Eugene Harold Robinson (born March 12, 1954) is an American newspaper

columnist A columnist is a person who writes for publication in a series, creating an article that usually offers commentary and opinions. Column (periodical), Columns appear in newspapers, magazines and other publications, including blogs. They take the ...

, former associate editor of ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'', author, and chief political analyst. His columns were syndicated to 262 newspapers by The Washington Post Writers Group. He won a

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prizes () are 23 annual awards given by Columbia University in New York City for achievements in the United States in "journalism, arts and letters". They were established in 1917 by the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made his fo ...

in 2009, was elected to the Pulitzer Prize Board in 2011 and served as its chair from 2017 to 2018. Robinson is chief political analyst at

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and

MSNBC MSNBC is an American cable news channel owned by the NBCUniversal News Group division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. Launched on July 15, 1996, and headquartered at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Manhattan, the channel primarily broadcasts r ...

. Robinson is a member of the National Association of Black Journalists and a board member of the IWMF (International Women's Media Foundation). His wife Avis died on October 28, 2023, after a short battle with cancer.

Biography

Early years and education

Robinson was born in Orangeburg, South Carolina and attended Orangeburg-Wilkinson High School, where he "was one of a handful of black students on a previously all-white campus." Before graduating from the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

in 1974, he was the first African American co-editor-in-chief of ''

The Michigan Daily ''The Michigan Daily'', also known as "''The Daily''", is the independent student newspaper of the University of Michigan published in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Established on September 29, 1890, the newspaper is financially and editorially independe ...

''. During the 1987–88 academic year, he was a mid-career Nieman Fellow at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

Career

In 1976, he began his journalism career at the '' San Francisco Chronicle''; his early assignments included the trial of publishing heiress Patty Hearst. He joined ''

'' in 1980. Working his way up through the ranks, he was first a city hall reporter at the paper. He then became the assistant city editor; a South America correspondent based in Buenos Aires, Argentina;

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

bureau chief; foreign editor; and, most recently, the assistant managing editor of the paper's Style section. He began writing columns for the opinion page of the paper in 2005, also writes a twice-a-week column on politics and culture, and conducts a weekly online conversation with readers. Robinson appears frequently as a liberal political analyst on

cable-TV network's programs such as ''

Morning Joe ''Morning Joe'' is an American morning news talk show, which airs weekdays from 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time Zone, Eastern Time on the cable news channel MSNBC. It features former United States House of Representatives, US Repr ...

'', '' PoliticsNation with Al Sharpton'', '' The Rachel Maddow Show'', '' The 11th Hour'', and '' Andrea Mitchell Reports''. In addition, he is often a panelist on NBC's public affairs program'' Meet the Press. Robinson was awarded the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for Commentary in recognition of his columns that focused on then-Senator

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

in the context of his first presidential campaign. Robinson is a 2021 honoree of the Larry Foster Award for Integrity in Public Communication, a recognition from The Arthur W. Page Center for Integrity in Public Communication. He is a part of the fifth class of Larry Foster Award honorees, which honors professionals who "exemplify the importance of truthful communication with the public." In March 2022, Robinson was interviewed for the '' Frontline'' documentary ''Putin's Road to War'', where he discussed the

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

. Robinson resigned from ''The Washington Post'' in April, 2025.

Books

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References

External links