Aaron Brown

[Stinky The Clown]

He was the man we watched for news before, after, and on 9/11. Today, we're watching more than a few teevee personalities who were children when the events happened.

You notice Aaron Brown isn't around anymore. He was a bit of a truth teller. I'd like to hear from him today. I'd like to know what he thinks today, ten years out.

I'd like to know if he'd blame the economic disasters of today on . . . . who? On what? I'd like to know if he buys the idea that MiMS wanted to go back to DC but it was the Secret Service and the Air Force that said no. I believe, in some measure because I know he believes, that the essential story of 20 Saudis pulling off the events is true. I remain suspicious of the mythological story line of what went on aboard Flight 93. I believe the story that Rumsfeld was among the people who headed toward, rather than away, from the site of the crash into the Pentagon. Aaron Brown spoke those stories on live television in the hours and days of the actual events. I recall feeling he wanted me me to believe this but maybe not so much that.

A glom like Judy Rhulliani relives those, for him, halcyon days for the pure self aggrandizement. The "ordinary" people being interviewed relive those days, probably daily, and I am sure gain some cathartic benefit in the retelling of the story as they understand it.

A guy like Aaron Brown would be telling it like was. I miss real practitioners of the craft of gathering and delivering facts for public consumption.

A guy like Aaron Brown had one word always missing from his public persona: hyperbole.

How would he be reporting all these "terror plot" stories?








The citrus mambo was the wankie wanker. Ledo's was the giveaway.

[malaise]

1. I loved Aaron Brown

He was a real journalist

[applegrove]

57. I really liked him too.

[ixion]

2. All the truth-telling journalists were summarily dismissed

shortly after 911, Peter Arnett and Aaron Brown among many others, and the trend continues to this day.

[Mimosa]

25. I noticed that too. n/t

[Auntie Bush]

47. Even Olbermann is gone from MSM

[CoffeeCat]

59. Wasn't Ashley Banfield one of the...

...casualties of this war?

She was "let go" shortly after 9/11.

[ixion]

63. Yep, she was another one...

she was around for awhile, then started trying to report objectively (read: not following the narrative) and thus was asked to leave.

[handmade34]

3. loved Aaron Brown

was saddened when he went

[hlthe2b]

4. 911 was Brown's FIRST day on the job at CNN...

Yes, I miss him too. We (on DU) wrangled with him a bit, as he was one of the few who actually responded to emails. I think I remember Brown and Will Pitt having a little back and forth. But, he had guts and was generally an old school journalist.

He's now (per Wiki) at Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University.

I wonder how Keith Olbermann viewed him. Maybe he would end up on Current at some point...:shrug:

But, yes, he (by CNN) and Ashleigh Banfield (MSNBC)were both shafted. Both did incredibly good work throughout the days and weeks on and following 911. I'd like to hear from both of them. I guess Banfield is now on ABC's GMA? News to me, as I haven't seen that show in years.

[Stinky The Clown]

7. Yes, he was, indeed, accessible.

My wife shared emails with him on a remarkably frequent basis. It was clear that he spent his taxi time pounding out cogent one or two line responses on his Blackberry.

He was one of the good guys. I'm sure he still is.

Right after he was fired, he went back to the Pacific Northwest, where he's from, and taught up there. I knew he moved to ASU a few years ago.

I often wonder if he'd like to get back on teevee.

[ewagner]

5. Thanks

We watched him faithfully during his time on CNN ...he told the truth no matter how ugly and refused to join the cheerleading for a stupid, wasteful war...and his career ended.

[rsmith6621]

6. I Knew Aaron Personally When He Was In Seattle

And his wife Charlotte,they met while working at KOMOTV. Aaron was the last real newsman on national TV. The was no fluff or fancy words in what he reported just the facts with a touch of human added.

I lost touch with Aaron just before he went to CNN,both our lives got busy and we went our ways. I suspect it was Aarons uncompromising ethic to reporting the story and nothing else led to his seperation with CNN.

Aaron tells it like it is.

