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About Eric Deggans

Eric Deggans is NPR’s first full-time TV critic, serving as critic, media analyst and guest host. He came to NPR from the Tampa Bay Times newspaper in Florida, where he served as TV/Media Critic and in other roles for nearly 20 years. He is an adjunct instructor at Duke University and Indiana University, also serving as a member of the National Advisory Board at the Poynter Institute for Media Studies. A professional journalist since 1990, he is the author of Race-Baiter: How the Media Wields Dangerous Words to Divide a Nation, a look at how prejudice, racism and sexism fuels some elements of modern media, published in October 2012 by Palgrave Macmillan.

A native of Gary, Indiana, Eric was inducted in 2024 into the Indiana Journalism Hall of Fame, established in 1966 to honor “Journalists of the highest distinction…who have deep ties to Indiana.” This group includes fellow NPR colleague Steve Inskeep and former 60 Minutes correspondent Steve Kroft.

He has guest hosted CNN’s media analysis show Reliable Sources many times and served as a moderator for discussions organized by the Smithsonian Institution, the National Endowment for the Arts, The National Book Festival, the Chautauqua Institute and the South By Southwest conference. He has earned the Distinguished Alumni Service Award from Indiana University – the institution’s highest alumni honor. In 2019, Eric became the first African American to serve as chairman for the jurors who select the George Foster Peabody Awards for excellence in electronic media at the University of Georgia; his one-year tenure capped a total six years he served on the board of jurors.

PREVIOUSLY ON SOCIAL MEDIA

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Eric Deggans at NPR
Eric Deggans at NPR8 hours ago
My colleague David Folkenflik is reporting that there have been more than 200,000 subscription cancellations following the Washington Post's decision not to endorse a candidate for president. READ: https://loom.ly/uaYX7fo
Eric Deggans at NPR
Over 200,000 subscribers flee 'Washington Post' after Bezos blocks Harris endorsement
Over 200,000 people canceled their subscriptions in the first few days following news that The Washington Post would not endorse any presidential candidate.
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Eric Deggans at NPR
Eric Deggans at NPR1 day ago
NYTimes reports Jeff Bezos made decision to block Wash Post's endorsement of Kamala Harris and decline to endorse a candidate for president after meeting with top editors and staffers in Miami in late September. READ: https://loom.ly/axHNM10
Eric Deggans at NPR
Inside The Washington Post’s Decision to Stop Presidential Endorsements
Post owner Jeff Bezos ended the decades-long practice, weeks after a discussion at a meeting in Miami. The move has drawn criticism in and outside the newsroom.
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Eric Deggans at NPR
Eric Deggans at NPR1 day ago
As important as this opinion page is, given the Wash Post and LATimes decision to not endorse a candidate in this presidential election, I really don't understand NYTimes decision to NOT do endorsements for New York elections where readers might need the most guidance.
Eric Deggans at NPR
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Eric Deggans at NPR
Eric Deggans at NPR1 day ago
Tampa's NPR member station WUSF has a wonderful array of resources for voters in Florida looking for information on candidates, constitutional amendments, early voting rules and much more. Check it out: https://loom.ly/uco5KG0
Eric Deggans at NPR
📜Sorting out the amendments and issues? 🗃️
The general election is underway and WUSF wants you to be empowered before you vote. The Our Changing State podcast breaks it down – from “deep fakes” to constitutional amendments.   Every episode this season breaks down a topic in a way that you - a Florida voter - can get a clear idea of th...
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Journalist

Eric is the first full-time TV critic and media analyst for National Public Radio. He served as TV/Media Critic for the Tampa Bay Times, guest host of CNN’s Reliable Sources and freelance contributor to Salon, Huffington Post, and CNN.com.

Pundit

Eric has appeared as a pundit and expert on CNN, MSNBC, Fox News Channel, PBS’ The NewsHour, the Tom Joyner Morning Show and many other outlets.

Author

In Race-Baiter, Eric dissects the powerful ways modern media feeds fears, prejudices, and hate, while also tracing the history of the word and its consequences, intended or otherwise.

Public Speaker

Eric is available as a keynote speaker, instructor and thought leader on a wide range of topics, including: race issues, media, pop culture, social media, brand identity, music, online technology and much more.

The Daily Show News Team at SXSW: Content From Their Couches

Black Stories. Black Truths. — Eric Deggans — NPR TV Critic

TEDx speech: How to Talk About Race Across Race Lines

Race-Baiter: How the Media Wields Dangerous Words to Divide a Nation

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In Race-Baiter: How the Media Wields Dangerous Words to Divide a Nation, Eric describes how some media outlets have weaponized messages of fear, division and social conflict. They exacerbate old prejudices and deep-rooted fears about women, people of color, immigrants, Muslims and other marginalized groups, seeking a loyal audience, advertising dollars and political power.

Gone is the era of three-channel television, when every outlet fought to serve a wide spectrum of American viewers. Today, many pundits, bloggers, podcasters and cable news anchors aim instead for a passionate niche of fans. When that process illuminates a previously overlooked group, it is a wonderful exercise in equality. But when it segments viewers along race, class and gender lines, resisting America’s proud legacy of progress through diversity, then problems arise. Deggans experienced this phenomenon firsthand when he was called a “race-baiter” by then-Fox News Channel anchor Bill O’Reilly.

The term “Race-Baiter” — once applied to those who unfairly leveraged racism against minorities — has been recast by some to describe anyone who criticizes prejudice in modern media. The conflict at hand: a debate on whether systemic racism and prejudice still affects marginalized groups in America.

The book also features an interview with conservative firebrand Andrew Breitbart conducted five months before his death and an interview with pundit Tucker Carlson years before he would become Fox News Channel’s biggest star.

Well ahead of the current drive to diversify fictional TV shows, Eric details how the nation’s four largest TV networks were nearly sued by the NAACP for their lack of onscreen diversity. Before CBS declared 50 percent of its contestants on unscripted “Reality TV” shows like Survivor and Big Brother would be non-white people, Race-Baiter dissected how racial politics made it much harder for contestants of color to succeed on those shows.

Race-Baiter sounds the alarm for a more civil discourse, showing that the more we talk past each other, the further we drift from solutions to our very real problems.

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