'One of the greatest': Colleagues pay tribute to 'extraordinary' ex-CNN anchor

Tributes and high praise for Aaron Brown, a former CNN anchor who guided the network through its coverage of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, streamed through social media on Tuesday after news the highly respected journalist died at 76.

CNN reported that Brown's family confirmed he died Sunday. No cause of death was released.

Beginning as a Minneapolis radio talk show host, Brown’s career spanned decades – including becoming a founding anchor of ABC’s “World News Now,” and anchoring “ABC’s World News Tonight Saturday,” CNN reported.

But Brown is perhaps best known for his time at the anchor desk at CNN, a job which he began on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001. He went on to earn the Edward R. Murrow Award for his coverage of the attacks, and deep praise from his colleagues, which extended after his passing.

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“He was one of the greatest anchors in CNN history,” CNN media correspondent Brian Stelter told his social media followers on Tuesday.

“Sad news: former CNN Anchor Aaron Brown has died at the age of 76,” CNN special correspondent Jamie Gangel wrote on Bluesky.

"Thoughtful, funny, and diligent, he had a truly unique talent and a beautiful way with words," Anderson Cooper said of Brown. "May his memory be a blessing.”

CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin wrote on X that Brown “was different from any other journalist, any other person, I've known. He had an extraordinary literary sensibility, but he understood video and pictures.”

“Aaron Brown was a journalist's journalist,” said reporter Jennifer Schulze in a Bluesky post. “I was lucky to work with him at King5 News in Seattle before he moved to network news. Aaron's very first day at @cnn was on 9/11 & his work reporting that horror was beyond compare. Condolences to his family.”

“I'm saddened to hear that Aaron Brown, former CNN anchor, has died,” media historian Donna Halper said on Bluesky above a link to a CNN article. “He was among the most fair & objective reporters I knew. It was a privilege to meet him a while back. This CNN article downplays how they decided to (unjustly) fire him, but otherwise, a great tribute.”

A shakeup in the anchor lineup at CNN caused Brown to leave the network in November 2005, and his time slot was filled with "rising star" Anderson Cooper, according to NBC News.