[Stinky The Clown]

9. I always imagined the private Aaron Brown and the public persona were very close

I trusted him because he seemed real. Unaffected

[eShirl]

37. why not drop him a line

http://cronkite.asu.edu/faculty/brownbio.php

[shireen]

38. i just sent him an email

and i was going to post that link but you beat me to it. :)

[shireen]

58. he replied, thanked me. :) nt

[emilyg]

44. ty

[Greybnk48]

8. I watched him every evening! I wish he would go to

Current with Keith, which is becoming the home of all my favorite commentators. I love seeing Craig Crawford again.

[NNN0LHI]

10. Truth teller?

He spent an entire show one night delving into an imaginary affair John Kerry was not having with some woman in South Africa right before the 2004 election.

Don

[hlthe2b]

11. I remember detesting KO in his early years at one point....

because all he reported on is the Lewinsky BS 24/7. Turns out, he had no choice. Turns out, that is why he left MSNBC the first time. That Brown survived as long as he did on CNN probably suggests he agreed to do a few of these BS stories as the occasional tradeoff. Just sayin...

I likewise remember becoming annoyed at Brown from time to time. But, in retrospect (and in comparison to most of those on CNN or MSNBC during the daytime-- Brown still would get my vote).

[Nictuku]

12. Where is Aaron Brown today?

http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/arizona/article_acaef752-da66-11e0-8a08-001cc4c03286.html

[hlthe2b]

14. Thanks for sharing that... Nice article on Brown today...

;)

[murray hill farm]

29. Thanks for that!

I miss him too..he was so good!

[madokie]

17. Thanks for that link

I'm in tears now as I type this from reading and remembering that day. The day I remember so well.

[shireen]

39. one quote in the article really struck me

He said, On the one hand, if you're my students, 10 years is half your life. It's a long time. If you're 62, 10 years isn't so long.

So true. I see the young people who have been newly employed, fresh out of college. People i work with closely. They were in their early teens in 2001. Some were toddlers, others not even born during the Challenger explosion. They were little kids when the Hubble Space Telescope was launched in 1990 (I work for the Hubble project).

As adults, we have had to live with so many significant events in our lives, public and private. These events have helped shape the people we've become. For kids, unless they had family members deeply and closely affected by these events, it did not have an impact.

Yeah, I know it's obvious. But when you think about it a lot, life feels surreal. Wow .....

[NNN0LHI]

13. I have never forgiven KO for that

He had a choice.

Don

[shireen]

41. geez, you're a judgmental one ....

a few mistakes are made and you condemn them. What about the greater body of their work that did so much good?

[sabrina 1]

43. Keith was great during that time. It was when I first got to know him.

While the rest of the media, led by Fox, slavishly went after Clinton, it was clear every night that Keith was disgusted by the whole thing. Seems to me you must not have watched him during those days.

Countdown, he was counting the days since the 'affair' was first revealed and he was clearly being satirical about how the country had become obsessed by it. Which is why I watched him. Finally one night he said he couldn't take it anymore which was not a surprise to anyone who actually watched him.

He was disgusted by what was going on and made it quite clear. And on that final night when he basically said he could not continue to participate in any way and was resigning, I understood, but was sad to lose one of the few who made it clear he was as disgusted as, we now know, were most Americans.

I don't know what you were watching, but it was his mature, by comparison, coverage and clear disgust, his countdown which clearly was a question 'how much more of this do we have to endure' that attracted MY attention to him as he stood out among the other lapdogs in the media at the time.

My impression of him was so positive that when I heard he was returning to TV, I was thrilled as things had only gotten worse since he left. And he did not disappoint us. He was as I expected, not fooled by the propaganda and not afraid to say it.


I don't know what it is you are not forgiving him for, or Aaron Brown either for that matter, as both clearly saw through the propaganda, but I don't think we were watching the same guy.

[underpants]

15. His show always seemed like a take-a-breath and "news for grown-ups" style

basically the wrap up of the day. The look of the show was like he was in a dark reading room or up in the renovated attic and he was sitting back cutting away the nonsense of the talking shows that were on earlier (on all networks).

I remember that he caught some flack for not leaving a golf tournament to cover an event. I don't remember what it was.

