Charles Bierbauer, a seasoned CNN correspondent who reported on the White House, Pentagon, and Supreme Court for over 20 years, passed away on Friday, August 29, 2025, at his residence in Spruce Pine, North Carolina. He was 83.
Bierbauer passed away at his retirement home. His family’s obituary mentioned “his generous heart gave out after a good, long life.” The University of South Carolina spokesman, Jeff Stensland, indicated that no definitive cause of death was disclosed.
Originally from Pennsylvania, Bierbauer joined CNN in 1981, a year after its launch, starting as the Pentagon’s defense correspondent. He later held the position of senior White House correspondent for nine years, covering the administrations of Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush. His reporting portfolio included presidential campaigns from 1984 to 2000, the Supreme Court, and significant international summits.
Bierbauer served as president of the White House Correspondents’ Association from 1991 to 1992, traveling with presidents to all 50 states and over 30 countries. He also anchored CNN’s “Newsmaker Saturday” for ten years, featuring interviews with notable figures.
His journalism career began in Allentown, Pennsylvania, where he worked as a weekend radio reporter for WKAP before joining The Associated Press in Pittsburgh. After a year with the AP, Bierbauer worked at various outlets, earning an Overseas Press Club Award in 1973 for his coverage of the Yom Kippur War.
Before joining CNN, Bierbauer spent four years at ABC News, serving as Moscow bureau chief and correspondent beginning in 1978, and later as bureau chief in Bonn, Germany. He also worked in London, Bonn, and Vienna for Westinghouse Broadcasting. His global reporting experience included covering every US-Soviet summit from 1975, starting with the meeting between President Gerald Ford and Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev, and continuing through the 1992 conference between Presidents George H.W. Bush and Boris Yeltsin.
Bierbauer’s family recalls he was briefly detained in Moscow’s Red Square while filming an anti-Soviet protest. During his reporting on Muhammad Ali’s 1978 visit to the Soviet Union, the Soviet press criticized him for his challenging and provocative questions.
Bierbauer earned an Emmy Award for his coverage of the 1996 Olympic Park bombing in Atlanta. His expertise in Eastern Europe during the Cold War era made him a valuable correspondent for covering the region’s complex geopolitical landscape.
After retiring from CNN in 2001, Bierbauer transitioned to academia, becoming the first dean of the University of South Carolina’s College of Mass Communications and Information Studies in 2002. He oversaw the merger of mass communications and library science programs and served until 2017, stepping down after 15 years.
During his academic tenure, Bierbauer launched Cocky’s Reading Express, a childhood literacy initiative, and led a multimillion-dollar fundraising and renovation effort. This project moved the journalism school from the outdated Carolina Coliseum to a modern facility on the university’s historic Horseshoe campus.
In academia, Bierbauer continued his passion for broadcasting by hosting a weekly current events program and moderating political debates through a partnership with SCETV. Tom Reichert, who succeeded him as communications dean, noted Bierbauer’s legacy in fundraising and supporting students who later achieved Pulitzer Prizes.
CNN veteran Wolf Blitzer, mentored by Bierbauer, described him as an inspirational figure whose guidance was invaluable during assignments at the Pentagon and White House. Blitzer characterized him as a good friend, colleague, and mentor whose loss would be deeply felt.
Jay Bender, a former attorney for the South Carolina Press Association and retired professor, remembered Bierbauer as an accomplished broadcaster and educator. He highlighted Bierbauer’s impact on the USC Journalism School, especially through the modernization initiative.
Bierbauer graduated from Pennsylvania State University in 1966, earning a bachelor’s degree in Russian and both a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in journalism. He was recognized as a distinguished alumnus and alumni fellow by the university.
He married Susanne Schafer, a longtime Associated Press military affairs reporter, in April 1983. Bierbauer is survived by Schafer, four children, seven grandchildren, and one great-grandchild.
