Eric Deggans
Eric Deggans is NPR's first full-time TV critic.
Deggans came to NPR in 2013 from the Tampa Bay Times, where he served a TV/Media Critic and in other roles for nearly 20 years. A journalist for more than 20 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.
Deggans is also currently a media analyst/contributor for MSNBC and NBC News. In August 2013, he guest hosted CNN's media analysis show Reliable Sources, joining a select group of journalists and media critics filling in for departed host Howard Kurtz. The same month, Deggans was awarded the Florida Press Club's first-ever Diversity award, honoring his coverage of issues involving race and media. He received the Legacy award from the National Association of Black Journalists' A&E Task Force, an honor bestowed to "seasoned A&E journalists who are at the top of their careers." And in 2019, he was named winner of the American Sociological Association's Excellence in the Reporting of Social Justice Issues Award.
In 2019, Deggans served as the first African American chairman of the board of educators, journalists and media experts who select the George Foster Peabody Awards for excellence in electronic media.
He also has joined a prestigious group of contributors to the first ethics book created in conjunction with the Poynter Institute for Media Studies for journalism's digital age: The New Ethics of Journalism, published in August 2013, by Sage/CQ Press.
From 2004 to 2005, Deggans sat on the then-St. Petersburg Times editorial board and wrote bylined opinion columns. From 1997 to 2004, he worked as TV critic for the Times, crafting reviews, news stories and long-range trend pieces on the state of the media industry both locally and nationally. He originally joined the paper as its pop music critic in November 1995. He has worked at the Asbury Park Press in New Jersey and both the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and Pittsburgh Press newspapers in Pennsylvania.
Now serving as chair of the Media Monitoring Committee for the National Association of Black Journalists, he has also served on the board of directors for the national Television Critics Association and on the board of the Mid-Florida Society of Professional Journalists.
Additionally, he worked as a professional drummer in the 1980s, touring and performing with Motown recording artists The Voyage Band throughout the Midwest and in Osaka, Japan. He continues to perform with area bands and recording artists as a drummer, bassist and vocalist.
Deggans earned a Bachelor of Arts in political science and journalism from Indiana University.
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Like all events these days, this year's prime-time Emmy Awards were virtual, with host Jimmy Kimmel and nominees at home or isolated elsewhere with cameras.
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NPR TV Critic Eric Deggans tells us who he thinks should win the 72nd Primetime Emmy Awards with his own prize he calls The Deggys.
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Hulu's comedy series Woke follows Keef Knight, a Black cartoonist set to launch a national comic strip until he's profiled by San Francisco police. It's based on real-life cartoonist Keith Knight.
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Political conventions are made for TV. But this year's Democratic National Convention was virtual only. NPR discusses how the first night played out for viewers.
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Talk show host Ellen DeGeneres has made major strides for LGBTQ representation. However, she's come under scrutiny lately after reported allegations about how her staff is treated.
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Beyoncé's newest visual album, Black is King, was released yesterday on Disney+.
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A new HBO documentary explores the mental health challenges of Olympic athletes. The Weight Of Gold is deep and revealing. It is also problematically not diverse.
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P-Valley is a new drama on Starz about Black strippers working a club in the Mississippi Delta. It's one of the year's most provocative dramas.
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Janelle Monae has her first TV series lead role in Season 2 of Amazon Prime's psychological thriller Homecoming as a vet who wakes up in a rowboat with no memory of who or where she is.
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The 51st NAACP Image Awards aired live on BET last night. In a year when the Oscars and other big awards failed to largely recognize people of color, the Image Awards grow in importance.