I DO remember that his was the only show that allowed anyone against the Iraq war to be on with any consistency. Wesley Clark was a regular on his show and it was the only place that the facts and the exposing of the absurd lies coming out of the White House were even dared to be questioned.

[shireen]

40. Wes Clark!

Yes, that's how i became a fan and later worked for his campaign in Maryland. It was the only political campaign i ever joined -- I really really liked Clark. Still do.

[Stinky The Clown]

49. So do we

And so, too, do we still.

We held a house party for him. Voted in the primary for him. Went to all his local events. Met him up close and personal.

We're still Clarkies.

[Whisp]

16. Aaron didn't tell it like it is.

During the Iraq preps he got a letter saying that some corporations that make war machines and weapons actually do like war because it makes them a lot of money. I don't think anyone here can argue against that but Aaron sure did, he went on a hissy fit and said that anyone who thought that was just plain stupid. That no one wants war but its sometime you have to do sometime... or some blather.

so either he is incredibly naive or just plain sorta dumb!

[hlthe2b]

19. Or was cowed like 95% plus of the rest of the Nation, by the flag waving furvor...

the intensity and vehemence which, shocked most of us... The societal pressure, to "rah rah rah" everything that had to do with the US, the troops, and everything that had to do with post 911 response was so damned intense (enforced so vociferously by even many of those who had been Vietnam protesters in their early years or others who weren't typically swayed by corporatist or RW propaganda). It even made its way here as I remember many tombstones and some very very intense fights over discussions that deigned to ask if everyone joining up to fight Bush*s wars were doing so for "laudable" reasons.

Do I believe that Brown truly believes that the military-congressional-industrial complex that Ike spoke to so eloquently, is not a real factor today? Hell no. I do not. That he did not come out and say so in an email exchange with a total stranger may well be self-protective given what he himself noted was an incredible vicious level of emails from the Freeper crowd. Just saying. He and Ashleigh Banfield were the ones who eventually spoke out just enough to be canned. I won't judge them so harshly as you. What is left on the 'teevee' is infinitely worse (in most cases).

[Whisp]

32. I do judge them all harshly.

Aaron was only one little cog in the machine. If we had a proper media a lot of our problems would be far lesser. It all starts there.

[shireen]

42. but we don't have a proper media

sometimes, news anchors with integrity, like Brown and KO, have to pick their battles. Look at the broader picture, and you'll see that they did a lot of good. He may have been a little cog in the machine, but he made a difference.

Making a difference for the greater good ... that's something us little cogs in life aspire to accomplish.

[Stinky The Clown]

21. What letter? From who?

[Whisp]

31. was one of those viewer write ins.

[Stinky The Clown]

33. A viewer write is rightly ignored

Were I a newser, I would ignore me, and you, and every other poster on DU. Surely I would ignore readers who write long letters with lots of details in them. With all due respect to all those writers, but the nut factor in that population group is pretty high.

[Whisp]

35. I don't understand... you are saying the write-in question/comment WAS stupid?

:shrug:

[Stinky The Clown]

50. No, not saying the comment itself was anything. I am saying that I would ignore it were I him.

There is no way I would ever take seriously some write-in from an anonymous viewer. Consider: no matter what *any* of them from *any* political bent say on the air, they all have access to a shitload of facts. They're perfectly equipped to report anything they wish and they know when they're lying. The chances of some viewer uncovering a serious, major story is so remote as to be dismissed.

[proud2BlibKansan]

23. Thank you. I don't have good memories of him at all.

Amy Goodman tells a story about questioning him about the biased coverage in the lead up to the invasion of Iraq. Brown said CNN didn't want to air 'ugly' stories. Amy reminded him war is what is ugly.

[hlthe2b]

27. Heaven knows... Amy speaks the truth...

But that is also why Amy won't appear on CNN or any other leading broadcast.

Not saying it is right... It certainly is not. But as shown by both Brown's and Banfields summary dismissals when they inched across that "line," reality bites. They either become absolute sycophants for the party line (e.g. Faux News) or they are very judicious in stepping over it from time to time until their cumulative "sins" hit the threshold (e.g, Brown, KO, Banfield, Rather, and others).

