PressEthic

CNN fired Aaron Brown yesterday, replacing him with Hurricane Katrina's sweetheart, Anderson Cooper. It's a completely understandable decision; Brown's ratings were down and Cooper's were way up. Business is business.

But I'll miss Aaron Brown, who was not offered another time slot by CNN ("It is, unfortunately, a zero-sum game," said Jon Klein, the network's president). Starting on his first day on the air for CNN on September 11th, 2001, I found his unique style comforting, compelling, and a little goofy. The epitome of "professorial," he never rushed a story, often pondering weird asides that had little or no relation to the story at hand. While some saw arrogance in his manner -- Saturday Night Live's parody of him saying "I'm Aaron Brown and I am better than you" comes to mind -- I never saw it. I saw someone who really wanted to help the audience learn about issues in the news and who cared passionately about his role in the process.

In this day and age of flashing graphics, spitting pundits, and bombastic anchors, Brown stood out as a throwback to a more civil time. Lamenting his loss, though, is like yearning for a return of the record player. His time has come and gone.