Erin Burnett Profile…

The New York Times’ Brian Stelter writes a mostly fair and balanced piece on Erin Burnett. Stelter drops some news that Burnett has been added to the “fill in anchor” list on Weekend Today (probably pushing a few MSNBC ladies’ noses out of joint in the process) and somehow he got ahold of her Q score. You hardly ever see people write about Q scores, which begs the question why was this leaked since in this case a low Q score is not exactly a positive thing for what amounts to a positive piece on Burnett.

Ms. Burnett’s meteoric rise is the most recent example of how television networks try to transform fresh-faced hosts into household names with all the perks — and hazards — that sudden celebrity entails. And Ms. Burnett’s “overnight success” isn’t an accident. Competing with the Internet and the fledgling Fox Business Network, CNBC has been trolling for new stars, and the network has meticulously managed and promoted Ms. Burnett’s ascent.

Because of the seismic changes roiling the media business and the huge number of choices that business news devotees now have when searching for information, anchors are no longer only news readers. Their bosses and handlers emphasize their personalities as much as their acumen in an effort to carve out niche followings.

Aware that producers sometimes push young anchors too hard, too fast — leading to notable flameouts like those of Deborah Norville, who became a “Today” co-anchor in 1990, and Ashleigh Banfield, who joined MSNBC in 2000 — CNBC says it has been careful not to give Ms. Burnett more than she could handle at each juncture.

“She is a work in progress,” Mr. Wald said. “She did not come to CNBC a fully formed business news star. And she’s evolving into a notable TV personality.”