ENGAGEMENTS

Book Eric Deggans

Eric Deggans is an award-winning journalist who has covered TV. media, music and pop culture for more than 30 years. Currently serving as the Knight Professor of Journalism and Media Ethics at Washington and Lee University, as well as a critic at large at NPR, Eric has also served as TV/Media Critic for the Tampa Bay Times newspaper and has appeared on PBS’ NewsHour, CNN, MSNBC, Fox News Channel and the CBS Evening News, among many other outlets.

He has lectured or delivered presentations at Columbia University, Loyola University, Indiana University and California State University, among other schools. He has also delivered keynote addresses for the International Communication Association, the University of South Florida Honors Program, and The National Scholastic Press Association.

Now, he’d like to bring those insights — developed over decades of thinking, writing and speaking out — to your event as a keynote speaker!

Upcoming Events

September 26, 2026

  • Eric moderates panel on journalism at Texas Tribune Festival

    September 26, 2026  1:00 pm - 2:00 pm Bridge Ballroom, Omni Austin Hotel Downtown, 700 San Jacinto At, E 8th St, Austin, TX 78701, USA

    Eric moderates panel including Oliver Darcy from Status, Julia Marsh from Politico. https://festival.texastribune.org/schedule

    See more details

October 2, 2026

  • Eric interviews CNN's Brian Stelter for Society of Professional Journalists national convention

    October 2, 2026  11:00 am - 12:00 pm Hilton Columbus Downtown, 402 N High St, Columbus, OH 43215, USA

    Whatever the news about the news, Brian Stelter has covered it. The chief media analyst for CNN Worldwide and the lead author of the Reliable Sources newsletter will share his perspective on a unique moment in journalism history, in conversation with journalist, media analyst and ethics professor Eric Deggans. DETAILS: https://spj26.org/

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What Others Say

Michael Uth
“We hosted Eric as part of a company-wide awareness initiative focused courage, especially moral courage. Consistent with this theme, we challenged him with a sensitive topic – how to have difficult conversations about race. His skill in approaching this topic in an accessible, non-threatening, productive way gave us the opportunity to think deeply and learn a lot, and earned him overwhelmingly positive feedback."
Michael Uth

Corporate Compliance and Ethics Officer, The Progressive Corporation

Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
“No one breaks down the complexity of race, media, and popular culture more cogently than Eric Deggans.  Witnessing him speak in person (which I did at Harvard), with his informative, entertaining and interactive PowerPoint, and his utterly engaging ‘teacherly’ persona, is even more rewarding than hearing his NPR commentaries, which are always masterfully superb.  No one teaches me more about contemporary media than Eric Deggans.”
Henry Louis Gates, Jr.

Host of the PBS series Finding Your Roots and chair of the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research at Harvard

TEDx speech: How to Talk About Race Across Race Lines

Eric Deggans' final thought on race baiting

Eric talks the evolution of Jon Stewart on The Daily Show