Here I examine the work of CNN’s news anchor Aaron Brown on the day of 9/11. Brown, years after the events, apologized for precisely the coverage that he had handled most insightfully. He was not stupid in his reluctance to accept the possibility of the total collapse of the Twin Towers from airplane impact. He was actually at his best in these moments, as he put forth competing hypotheses and looked to his reporters on the scene for evidence supporting these hypotheses.

A more comprehensive look at same-day news coverage can be found in the two articles in this book authored with Ted Walter: “How 36 Reporters Brought Us the Twin Towers’ Explosive Demolition on 9/11” and “The Triumph of the Official Narrative: How the TV Networks Hid the Twin Towers’ Explosive Demolition on 9/11.”