Steven V. Roberts

Syndicated Columnist

Watch Roberts' most recent appearances on Washington Week

Steve Roberts has been a journalist for more than 30 years, covering stories that have taken him from the streets of Harlem and the backrooms of Capitol Hill to the campuses of California and the villages of Greece. A well-known commentator on radio and television, he appears regularly on public television's Washington Week, CNN's Late Edition and the ABC radio network. Steve and his wife, TV and radio personality Cokie Roberts, write a nationally-syndicated newspaper column anchored in The New York Daily News and are contributing writers to USA Weekend, a magazine that appears weekly in 500 newspapers.

Roberts was born on February 11, 1943, in Bayonne, New Jersey. He began his journalistic career as a teenager, working for the local newspaper after school and on weekends. At Harvard, he was an editor of The Crimson, the university daily, and campus correspondent for The New York Times. After receiving a B.A. in government magna cum laude, Roberts joined the Times staff as a research assistant to James Reston, then the paper's Washington bureau chief. Over the next 25 years his assignments for the Times included bureau chief in Los Angeles and Athens, chief congressional correspondent, and White House correspondent during the final years of the Reagan administration. His congressional coverage won the prestigious Everett McKinley Dirksen Award in 1986.

After leaving the Times in 1989, Roberts became a senior writer at U.S. News and World Report, where he authored many major cover stories, including a widely-quoted report on wage stagnation and job anxiety: "Is the Middle Class Getting Shafted?" Other cover subjects included the Religious Right, the anti-smoking campaign, Colin Powell and Rush Limbaugh. His articles on values in American politics won the 1995 Wilbur Award for coverage of religion and public affairs. Roberts left U.S. News in 1996 to concentrate on his syndicated column, broadcasting appearances, college teaching and other projects.

In addition to his appearances on Washington Week and CNN, Roberts is a frequent guest on the Fox Morning News, CNBC's Hardball and Equal Time, and many other public affairs shows. He has anchored public television coverage of many major events, including the congressional debate over the Persian Gulf War, and appeared on a series of four public television specials called State of the Union. He does national commentaries for ABC radio and is a frequent guest host on public radio's Diane Rehm Show.

As a teacher, Roberts lectures widely on the workings of Washington and the role of the news media. In the fall of 1997, he became the Shapiro Professor of Media and Public Affairs at George Washington University, where he has taught since 1990.

Since 1966, Roberts has been married to Cokie Roberts, award-winning reporter for ABC television and NPR. They have two grown children: Lee, an investment banker in London, and Rebecca, a radio producer in San Francisco. In his spare time, Roberts is an avid gardener and tennis player.

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