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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NPR's Eric Deggans speaks with musician and composer Jon Batiste about his new album, "Beethoven Blues," in which he riffs on classical favorites.
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NPR's Eric Deggans talks with director Garret Price about his new documentary, "Yacht Rock: A Dockumentary," about a specific California soft rock sound.
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8G appears in their last Late Night episode on Thursday after a decade backing Seth Meyers. It joins the ranks of groundbreaking late night bands. -
Before social media, the film Purple Rain gave audiences a peek into Prince’s musical life. Band members say the true genesis of the title song was much less combative than the version presented in the film. -
It's been 15 years since singer Michael Jackson died. How has his legacy changed since then?
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The new Hulu show takes a close look at the struggle by lead singer Jon Bon Jovi to overcome vocal problems which nearly led him to quit the band. -
Rolling Stone magazine co-founder Jann Wenner is facing criticism for saying that Black and female musicians were not "articulate" enough to be included in his new book.
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A documentary traces Little Richard's life and career, from his gender-bending early days on America's Chitlin' Circuit of R&B clubs to his stardom as an early rock pioneer.
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Little Richard: I Am Everything focuses on the star's roots in — and struggle with — his connection to queer culture. TV critic Eric Deggans says it's a masterpiece. -
R&B legend Curtis Mayfield's 1967 hit "We're a Winner" broke ground as one of the first commercial hits centered on Black pride during the civil rights movement.
