Errol Barnett is a British-born American anchor and national correspondent for CBS News based in New York City after covering President Trump for three years while based in Washington D.C.. Barnett also anchored CNN Newsroom during overnight hours in the U.S. and hosted CNN International's cultural affairs program Inside Africa. During his two years at the helm of the award-winning show Barnett reported from half the continent including Senegal, Morocco, Ethiopia, and Madagascar.
Early life
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. 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. His mother later married Gary Barnett, a US Air Forcesergeant who served in the Gulf War before moving the family to Phoenix.
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 for its , with Barnett venturing to twenty-two countries in his self-described "journey of discovery." As a CNN foreign correspondent, he was based in Johannesburg, South Africa covering the death of 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.
Barnett became the focus of an Internet meme in August, 2014 during CNN's coverage of the Ferguson, Missouri protests. Viewers noted Barnett's response to his co-anchor's suggestion that police use water cannons on demonstrators. Buzzfeed described Barnett's expression as "did that just happen" and "is this real life?"
CBS News
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 networkCBSN. His coverage includes the Presidency of Donald Trump, artificial intelligence, extreme weather and various . He also conducts high-interest interviews; his chat with Wikipedia’s top editor was viewed two million times and he obtained an exclusive with a woman injured by a zoo jaguar.
In October, 2018, the Secret Service issued a rare statement 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 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".
Moderator/Speaker
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:
