Bio

Eric Deggans is NPR’s first full-time TV critic. He is also a contributor and media analyst for MSNBC/NBC News. Eric came to NPR from Florida's Tampa Bay Times newspaper, where he served as TV/Media Critic and in other roles for nearly 20 years. A journalist for ore than 30 years, he is also 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/St. Martins Press. He debuted a class on race and media in early 2020 as an Adjunct Instructor at Duke University. That same year, he was given the Distinguished Alumni Service Award by Indiana University - the highest accolade reserved solely for alumni. And in 2019, he served as the first African American to chair the board of journalists, media executives, educators and experts who judge the George Foster Peabody Awards. In August and November 2013, he guest hosted three shows of CNN’s media analysis show Reliable Sources, joining a select group of journalists and media critics filling in for departed host Howard Kurtz (in fact, he appeared on Kurtz's final show, guest hosted the last show before new host Brian Stelter took over and appeared on Stelter's first show). He was also awarded the Florida Press Club’s first-ever Diversity award, the Legacy award from the National Association of Black Journalists’ A&E Task Force and an award for excellence in reporting on social issues from the American Sociological Association. His writing has also appeared in the New York Times online, POLITICO, The Undefeated, Columbia Journalism Review, Salon magazine, CNN.com, the Washington Post, Village Voice, VIBE magazine, Chicago Tribune, Rolling Stone Online and many other outlets.