A former CNN star who won 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.
In 2001, the Minnesota-born journalist, who started his career in Seattle, went to work for CNN, paving the way for a memorable, albeit unplanned, first broadcast.
Filmed from the roof of CNN’s Manhattan offices, as smoke billowed in the background, the segment earned Brown the Edward R. Murrow Award for Outstanding Journalism after he seized the moment and covered the event for seventeen hours .
From there his career took off, covering other events such as the War on Terrorism, the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster and the 2003 invasion of Iraq. He earned an Emmy for his reporting from the country’s streets during the ensuing conflict.
Then, in September 2004, after four years, CNN suddenly announced that Brown was leaving the network — a surprise to some, as many had been swayed by the hard-hitting reporting style of the man made famous by his memorable September 11 broadcast.
He returned to television in 2008 after being released from his CNN contract as host of PBS’s Wide Angle, before disappearing from the spotlight for good the following year. Until 2014, he taught journalism at Arizona State University.
Scroll down for video:
Aaron Brown, a former CNN anchor who won praise for his real-time reporting on the September 11, 2001, attacks (seen here), died Sunday, his family said
Brown will be seen next month at one of the network’s New York studios, having won the public’s trust with the memorable 17-hour broadcast – his first on the network. A cause of death was not immediately provided
Tributes quickly poured in for the late 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.”
Before CNN, Brown — seen here during Hurricane Katrina on the network’s NewsNight — worked as an anchor and reporter for ABC News and remained at the station throughout the 1990s.
Following the September 11 broadcast – his first at the network – Brown reported in real time on a wide range of other historical events, including the War on Terrorism, the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster and the 2003 invasion of Iraq. is seen here reporting on the 2004 tsunami in Indonesia
In September 2004, after four years, CNN suddenly announced that Brown was leaving the network while still under contract. No reason was given, although many attributed it to the replacement by current primetime juggernaut Anderson Cooper
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 Klien 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.
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.
Brown said of his reporting on September 11 when he retired: “It captured what television was supposed to capture — which is the totality of a story — and it did all of it: the strength of the country, the beauty of the day, and the horror of the moment’
Brooks briefly worked at PBS after being fired from his CNN contract in 2008, before retiring from broadcasting in 2009. He continued to teach journalism until 2014 at the Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Journalism. He won three Emmys.
“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.’