Book Eric Deggans

Eric Deggans is an award-winning journalist who has covered TV. media, music and pop culture for more than 20 years. Currently serving as TV critic and media analyst for NPR, Eric served as TV/Media Critic for the Tampa Bay Times newspaper and has appeared on PBS’ NewsHour, CNN, MSNBC, Fox News Channel and the Tom Joyner Morning Show, among 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

May 14, 2025
  • Eric moderates NABJ and Poynter: Celebrating 50 Years, Lead the Way Forward

    May 14, 2025  6:30 pm - 8:30 pm The Poynter Institute, 801 3rd St S, St. Petersburg, FL 33701, USA

    Topic: NABJ and Poynter: Celebrating 50 Years, Lead the Way Forward
    Description: The National Association of Black Journalists and Poynter Institute both turn 50 in 2025. As the organizations celebrate a legacy of impact and lasting values, they are focused on the challenges and opportunities ahead for journalists. This lively webinar will feature respected industry voices to discuss the realities journalists are grappling with today, including key issues where Poynter and NABJ can support and lead.

    See more details

June 10, 2025
  • Keynote conversation for Poynter on writing non-fiction books

    June 10, 2025  5:00 pm - 10:00 pm The Poynter Institute, 801 3rd St S, St. Petersburg, FL 33701, USA

    See more details

June 14, 2025
  • Erc moderates panel with cast and producers of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds at Tribeca Film Festival

    June 14, 2025  4:00 pm - 7:00 pm Spring Studios, 6 St Johns Ln, New York, NY 10013, USA

    Eric moderates a discussionwith the cast and producers of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, including: Anson Mount, Ethan Peck, Celia Rose Gooding, Babs Olusanmokun and Carol Kane 
    Also EP’s: Alex Kurtzman, Akiva Goldsman and Henry Alonso Myers

     DETAILS: https://tribecafilm.com/films/star-trek-strange-new-worlds-2025

    See more details

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