Robert Smith (journalist, born 1967)
{{Infobox person
| name = Robert Smith
| image = Image:Robert_Smith_Santarchy.jpg
| image_size =
| caption = Robert Smith dressed as Santa Claus
| birth_name = Robert Smith
| birth_date = 31 December 1967
| birth_place = Park City, Utah, U.S.
| death_date =
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| death_cause =
| other_names =
| known_for =
| education = Reed College
Columbia University
| employer = National Public Radio
| occupation = Correspondent, TV news host, educator
| spouse =
}}
Robert Smith (born December 31, 1967) is an American journalist. He is best known for hosting the NPR podcast Planet Money.{{cite web | title=Robert Smith | website=NPR.org | date=2012-06-13 | url=https://www.npr.org/people/2101217/robert-smith | access-date=2022-04-19}} Smith is a professor of professional practice in journalism and director of the Knight-Bagehot Fellowship Program at Columbia University.{{Cite web |title=Robert Smith {{!}} Columbia Journalism School |url=https://journalism.columbia.edu/faculty/robert-smith |access-date=2022-09-14 |website=journalism.columbia.edu}}
Early life and education
Smith was born and raised in Park City, Utah. He holds a B.A. from Reed College (1989), where he worked at the campus radio station KRRC, and an M.B.A. from the Columbia Business School (2020). He also was a Knight-Bagehot fellow at the Columbia Journalism School (2018).
Career
Smith began reporting for NPR in 1994. He got his start working at KPCW in Park City, Utah. He then worked at Portland, Oregon community radio station KBOO. He has also held reporting jobs at KUER in Salt Lake City, Utah, and KUOW-FM in Seattle, Washington. He won a Peabody Award in 2016 for his investigation into Wells Fargo and how they were punishing whistleblowers.{{cite web | title=Robert Smith, Host of NPR's Planet Money, to Lead Knight-Bagehot Fellowship and Join Faculty of Columbia Journalism School | website=Columbia Journalism School | date=2021-05-18 | url=https://journalism.columbia.edu/robert-smith-host-planet-money-lead-knight-bagehot-fellowship | access-date=2022-04-19}}{{cite web | title=Wells Fargo Hurts Whistleblowers | website=The Peabody Awards | date=2021-05-18 | url=https://peabodyawards.com/award-profile/wells-fargo-hurts-whistleblowers/ | access-date=2022-04-19}} He was part of NPR's political team covering elections including going on the campaign trail for presidential elections, and blogging about elections on the NPR website in 2006.{{cite web | last=Wormald | first=Benjamin | title=Public Broadcasting and Online | website=Pew Research Center's Journalism Project | date=2006-11-27 | url=https://www.pewresearch.org/journalism/2006/11/27/public-broadcasting-and-online/ | access-date=2022-04-19}}
Smith is known for his coverage of eclectic and offbeat topics from participating in and reporting on Santarchy, to the life of Desi Arnaz{{Cite web |title=How Desi Invented Television : Planet Money |url=https://www.npr.org/2021/01/22/959609533/how-desi-invented-television |access-date=2022-09-14 |website=NPR.org |language=en}} to training for and reporting on the sport of curling.{{cite web | last=Mitchell | first=D. | title=NPR : The Rock is in the House, 2002 Winter Olympics, A Special Report | website=npr.org | date=2003-02-12 | url=https://www.npr.org/programs/specials/olympics2002/nprgames/curling.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030212084727/https://www.npr.org/programs/specials/olympics2002/nprgames/curling.html | archive-date=2003-02-12 | url-status=dead | access-date=2022-04-19}} Talking about Planet Money, he says he likes to "make dull business news sparkle."{{cite web | title=Robert Smith of NPR's Planet Money to visit OSU for Global Entrepreneurship Week | website=Oklahoma State University | date=2018-10-08 | url=https://news.okstate.edu/articles/business/2018/robert-smith-of-nprs-planet-money-to-visit-osu.html | access-date=2022-04-19}}
Smith has taught audio classes at Princeton University and radio/serialized podcast production classes at the Maine College of Art & Design.{{cite web | title=NPR's Robert Smith to Teach 12-week Salt Podcasting Course | website=Maine College of Art & Design | date=2021-04-13 | url=https://www.meca.edu/article/nprs-robert-smith-to-teach-12-week-salt-podcasting-course/ | access-date=2022-04-19}} In 2021, he became the director of the Knight-Bagehot Fellowship in Economics and Business Journalism at Columbia University.{{cite web | title=Robert Smith | website=Columbia Journalism School | date=2019-04-02 | url=https://journalism.columbia.edu/faculty/robert-smith | access-date=2022-04-19}}{{cite web | title=Smith named Knight-Bagehot director | website=Talking Biz News | date=2021-05-18 | url=https://talkingbiznews.com/they-talk-biz-news/smith-named-knight-bagehot-director/ | access-date=2022-04-19}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=2101217 NPR Biography]
- [https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1134562 Robert Smith's Santarchy report]
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Category:American radio journalists
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