Aaron Brown
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- For the English footballers, see Aaron Brown (footballer)
Aaron Brown (born November 10, 1948) is an American broadcast journalist. He is the former host of CNN's NewsNight with Aaron Brown, and the current John J. Rhodes Professor in Public Policy and American Institutions at Arizona State University.
Education
Brown attended the University of Minnesota, dropping out after his freshman year to work at a local radio station.He also served in the United States Coast Guard.
Career
Brown has over twenty-six years of experience in journalism and was most recently CNN's lead anchor during breaking news. He also hosted "CNN Presents," a documentary series, and was co-anchor during election coverage.Prior to working at CNN, he was the anchor for ABC World News Now, and also did anchoring duties at both KIRO-TV (CBS) and KING-TV (NBC) in Seattle.
As an anchor for ABC's World News Tonight Saturday, Brown reported for World News Tonight with Peter Jennings, Nightline and other ABC News shows. He was the founding anchor of ABC's World News Now. Brown played a lead role in covering many news stories, including the British return of Hong Kong to the Chinese government, the Columbine High School shootings, the trial of O.J. Simpson, and Nelson Mandela's historic election as president of South Africa. He also reported on the restoration of Jean-Bertrand Aristide to the head of Haiti's government, the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, the trial of Susan Smith in Union, South Carolina, and the Northridge Earthquake in 1994.
At CNN
One of the key points of Brown's career was his coverage of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks from Ground Zero and the areas surrounding the remains of the World Trade Center in New York City. Many say his cerebral, "news for grownups" style will be missed, while others found his on-air habits — such as reading newspaper story headlines to his viewers — condescending and dull.He covered numerous other news events for CNN, including the war on terrorism, the congressional elections of 2002, the Beltway Sniper attacks and the aftermath of the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster. During 2003's Operation Iraqi Freedom, Brown anchored from the network's headquarters in Atlanta, providing viewers with the latest information from frontline reports as well as from Central Command in Doha, Qatar, and Washington, D.C..
In 2003, he garnered negative press attention for continuing to play in the Bob Hope Classic golf tournament in Palm Desert, Calif., after the Columbia space shuttle disaster occurred. While other major news anchors such as Tom Brokaw, Peter Jennings, and Dan Rather immediately left their vacations for the anchor chair, Brown did not. He was quoted in the Detroit News as saying he "didn't have any clothes."
Brown once described himself as the "face of CNN." This comment would come back to haunt him only a few years later, as ratings for NewsNight, his weekly 10pm show, dropped.
On November 3, 2005, CNN announced that Brown would be leaving the network, with Anderson Cooper's program Anderson Cooper 360° replacing NewsNight as the flagship program in CNN's evening lineup in an effort to improve low ratings.
In Academe
In May 2006, it was announced that Brown will serve as the John J. Rhodes Chair in Public Policy and American Institutions at Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism & Mass Communications for one semester.Citations, Viewpoints, & External links
- [News Article - "Some viewers hated it"]
- [Comments - "Aaron Brown From CNN Outed"]
- [Comments - "Aaron Brown On His Way Out"]
- ["Cooper to Replace Brown on CNN's NewsNight", 11.02.05]
- [TV Week article]
- [Brown: Serious news at risk]
- Link to 2006 Commencement Address at Macalester College: [link]
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