A rising star at CNBC

The Washington Post’s Howard Kurtz takes a look Monday at why Erin Burnett has risen so far so fast at business news cable network CNBC.

Kurtz wrote, “The press has cast her as the new Money Honey, a kind of Maria Bartiromo 2.0, and even some of her colleagues seem mesmerized. During an MSNBC interview this month, Matthews egged her on: ‘Could you get a little closer to the camera? . . . Really close.’ When Burnett expressed puzzlement, Matthews exclaimed: ‘You look great! . . . No, you’re beautiful. I’m just kidding. I’m just kidding. You’re a knockout.’ Burnett now calls it ‘a strange moment.’

“Anyone who thinks Burnett is just a pretty face should watch her in action at the exchange. After arriving at her CNBC booth at 6 a.m., she is a study in multitasking: scanning the wires, tracking stocks, writing on-screen headlines, calling sources and conferring with producers both at ‘Squawk’ and ‘Street Signs,’ the afternoon show she hosts.

“On this Monday morning — after a month in which a housing credit crisis sent the Dow plunging more than 1,100 points — one of the big stories is Thornburg Mortgage, which announced that it had sold off a third of its $56 billion portfolio at reduced prices. Burnett, who personally books such high-profile moneymen as Donald Trump, reaches Thornburg President Larry Goldstone on his cellphone. She had already lined up an exclusive interview with Goldstone but wants his take before she goes on the air.”

Read more here.