Robert Herbert (born March 7, 1945) is an American journalist and former
op-ed columnist for ''
The New York Times''. His column was syndicated to other newspapers around the country. Herbert frequently writes on poverty, the
Iraq War, racism and American political apathy towards racism. He is now a fellow at
Demos
Demos may refer to:
Computing
* DEMOS, a Soviet Unix-like operating system
* DEMOS (ISP), the first internet service provider in the USSR
* Demos Commander, an Orthodox File Manager for Unix-like systems
* plural for Demo (computer programming ...
and was elected to serve on the
Common Cause
Common Cause is a watchdog group based in Washington, D.C., with chapters in 35 states. It was founded in 1970 by John W. Gardner, a Republican, who was the former Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare in the administration of Presiden ...
National Governing Board in 2015.
Early life and education
Herbert was born in
Brooklyn, New York, and was raised primarily in
Montclair, New Jersey
Montclair () is a township in Essex County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Situated on the cliffs of the Watchung Mountains, Montclair is a wealthy and diverse commuter town and suburb of New York City within the New York metropolitan area. ...
, where his parents owned a number of
upholstery
Upholstery is the work of providing furniture, especially seats, with padding, springs, webbing, and fabric or leather covers. The word also refers to the materials used to upholster something.
''Upholstery'' comes from the Middle English wo ...
shops. He was drafted during the buildup to the
Vietnam War, but was ultimately sent to
Korea. Always having had an interest in politics and writing, Herbert decided shortly after the war to go into journalism. Herbert received a
Bachelor of Science, Journalism from the
State University of New York (
Empire State College
Empire State College (SUNY Empire or ESC) is a public university headquartered in Saratoga Springs, New York. It is part of the State University of New York (SUNY) system. Empire State College is a multi-site institution offering associate ...
) in 1988.
Career
Herbert's journalistic career began with ''
The Star-Ledger'' in
New Jersey in 1970. Herbert went on to work as a reporter and editor at the ''
New York Daily News'' from 1976 until 1985, when he became a political columnist and editor, and began attracting attention for his editorial work. This led to a position on
WCBS-TV in New York, as a founding panelist of ''Sunday Edition'' in 1990, as well as becoming host of ''
Hotline'', a weekly issues program on New York public television. He later served as a national
correspondent
A correspondent or on-the-scene reporter is usually a journalist or commentator for a magazine, or an agent who contributes reports to a newspaper, or radio or television news, or another type of company, from a remote, often distant, locati ...
on
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are ...
from 1991 to 1993, with regular appearances on ''
The Today Show
''Today'' (also called ''The Today Show'' or informally, ''NBC News Today'') is an American news and Talk show, talk breakfast television, morning television show that airs weekdays from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on NBC. The program de ...
'' and ''
NBC Nightly News''.
Herbert's journalistic awards include the Meyer Berger Award for coverage of New York City and the
American Society of Newspaper Editors
The American Society of News Editors (ASNE) was a membership organization for editors, producers or directors in charge of journalistic organizations or departments, deans or faculty at university journalism schools, and leaders and faculty of ...
award for distinguished newspaper writing. He also chaired the Pulitzer Prize jury for spot news reporting in 1993. Herbert is author of ''Promises Betrayed: Waking Up From The American Dream'', published by Henry Holt & Company in 2005.
Herbert left ''The New York Times'' on March 25, 2011 with his last column titled, "Losing Our Way." In June 2011, Herbert joined the national think-tank
Demos
Demos may refer to:
Computing
* DEMOS, a Soviet Unix-like operating system
* DEMOS (ISP), the first internet service provider in the USSR
* Demos Commander, an Orthodox File Manager for Unix-like systems
* plural for Demo (computer programming ...
as a Distinguished Senior Fellow. At the time his fellowship was announced, it was also revealed that he will write for the Demos blog PolicyShop as well as ''
The American Prospect
''The American Prospect'' is a daily online and bimonthly print American political and public policy magazine dedicated to American modern liberalism and progressivism. Based in Washington, D.C., ''The American Prospect'' says it "is devoted to ...
'' magazine, which merged with Demos in 2010.
In 2014 Herbert published his book ''Losing Our Way: An Intimate Portrait of a Troubled America''.
In pop culture
Herbert is mentioned in the ''
Seinfeld'' episode "
The Big Salad" when character
George Costanza
George Louis Costanza is a fictional character in the American Television program, television Situation comedy, sitcom ''Seinfeld'' (1989–1998), played by Jason Alexander. He is a short, stocky, balding man who struggles with numerous insecur ...
's girlfriend Julie is discussing her favorite writers, and says "And Bob Herbert's great. He's the ''Daily News''," to which Costanza compares Herbert's name pronunciation with
Atlanta Falcons
The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The Falcons joined th ...
quarterback
Bobby Hebert
Bobby Joseph Hebert Jr. (surname pronounced ; born August 19, 1960) is an American sportscaster and former professional football quarterback. He played in the United States Football League (USFL) and National Football League (NFL) from 1983 to ...
.
References
External links
*
"Meet Bob Herbert" ''The New York Times'' biographical video interview
Bob Herbert's New York Times Columnist Page
Interview at Democracy Now1995 Interview with ''The Progressive'', at FindArticles
*
*
C-SPAN ''Q&A'' interview with Herbert, May 29, 2005
{{DEFAULTSORT:Herbert, Bob
1945 births
Living people
African-American journalists
African-American television personalities
African-American writers
American columnists
Television personalities from New York City
Empire State College alumni
The New York Times columnists
Writers from Brooklyn
People from Montclair, New Jersey
21st-century African-American people
20th-century African-American people