Errol Barnett

Barnett has English, German and Jamaican heritage. Gladstone Christie, his Jamaican grandfather, was one of 500 Caribbean aircrew serving with the British Royal Air Force during WWII, afterward relocating to England as part of the Windrush generation.[2] Barnett was born in Milton Keynes, England to Michael Christie, Gladstone's son and Pamela, an English woman from Liverpool. He has one older brother, Danny, and older sister, Natalie, who died.[3] His mother later married Gary Barnett, a US Air Force sergeant who served in the Gulf War before moving the family to Phoenix.

Barnett attended Garden Lakes Elementary and Westview High School, in Avondale, Arizona, before Channel One News hired him in 2001 relocating to Los Angeles.[4]

The youth oriented Channel One hired Barnett, their youngest anchor/reporter at age 18, to work alongside Maria Menounos, Seth Doane, Gotham Chopra among others. While also taking college classes, Barnett covered Barack Obama's breakout DNC keynote speech, reported from the United Nations when Colin Powell presented flawed WMD intelligence and from the US Capitol during passage of the Homeland Security Act.

Barnett was chosen as one of Teen People magazine's "20 Teens Who Will Change The World" for his early work.[5] After being accepted to UCLA he left Channel One to complete his undergraduate studies.[6]

At UCLA Barnett received a bachelor of arts degree in political science with a focus on international relations. [7] After graduation in July 2008 Barnett was hired by CNN.

For CNN Barnett initially reported on the rise in influence of social media and was part of the most viewed streaming event in history during President Obama's Inauguration on CNN.com. In 2010, he anchored a noon eastern news-hour on CNN International from CNN Abu Dhabi focusing on the Arab Spring.

Barnett also hosted the network's longest running feature program Inside Africa from 2011–2014. The weekly half-hour documentary earned awards for its depiction of the continent, with Barnett venturing to twenty-two countries in his adventurous self-described "journey of discovery." As a CNN foreign correspondent, he was based in Johannesburg, South Africa covering the death of Nelson Mandela the Oscar Pistorius murder trial and various miner strikes.

Barnett anchored CNN Newsroom while based in Atlanta, Georgia leading coverage of the Ferguson, Missouri protests, death of Robin Williams and the lead up to the 2016 presidential election.

During the 2016 election, CBS News hired Barnett as a Washington, D.C. based correspondent and anchor appearing on CBS This Morning, the CBS Evening News and on the digital network CBSN. His coverage includes the Presidency of Donald Trump, artificial intelligence, extreme weather and various breaking news events. He also conducts high-interest interviews; his chat with Wikipedia’s top editor was viewed two million times[9] and he obtained an exclusive with a woman injured by a zoo jaguar.

In October, 2018, the Secret Service issued a rare statement[10] after a viral interaction with Barnett, following the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. As Barnett asked Presidential advisor Jared Kushner about his relationship with the Saudi Crown Prince, Mohammad Bin Salman, a Secret Service agent "physically prevented" Barnett from continuing. The Washington Post reported that

Barnett can be seen attempting to ask Kushner a question as he makes his way off the plane, before a Secret Service agent appears to block his way. Barnett can then be seen showing his CBS and White House press credentials to one of the agents, who responds, ‘I don’t give a damn who you are, there’s a time and a place.

In response to the backlash, the Secret Service said, "the actions were taken solely in response to an abrupt movement by an unknown individual who later identified themselves as a member of the media." On CNN's The Lead with Jake Tapper, Barnett responded "the video speaks for itself".[11][10][12]

Barnett regularly moderates panel discussions and speaks at conferences on the topics of freedom of the press, U.S. politics and various international issues. Events include:

• Focos Annual Gala, New York (2018)
• Society of Professional Journalists Annual Awards Dinner, Washington, D.C. (2018)
• Milken Institute Global Conference, Los Angeles (2017)
• NABJ/NAHJ Conference, Washington, D.C. (2016)[13]
• International Press Institute, Johannesburg, South Africa (2014)[14]
• World Bank Johannesburg, South Africa (2012)[15]
• International Press Institute, Vienna, Austria (2010)[16]

• Errol Barnett's CNN bio
• Videos of Errol Barnett from CNN.com
• CNN's "Inside Africa" showpage
• Errol Barnett at IMDb
• USA Today article
• Buzzfeed article