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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In Landman, filmmaker Taylor Sheridan turns his attention to the dangerous and very masculine oil industry. TV critic Eric Deggans says the series often portrays women as caricatures. -
Aldis Hodge stars as the latest on-screen version of James Patterson's sharp police detective. -
So far, Yellowstone has scored sky-high viewership as a western soap opera. Costner's departure just adds to the drama. -
President-elect Trump has excelled at creating his own media image, from his earliest days as a real estate baron. His supporters find him entertaining and feisty, and even critics find it difficult not to talk about him. -
Netflix’s The Diplomat rides a compelling line between serving up hefty slices of political and emotional drama. -
Apple TV+’s seven-part series written and directed by Alfonso Cuarón stars Cate Blanchett as a successful documentarian faced with a secret about her past. -
Amos, who played James Evans Sr. in the 1970s sitcom Good Times, showed TV critic Eric Deggans what it was like to have a concerned, ethical father at home. Behind the scenes, Amos pushed for more authentic Black characters — sometimes leading to conflict. -
As a historic election looms, Saturday Night Live faces an ongoing challenge to make America laugh – and process an increasingly strange political world. Jean Smart hosts the show’s 50th season premiere on Saturday. -
Each year, NPR TV critic Eric Deggans throws out the Emmys rulebook and chooses his own awards for the best shows on television. Here are this year's Deggys. -
In FX’s ‘The Old Man,’ Jeff Bridges and John Lithgow play men who once clashed in the intelligence world. In the show’s second season, they join forces to save Bridges’ daughter, played by Alia Shawkat.
