[4] Burns joined The New York Times in 1975, reporting, at first, for the paper's metropolitan section, and has written ever since for the newspaper in various capacities.
He and fellow Times journalists John Darnton and Michael T. Kaufman won the 1978 George Polk Award for foreign reporting for coverage of Africa.
[5] Burns was awarded the 1993 Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting citing "his courageous and thorough coverage of the destruction of Sarajevo and the barbarous killings in the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina".
[6] In the early to mid-1990s, Burns headed the New York Times' bureau in New Delhi, with responsibility for the Indian Subcontinent and adjoining regions, from Afghanistan to Burma.
He and his family resided in New Delhi though Burns was frequently on the road, travelling regularly to Kabul, Islamabad, Dhaka, Colombo and Kathmandu.
[9] Burns is a frequent contributor to PBS, including a number of appearances on the Charlie Rose show and The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer via satellite from Afghanistan and Iraq.