Blaming those who at least tried to push the limit, rather than the real enemy--our corporatist media, seems rather self-defeating.

[Stinky The Clown]

30. I agree completely

The citrus mambo was the wankie wanker. Ledo's was the giveaway.

[CoffeeCat]

60. Journalists are told on what to report...

...and their mandated agenda is set in the boardrooms.

These journalists on CNN and other outlets -- aren't pounding the pavement and knocking on doors to get the truth like Woodward and
Bernstein did.

These media personalities aren't in on the fix. They're just hardworking people, trying to make it in their field. Some, like Aaron Brown--were honest and decent.

Executives have slashed budgets, which makes investigative journalism nearly impossible. There are fewer foreign
correspondents and offices. Camera crews aren't sent out as readily as in the past.

True journalism isn't how it is done these days.

[madokie]

18. Thanks for this thread, Rec'd

[Major Hogwash]

20. He sure nailed Bush on Katrina and that was when they gave him the hook.

Ol' Bush could not look like a fucking loser on cable news, could he?
Shit, only when they talked about him every night!!

[Overseas]

28. I hadn't realized that was when they took him off the air.

[UTUSN]

45. I liked him but besides the Iraq part, there was that golfing thing

His having been Peter JENNINGS' protege was an automatic plus for me, and I thought it was horrible the way he was dumped for the flash and dash of Anderson COOPER, whose Katrina coverage now looks different in contrast to his and Katy COURIC's having to run out of Egypt. But other articles about the dumping cite his never having caught on and bad ratings against Faux.

*************QUOTE*************

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/02/04/us/loss-of-the-shuttle-tv-news-cnn-s-anchor-was-caught-at-golf-event.html?ref=aaronbrown

LOSS OF THE SHUTTLE: TV NEWS; CNN's Anchor Was Caught At Golf Event

Aaron Brown, who has anchored much of the CNN coverage of major breaking news events for 18 months, did not appear until 10 p.m. on Sunday, more than 36 hours after the news of the shuttle catastrophe broke.

Mr. Brown, whom CNN has promoted as its leading anchor for major news, was on vacation Saturday in Palm Springs, Calif., playing in the Bob Hope Celebrity Golf Tournament. ....

For the next few hours, he continued to play golf. Mr. Brown said he made numerous cellphone calls trying to make travel arrangements ''in a way that was not too disruptive'' to the other golfers.

He said he thought he would have to fly to Houston, site of NASA headquarters, or to the Atlanta headquarters of CNN. Mr. Brown said he did not think he could have been helpful anchoring from the CNN bureau in Los Angeles.

''I was going nuts,'' he said, but was consoled by the fact that Miles O'Brien, the channel's expert on space, was working as chief anchor. ....

*************UNQUOTE*************

[Stinky The Clown]

48. Miles O'Brien, particularly on this subject, was probably the better choice over Brown

To say nothing of the fact that whether or not newsman A or newsman B covers a story should never *be* the story.



edit to add the forgotten word "never"









The citrus mambo was the wankie wanker. Ledo's was the giveaway.

[phantom power]

22. An entire generation has now grown up with Endless War. Like a fish in water.

This is not a good thing.

:(

[tawadi]

24. I still mis his reporting

But mostly I miss his calm demeanor.

[PA Democrat]

26. I liked Aaron Brown until he started to help sell the Iraq War.

In fact, I sent him an email asking why he was not giving people who were against the impending invasion of Iraq a voice, and said that he was only reporting on one side of the story. I was shocked to receive a dismissive email back from him. Funny thing: he accused me of reading too much William Rivers Pitt. At the time, I had never heard of Will Pitt and was not a member of DU.

[proud2BlibKansan]

34. He lost a lot of us then

That's when I realized how badly our media was broken.

[muffin1]

36. Wasn't Paula Zahn on CNN at that time, too?

NOT that I miss her, just seem to remember her being around then.

