Erin Burnett - Impact and Controversies

Impact and Controversies

In August 5, 2009, Burnett used the term "serial killer" in a discussion with her host Jim Cramer regarding a report about the Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's plans to spend millions of dollars on aerial shooting to cull Australian feral camels in the outback. Cramer referred to the reported plan as "camelcide." The next day on the show, Burnett said her comment was meant as a joke.

On December 7, 2010, Burnett did an investigative report on chemical giant Transammonia doing business in Iran. She reported that a Transammonia subsidiary—100% owned by Transammonia in the United States—purchased ammonia from Iran. In the same report, Burnett said that according to an economic plan released by the Iranian government, Iran was trying to increase ammonia production by 60 percent over the next five years. She also mentioned that ammonia is used for explosives, including roadside bombs in Afghanistan. On December 13, 2010, as a result of the CNBC report, Transammonia sent a press release to congressional leaders stating that Transammonia's Swiss subsidiary would not enter into new contracts with Iranian companies and would wind down its business with Iran "as soon as possible."

Shortly after arriving at CNN, on October 4, 2011, Burnett did a segment on the Occupy Wall Street protests titled "Seriously?" in which she mocked the protesters. Media watchdog groups, including Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting, claimed Burnett's reporting was purposely inaccurate in order to paint the protesters in a negative light. In response to the criticism, CNN issued a statement saying, "We support Erin and the OutFront team and we respect that there will be a range of opinions on any given story."