Television news anchor Aaron Brown, known best for his coverage of the 9/11 attacks live on CNN, has died. He was 76.
Brown died Sunday, his family told CNN in a statement on Tuesday. The circumstances of his death remained unclear.
Though Brown had a lengthy career in and around TV journalism, he was best known to the American public for his 17 straight hours of coverage amid the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
Brown was not even scheduled to be on air at that time, having been hired months earlier by CNN to host a primetime news show. But when the planes hit the twin towers, he climbed to the roof of CNN’s Manhattan office at 5 Penn Plaza near Madison Square Garden and went to work.
“The South Tower, the second tower. The one on the left collapsed. It collapsed in a cascade of smoke and sparks,” Brown told the nation. “This is devastation. There are 50,000 people who normally go to work in the Trade Center buildings.”
Brown reported live on the attacks all day. It was the first time he appeared on camera for CNN, and he won the Edward R. Murrow Award for his coverage.
“A million things had been running through my mind about what might happen,” Brown said in a 2016 interview. “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.’”
After his day in the spotlight, Brown continued working at CNN until 2005, anchoring “NewsNight.” Following his departure, he became a professor at Arizona State University’s journalism school.
Before his time at CNN, Brown worked at multiple local stations in Seattle before landing a job at ABC News in 1991. He anchored the network’s “World News Now” program and reported for the flagship broadcast “World News Tonight.”
“He was a signature anchor during his prime time,” CNN producer David Fitzpatrick told the outlet. “His legacy will mean concise writing, concise presentation and a calm demeanor in the face of crisis. Impactful, insightful, and measured.”
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