Former CNN anchor Aaron Brown had an epiphany following his network’s saturation coverage of the 2001 murder of actor Robert Blake’s wife.

The crowd that packed SOU’s Rogue River Room Wednesday night listened as Brown recalled shuffling home at 3 a.m. after a four- hour tour of duty reporting in excruciating detail a low-level celebrity shooting on the day four Canadian soldiers died in Afghanistan. His wife was waiting up for him with only one question: Why?

"I am sure there were other things we could’ve reported that night," Brown said.

And so began his lecture titled "Is TV news fulfilling its promise?" Brown served as the keynote speaker for this year’s Thomas W. Pyle First Amendment Forum.

Brown, who described cable news anchors as "highly paid piece(s) of meat," began his TV career as a reporter and anchor at KING-TV News in Seattle. In December 1991, he joined ABC news to anchor "World News Now," the network’s overnight newscast. In 1993 he joined "ABC World News Tonight with Peter Jennings." In the summer of 2001 he was hired by CNN to launch "NewsNight with Aaron Brown." He has received several journalism awards, including an Edward R. Murrow award for his coverage of the Sept. 11 attacks.

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He suggested his eventual demise at CNN resulted from criticizing the network’s obsession with lurid celebrity gossip while short-changing meaningful news.

He compared such "breaking news" to heroin — it’s good for a while, but will eventually make you feel used and dirty.

"The news in this country is a business," he added. "You might not like to think of it that way, but it is."

He admitted that cable news reporters and editors have failed viewers by not telling stories that are important, that truly matter.

"Cable indulges too often in what amounts to mud wrestling — just two people shouting at each other," he said.

However, he didn’t let the casual TV viewer off easily. Because the news is a business, he argued, it is only giving consumers what they want.

"In the perfect democracy that I believe TV news is, it’s not enough to say you want serious news, you have to watch it," he said.

He likened a typical TV night for Americans as a political act where consumers vote with their remote controls.

According to Brown, CNN spent a fortune covering the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. After two weeks, he said, ratings fell to normal levels. The Fox news channel channeled their dollars into a story about American teenager Natalee Holloway disappearing in Aruba. Fox, of course, cleaned up in ratings and revenue.

Brown offered one remedy for fixing the news. He argued that during any given day there are only between 6 and 10 stories worth reporting.

"We should focus on reporting these really important stories well instead of constant breaking news," he said.

The Thomas W. Pyle First Amendment Forum is produced by SOU’s Department of Communication. The Forum is presented through a grant from The Ashland Daily Tidings, with support from the SOU School of Arts and Letters.

Reach reporter Chris Conrad at 776-4471, or e-mail cconrad@mailtribune.com.