Prejudice, Stereotypes and Reading the Media ft. Eric Deggans

Third Space with Jen Cort

Eric Deggans is NPR’s first full-time TV critic, crafting stories and commentaries for the network’s shows, such as Morning Edition, Here & Now and All Things Considered, along with writing material for NPR.org. He also appears on NPR podcasts such as Life Kit, Code Switch, It’s Been a Minute and Pop Culture Happy Hour.
In addition, Eric is also a contributor and media analyst for MSNBC/NBC News and an adjunct instructor in the Sanford School of Public Policy at Duke University. And in 2020, he was given the Distinguished Alumni Service Award by Indiana University – the institution’s highest alumni honor -- four years after Indiana University’s Media School of journalism and communications named him a distinguished alumnus.
Eric came to NPR in September 2013 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 also author of Race-Baiter: How the Media Wields Dangerous Words to Divide a Nation, a look at how prejudice, racism and sexism fuels modern media, published in October 2012 by Palgrave Macmillan.
He guest hosted CNN’s media analysis show Reliable Sources several times in 2013. In spring 2019, he served as chairman of the board of educators, journalists and media experts who select the George Foster Peabody Awards for excellence in electronic media.
Eric joined a prestigious group of contributors to the first ethics book created in a partnership between Craiglist founder Craig Newmark and the Poynter Institute for Media Studies. Developed as Poynter’s first ethics book for the digital age, The New Ethics of Journalism was published in August 2013 by Sage/CQ Press.
Born in Washington D.C. but raised in Gary, Ind., Eric has contributed as a pundit, freelance writer or essayist to many media outlets, including, The New York Times online; POLITICO; NBC Nightly News, CBS This Morning; The NewsHour (PBS) and a host of public radio platforms. He is based in Saint Petersburg, Florida with an office inside The Poynter Institute for Media Studies.