Bob Herbert facts for kids

Robert Herbert (born March 7, 1945) is an American journalist. He used to write opinion pieces for The New York Times, and his articles were shared with many other newspapers across the country. Bob Herbert often wrote about important topics like poverty, the Iraq War, and racism. Today, he is a special expert at Demos, a group that studies public issues. In 2015, he was chosen to be on the board of Common Cause, an organization that works to make government fair.

Early Life and Education

Bob Herbert was born in Brooklyn, New York. He grew up mostly in Montclair, New Jersey. His parents owned shops that fixed and made furniture coverings.

When he was young, he was called to join the army during the time leading up to the Vietnam War. He was sent to Korea. After his time in the service, Bob Herbert decided to become a journalist because he was always interested in politics and writing. In 1988, he earned a degree in journalism from the State University of New York (Empire State College).

A Career in Journalism

Bob Herbert started his journalism career in 1970 at The Star-Ledger newspaper in New Jersey. From 1976 to 1985, he worked as a reporter and editor at the New York Daily News. He then became a political writer and editor, and his work started to get a lot of attention.

This led him to television. In 1990, he became one of the first people on Sunday Edition for WCBS-TV in New York. He also hosted Hotline, a weekly show about current issues on New York public television. Later, from 1991 to 1993, he was a national reporter for NBC. You might have seen him on The Today Show and NBC Nightly News.

Bob Herbert has won several awards for his journalism. These include the Meyer Berger Award for his reporting on New York City. He also received an award from the American Society of Newspaper Editors for his excellent newspaper writing. In 1993, he was even in charge of the group that picked the winners for the Pulitzer Prize in spot news reporting.

Books and Later Work

In 2005, Bob Herbert wrote a book called Promises Betrayed: Waking Up From The American Dream.

He left The New York Times on March 25, 2011. His last article there was titled "Losing Our Way." In June 2011, he joined Demos, a national group that studies important issues. He became a Distinguished Senior Fellow there. When this was announced, it was also shared that he would write for the Demos blog, PolicyShop. He also writes for The American Prospect magazine.

In 2014, Bob Herbert published another book. It was called Losing Our Way: An Intimate Portrait of a Troubled America.

He also directed a documentary film in 2017 called Against All Odds: The Fight for a Black Middle Class. This film looks at challenges faced by the Black middle class. It also explores structural racism and unfair treatment. The film uses old videos and interviews with important people like Isabel Wilkerson and Elijah Cummings.

In Pop Culture

Bob Herbert is mentioned in an episode of the TV show Seinfeld. In the episode "The Big Salad", a character named Julie talks about her favorite writers. She says, "And Bob Herbert's great. He's the Daily News." Another character, George Costanza, then compares Herbert's name to a football player's name.