rigorous questioning, to ‘the whip’ around the world with correspondents, to his trademark preview of the morning papers.”
CNN’s Anderson Cooper called Brown: “a great writer and broadcaster…Thoughtful, funny, and diligent, he had a truly unique talent and a beautiful way with words.”
“Aaron got to do the work that he loved – and he felt lucky to do that work as part of a community of people who were dedicated to good journalism and who became good friends,” Brown’s wife Charlotte Raynor said in a statement on X.
“Over the course of his career, Aaron worked morning shifts, night shifts, and of course the ‘Overnight’ (a program he absolutely loved working on), but he always found a way to make both ordinary and special times with our daughter Gabby and me.”
