‘Washington Post’ Editor Eugene Robinson Discussed Today’s Media Environment at FAU’s 2018 Larkin Symposium

Florida Atlantic University’s 2018 Alan B. and Charna Larkin Symposium on the American Presidency featured Pulitzer Prize-winner Eugene Robinson with “Covering the Presidency in the Modern Media Age.” Robinson is associate editor and columnist of The Washington Post and a regular contributor to MSNBC and NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

Robinson discussed the breakneck pace of being in the media today. With news stories coming out at every hour, journalists have to be ready for a 24-hour news cycle. He also discussed how social media, online platforms and mobile phones have changed the way the news works.

Following Robinson’s presentation, a panel of 10 FAU communications students seated on stage asked Robinson questions. The columnist shared his thoughts on the need for good journalism. He pointed out that this is a great time to go into journalism.

“It gives you a front row seat to the most amazing events and amazing people,” he said. “People will always need news, since the days of the town crier.”

Robinson relies on the wide-ranging experience of a life that took him from childhood in the segregated south to the heights of American journalism. His remarkable storytelling ability has won him wide-acclaim, most notably as the winner of the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for his commentary on the 2008 presidential race that resulted in the election of America's first African-American president.

In 2010, Robinson was elected to the Pulitzer Prize Board. He is a member of the National Association of Black Journalists and the NABJ Hall of Fame. His books include “Last Dance in Havana: The Final Days of Fidel and the Start of the New Cuban Revolution,” an examination of contemporary Cuba; and “Disintegration,” a look at the disintegration of the black community into four distinct sectors, and the implication for policies such as school reform, urban renewal and affirmative action. The Alan B. and Charna Larkin Symposium is directed by FAU Professor of History Stephen Engle. Since its founding in 2007, the symposium has welcomed former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, journalists/authors Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, and historian David McCullough as speakers. For more information about the Larkin Symposium, visit www.fau.edu/larkin.