Holding it Down: Chicago's Anchor, Robin Robinson

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Robin Robinson, Anchor, Fox 32 News-Chicago
Robin Robinson, Anchor, Fox 32 News-Chicago

An afternoon chat with Emmy Award winning Fox 32 News -Chicago Anchor, Robin Robinson, revealed fascinating facts about her connection to Chicago, Oprah Winfrey, and even Winfrey's longtime boyfriend, Stedman Graham. The Chicago Citizen Newspaper also discovered early influences on Robinson's career decision and how the mother of three and step mother of four, seeks out news that is relevant and important to all communities.

Born, Robin Carolle Robinson, on Aug. 4, 1957, Robinson spent the first three years of her life in Chicago, but can't recall much of that time. Her father, Louie Robinson, an obvious influence on her career choice, moved the family from Chicago's Hyde Park to Southern California after becoming the West Coast Editor of Ebony Magazine.

Robinson began her own journalism career as a secretary in the Public Affairs Department at KGTV, San Diego while attending San Diego State University and won her very first --and most coveted-- Emmy Award for writing a Public Service Announcement while working there.

Armed with an her Emmy, Robinson returned to Chicago in 1983 eventually becoming part of the news team assembled to launch a local Fox News station in Chicago, known now as FOX 32 News-Chicago. It was historic time in Chicago and Robinson remembers every bit of it and is proud to have been a part of it. And now thirty years later, the charismatic, down-to-earth Robinson is at the top of her game.

"A love that just gets better with time," is how she describes her many years of reporting in Chicago. "Exciting and enlightening ...hardly a dull moment in the 25 years I spent here as an adult."

Here's more of Robinson's interview with the Chicago Citizen Newspaper:Chicago Citizen Newspaper: What women do you admire?

Robinson: There are so many who have accomplished so many things including my peers such as Andrea Zopp, (described as a trailblazing African-American attorney who made her name as a high-powered prosecutor, then moved on to the corporate world and now is CEO and president of the Chicago Urban League.) There's also Barbara Walters the first female to anchor a nightly news cast and there's Gail Christian. (The only black television news reporter during the 70s.) I saw her and it inspired me to see someone who looked like me. Now these women are all around like Oprah who is also a ground breaker. It matters to have diversity.

Chicago Citizen Newspaper: What advice would you give to young women who want to follow your footsteps into the broadcast news industry?

Robinson: I would tell them to write, write and write some more. So many of them have the wrong idea about what I do. Writing is the foundation of what I do. That's where the actual record lies more than with a picture. If you don't love writing, you don't want to be in this business.

Chicago Citizen Newspaper: As a woman, what would you say is our charge today?

Robinson: It's ok to realize we are not men with dresses on. Our role is not limited but partially defined by the fact that we are women. Just as being a black reporter, we have a different cultural responsibility. It's ok to have a woman's point of view.

Chicago Citizen Newspaper: What pressures are you under as an African American woman in the broadcast news industry?

Robinson: I'm under the same pressures as everybody else. It's more the pressures I put on myself to go after stories that lead to action and not just spectatorship. It's a high pressure business.

Chicago Citizen Newspaper: Is it true you dated Stedman Graham for three years in the 1980s?

Robinson: Yes. We met in Denver. It's not that I dumped him as a news article stated. We just stopped seeing one another. He and Oprah are a good match. She got herself a good man. He's patient, loyal and fun. There's nothing true that he's ever embarrassed her. This couple is above reproach and there was no man stealing or sharing going on.

Chicago Citizen Newspaper: Are you still catching flack for the on air 'Santa doesn't exist' comment you made in 2011?

Robinson: That comment created a firestorm. I was really surprised by the reaction of how strongly held, the idea of Santa. It was about 60 percent against the comments and about 40 percent who were in agreement on the idea that we need to shake the Santa fairytale but I certainly don't want to rehash it.

Chicago Citizen Newspaper: Can you say how long you'll continue with FOX?

Robinson: I can't really say. I like what I do. I love the Chicago audiences, they are completely engaged--this is not true everywhere. It's one of the most activists, cities in America with informed opinions. I will continue at FOX until they carry me out. My plans are not to change what I do and I will do it as long as I can.

By Deborah Bayliss

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