Erin Burnett Profile…

The St. Petersberg Times’ Eric Deggans profiles Erin Burnett…

It’s what led the thirysomething anchor to strap a bra on her face as a gas mask on MSNBC — yes, the video is still out there in cyberspace — and what Burnett hopes might attract slightly younger viewers who aren’t interested in having Matthews or Fox News star Bill O’Reilly interpret the news for them.

“I do believe that people care about news, they want trusted people to deliver the news, and there’s a modern way of doing the news which does have a point of view and a personality,” she said. “And (on cable news), anyone from 20 to 61, that’s a huge market base that is currently underserved.”

Some might say that audience is already getting served by The Daily Show and Colbert Report. And there’s lots of evidence the steady ratings advertisers love in the evening hours comes mostly from opinionated pundits pressing a very specific, political point of view.

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