Aaron Brown, a information anchor identified for his protection throughout CNN‘s broadcast of the Sept. 11, 2001 terror assaults, died on Sunday in Washington, D.C., his household confirmed to CNN. He was 76.

Brown started his profession as a radio speak present host in Minneapolis earlier than transferring to native tv in Seattle and finally changing into the anchor of ABC’s in a single day information packages “World Information Now” and “World Information Tonight Saturday.” He joined CNN in 2001, finally anchoring “NewsNight,” which mixed breaking information with in-depth evaluation.

Brown was nonetheless in coaching when the Sept. 11 terror assaults occurred and although he hadn’t been scheduled to go on air that morning, however he rushed to CNN’s Manhattan workplace, making his first look as an anchor and guiding tens of millions of viewers via the dramatic occasions of Sept. 11.

“I felt, in that second, profoundly silly,” Brown informed CNN’s Brian Stelter years later in an interview about reporting the assaults reside. “1,000,000 issues had been operating via my thoughts about what would possibly occur … and it simply by no means occurred to me that they might come down, and it’s the one time I assumed, ‘Possibly you simply don’t have what it takes to do a narrative like this.’”

For his work broadcasting throughout the assaults, Brown was honored with the Edward R. Murrow award, which acknowledges “excellent achievements in broadcast and digital journalism… recognizing native and nationwide information tales that uphold the RTDNA Code of Ethics, exhibit technical experience and exemplify the significance and influence of journalism as a service to the neighborhood.”

Along with the Edward R. Murrow award, Brown would go on two win three Emmys, together with one Emmy for his report “Streets of Iraq.” He additionally gained a DuPont, two New York Movie Society World medals and a George Foster Peabody Award.

After departing CNN throughout a shakeup in November of 2005, Brown taught at Arizona State College for seven years as the college’s first Walter Cronkite professor of Journalism. Brown additionally served because the John J. Rhodes Chair in Public Coverage and American Establishments at Barrett, the Honors Faculty at Arizona State College.

“He was one of many biggest anchors in CNN historical past,” mentioned Stelter on X. “‘NewsNight,’ circa 2001 to 2005, was all Aaron: from his considerate writing and rigorous questioning, to ‘the whip’ all over the world with correspondents, to his trademark preview of the morning papers.”

CNN’s Anderson Cooper referred to as Brown: “an amazing author and broadcaster…Considerate, humorous, and diligent, he had a very distinctive expertise and a good looking means with phrases.”

“Aaron acquired to do the work that he cherished – and he felt fortunate to try this work as a part of a neighborhood of people that have been devoted to good journalism and who grew to become good pals,” Brown’s spouse Charlotte Raynor mentioned in a press release on X.

“Over the course of his profession, Aaron labored morning shifts, evening shifts, and naturally the ‘In a single day’ (a program he completely cherished engaged on), however he at all times discovered a technique to make each peculiar and particular instances with our daughter Gabby and me.”