Charles Bierbauer, former CNN correspondent and a former president of De Witte Huis Correspondents Association who later became dean of the journalism program of the University of South Carolina, died. He was 83.
Bierbauer died on Friday in his house in Spruce Pine, NC, where he had lived, according to university spokesperson Jeff Stensland. No direct cause was given, but the family’s death notice said, “His generous heart gave up after a good, long life.”
Bierbauer’s journalistic career started in his native Pennsylvania, where he was an early weekend reporter for Media Outlet Wkap.
After a year as a reporter for The Associated Press in Pittsburgh, Bierbauer worked for various other points of sale and in 1973 he won an Oversees Press Club Award for his report on the Yom Kippur War.
According to his family, Bierbauer was once held in the red square of Moscow while filming an anti-Soviet demonstration. While he covered Muhammed Ali’s travel from 1978 in the Soviet Union, Bierbauer was denounced by the Sovietpers to “ask unabashed questions”.
After four years at ABC News, Bierbauer started two decades in CNN, starting only a year after the network was founded.
In the next 20 years, Bierbauer would cover the Pentagon, the White House, the American Supreme Court and a range of political stories and presidential campaigns. He also organized the weekly current events ‘Newsmaker Saturday’ for a decade and regularly traveled with presidents throughout the country and to dozens of foreign nations.
Afterwards Bierbauer moved to South Carolina, where he became the first dean of the College of Information and Communications of State Flagship University, a merger of the mass communication and library science programs. Bierbauer launched Cocky’s Ready Express, a literacy initiative in children and also led a fundraising and renovation effort of millions of dollars that brought the school of the outdated Carolina Coliseum to an ultramodern building on the historic horseshoe of South Carolina.
In the academic world, Bierbauer continued his passion for broadcast by organizing a weekly current affairs program and moderating dozens of debates among political candidates who compete for offices in the state, through a partnership with ScetV.
Jay Bender, a former lawyer of the South Carolina Press Association and retired professor who served under Bierbauer, remembered him as a distinguished broadcaster and educator.
“His contributions to the USC Journalism School as Dean were important,” said Bender, in particular the project mentioned that the school modernized and moved to the current location.
Tom Reicert, who succeeded Bierbauer as a communication, repeated the sentiments of Bender and recalled the ‘in -depth impact of the program’ of his predecessor.
“He is happy to be remembered for many achievements, including fundraising and supporting students who then won Pulitzer prizes,” Reichert said in a statement to the Associated Press. “He will be deeply missed.”
Bierbauer was married to Susanne Schafer, an old reporter for military affairs for the AP. He obtained diplomas in journalism and Russian from Penn State University and is survived by Schafer, as well as four children and different grandchildren and a great -grandchild.
In a statement to the AP, a spokesperson for the Bierbauer network reminded as “a cherished member of the CNN family” and “tireless reporter and beautiful colleague.”
“Charles inspired me and helped me during my assignments in the Pentagon and the White House,” Wolf Blitzer, former CNN colleague of Bierbauer, told the AP in a statement. “He was a good friend, colleague and mentor, and I will certainly miss him.”
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