[devilgrrl]

46. I couldn't disagree more - from the way back machine - Aaron Brown on Democracy Now

http://www.democracynow.org/2003/4/4/an_hour_with_cnns_aaron_brown

We spend the hour talking about coverage of the anti-war movement, the sanitization of the war in Iraq and why Brown feels this is an inappropriate time for reporters to ask questions about war.

[sabrina 1]

52. Yes, that was a revealing interview and I remember being

conflicted by Aaron Brown who absolutely did bring on far too many pro-war Generals who, he claimed in that NPR interview, during which he was very testy about being questioned about his coverage of the war, were only there to talk about what the military was going through, tacticly now that the war was 'on' and not to justify or not justify it.

Here is an interview done five years later with him by Glenn Greenwald where he is somewhat willing to consider some of the criticisms leveled at the media and at him, for their coverage, especially the lack of anti-Iraq war voices on his show:

http://static.salon.com/mp3s/2008/apr/conversations_brown.mp3

I would like to know what he thinks now, ten years later, when there can be no doubt that the Generals were all lying, and the few who tried to oppose the War were basically fired and/or silenced.

I'd like to ask him how he felt about his colleagues, Ashley Banfield eg, who WAS an embedded journalist but chose to tell the truth about the war when she had a chance, being fired. The cancellation of the Donohue Show the day after he had on Scott Ritter who brought along documents to prove that the WMD lie was in fact, a lie.

Brown, in the above interview, is still trying to defend their coverage, and the use of Generals, a practice which had just been exposed btw, in a NYT article at the time, as wrong as some of, if not all of the generals, were exposed as profiting from the war by their commentaries and most of those we saw on TV, were approved of by the Pentagon. Iow, it was all propaganda, or almost all.

Greenwald's questions did elicit some grudging admissions that maybe they did not do as good a job as they could have, but he was still very defensive of his own coverage, and basically still clinging to the defense that there was no 'cohesive anti-Iraq War entity' that the media COULD rely on for credible interviews. Maybe he really thought that, who knows?

My own feeling is that he, like so many others at the time, knew their jobs depended on not exposing the lies, and he is in a state of denial about his own role in the coverage which has gone into the history books as some of the worst propaganda ever. He tries in the Greenwald interview to blame the public also, which has some merit. But in some ways I am more angry at him because he IS intelligent and should have known better. I also think though, that had he exposed the lies, he would not have lasted as long as he did.

[Buns_of_Fire]

51. I'd watch him all the time on ABC's "World News Now"

It was about the time my personal life started spiraling towards the dumpster, but that's neither here nor there. I always appreciated his low-key snarkiness (well, at three in the morning, who cares?). That show always reminded me a little of "Weekend" with Lloyd Dobyns and Linda Ellerbee. And so it goes.

[Generic Other]

53. Where's Will Pitt and his story of being blackberried by a drunk Aaron Brown

He used to get mad at DU. We gave him a lot of shit. Which he deserved.

[MuseRider]

61. I remember that.

I think the two of them had a few words from time to time. Can't really remember exactly but I do remember they were communicating and Aaron was not terribly fond of us.

[grasswire]

54. one feature I always enjoyed..

...was his reading of the headlines from daily newspapers 'round the country. I thought that was a very cool bit, and liked his support of the print press.

[hlthe2b]

55. Aaron Brown will be interviewed on tomorrow's NPR Weekend Edition Sunday

While many remember him rather fondly, I recognize that some do not. But for those interested, NPR's Weekend Edition Sunday (tomorrow).

After its broadcast tomorrow, you will find a link to listen to it, or you can listen live:
http://www.npr.org/templates/rundowns/rundown.php?prgId... (sorry, I heard a promo for this and there is nothing more descriptive posted yet)


**end of public service announcement** ;)

[eShirl]

56. thanks... kick

[Malikshah]

62. Ashleigh Banfield anyone...was on the ground there reporting for MSNBC...

She was disappeared a lot earlier because she didn't toe the party line...

[Missy Vixen]

64. Aaron Brown started in Seattle

I also miss Ashleigh Banfield, who sacrificed her career over 9/11 because she didn't believe the official story...