Rob Redding
Encyclopedia
Robert "Rob" Redding, Jr. (born January 13, 1976) is an American
political commentator, independent
journalist
, artist
, author
and social entrepreneur. Redding is publisher of Redding News Review
and hosts a nationally syndicated talk radio
show and podcast
.
in Lake Charles in 1994.
In 1996, he accepted a full time position as a hip-hop night personality at WIBB-FM
in Macon, GA, where he was named "Tony Smoove" by his program director. Macon was also the home of another Redding family member, '60s soul singer Otis Redding
.
He left hip-hop for talk radio and journalism, working at a series of newspapers: The Prince George's Sentinel, The Prince George's Gazette, The Prince George's Journal, The Macon Telegraph, and finally The Washington Times
. During that same time he began his talk radio career filling in for Bernie McCain on Radio-One's WOL
in Washington, D.C. in 1999. In 2001, he landed his first full-time job in talk radio doing afternoons at CBS Radio's WAOK-AM, where he started ReddingNewsReview.com. He left the station in 2003 and began syndicating his talk radio show while filling in for Ambrose I. Lane Sr.
on XM 169 The Power
.
He has since inked his own weekend syndication deals with GCN and XM in 2008.
He returned via weekend syndication to WAOK in July 2010.
On August 30, 2010, he began doing a weekday show for GCN, while still doing the Sunday show.
, are responsible for breaking stories like: former Atlanta Mayor and United Nations Ambassador Andrew Young
's comments about Sen. Barack Obama
not being ready to be president; syndicated columnist Leonard Pitts
being threatened by a white supremacist group; and NBC Nightly News Managing Editor and Anchor Brian Williams
comments about diversity not being a big issue. Both Williams and NBC apologized for those comments.
The web site's top content is syndicated hourly by Google News. Its stories are heard regularly on NPR
and the Fox News Channel
. Its comprehensive coverage of the black community became a resource for Fox News during the Don Imus
' "nappy-headed ho's" controversy. Its scoops have also been acknowledged or linked to by BET
, MSNBC
, The Hill
, Roll Call
, The Baltimore Sun
, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
, The Washington Times
, and The National Newspaper Association.
The web site - which has been called "an Internet clearinghouse for African-American news," by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution - won Black Web Awards in 2008, 2009 and 2010.
The radio show - which is heard on SiriusXM 128 and on almost 10 radio stations via GCN - comes after Redding was named one of the "100 most important radio talk show hosts in America" by industry trade Talkers magazine.
He has also been called a "rising star" (Talkers magazine
), "one of the most respected names in the media" (Upscale magazine), "one of the most intellectual and intriguing radio talk show hosts since Tavis Smiley
" (Radio Facts) and awarded a proclamation by the Atlanta City Council for his hard hitting uniquely Independent talk radio
show.
In addition to being on the air nationwide, he was once one of the only black program directors of a mainstream conservative talk radio
station, KMLB
-AM in Monroe, Louisiana
.
is said to "invoke an activist spirit," according to a review in 2005 by New York's Black Star News.
In 2006, he founded IndependentThinkers.org, an organization dedicated to conducting research and rewarding its members with scholarships, internships, jobs, publishing, broadcasting and networking opportunities that advance critical nonpartisan, independent thought.
He is also publisher of The Washington Continent, a general interest continuously updated website
covering politics
in and around Washington, D.C.
, from a nonpartisan
, independent perspective.
He is also founder of Black Talkers, a web site which covers the black talk media industry.
Redding is also an artist
, who paints abstract "smear paintings." The Washington, D.C., Georgetowner highlighted only his art in a group show on Capitol Hill in 2006 writing: "It is always an event anytime Rob Redding's smear paintings are featured."
Redding is also author of the "Resolution of Risk," which was first used at the International Public Debate Association's National Tournament after being published in the organization's peer-reviewed publication, "The Journal of the International Public Debate Association," and being presented by Redding before a packed audience.
Redding is also narrator of "Stay Brady Stay," a documentary about the future of Louisiana.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
political commentator, independent
Independent (voter)
An independent voter, those who register as an unaffiliated voter in the United States, is a voter of a democratic country who does not align him- or herself with a political party...
journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
, artist
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
, author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
and social entrepreneur. Redding is publisher of Redding News Review
Redding News Review
Redding News Review is a breaking Black news web site and syndicated radio show founded by Robert Rob Redding Jr. on March 25, 2002. He started the site to complement his talk radio program while at WAOK-AM in Atlanta.-Radio show:...
and hosts a nationally syndicated talk radio
Talk radio
Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often feature interviews with a number of different guests. Talk radio typically includes an element of listener participation, usually by broadcasting live...
show and podcast
Podcast
A podcast is a series of digital media files that are released episodically and often downloaded through web syndication...
.
Background
Redding is the son of Rev. Robert Redding Sr., an Atlanta pastor and former president of the Fayette County's Black Voters League, and the late Mary Ann Redding, who was an Atlanta public school teacher and a Fayette school board candidate. He began his media career as a hip-hop radio personality at KZWA-FM, while at McNeese State UniversityMcNeese State University
McNeese State University is a public university located in Lake Charles, Louisiana, in the United States. Founded in 1939 as a junior college, McNeese experienced growth due to economic activity in the region. It adopted its present name in 1970....
in Lake Charles in 1994.
In 1996, he accepted a full time position as a hip-hop night personality at WIBB-FM
WIBB-FM
WIBB-FM is a radio station serving the Macon, Georgia area with a Urban Contemporary format. This station is under ownership of Clear Channel Broadcasting.-External links:*...
in Macon, GA, where he was named "Tony Smoove" by his program director. Macon was also the home of another Redding family member, '60s soul singer Otis Redding
Otis Redding
Otis Ray Redding, Jr. was an American soul singer-songwriter, record producer, arranger and talent scout. He is considered one of the major figures in soul and R&B...
.
He left hip-hop for talk radio and journalism, working at a series of newspapers: The Prince George's Sentinel, The Prince George's Gazette, The Prince George's Journal, The Macon Telegraph, and finally The Washington Times
The Washington Times
The Washington Times is a daily broadsheet newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States. It was founded in 1982 by Unification Church founder Sun Myung Moon, and until 2010 was owned by News World Communications, an international media conglomerate associated with the...
. During that same time he began his talk radio career filling in for Bernie McCain on Radio-One's WOL
WOL (AM)
WOL is an Urban Talk radio station in Washington, DC. Broadcasting on 1450 AM, this is the flagship radio station of Radio One.The station was Washington's top rated rhythm and blues music station through the 1960s and 1970s...
in Washington, D.C. in 1999. In 2001, he landed his first full-time job in talk radio doing afternoons at CBS Radio's WAOK-AM, where he started ReddingNewsReview.com. He left the station in 2003 and began syndicating his talk radio show while filling in for Ambrose I. Lane Sr.
Ambrose I. Lane Sr.
Reverend Lane was a Washington, DC-based anti-poverty activist, radio talk show personality and political and religious commentator....
on XM 169 The Power
The Power (XM)
The Power is an African American talk radio channel on XM 128 and Sirius 128 . The subjects cover those relevant to the black community, be it politics, economics, or social issues....
.
He has since inked his own weekend syndication deals with GCN and XM in 2008.
He returned via weekend syndication to WAOK in July 2010.
On August 30, 2010, he began doing a weekday show for GCN, while still doing the Sunday show.
Redding News Review
Redding's web site and radio show, which are both called Redding News ReviewRedding News Review
Redding News Review is a breaking Black news web site and syndicated radio show founded by Robert Rob Redding Jr. on March 25, 2002. He started the site to complement his talk radio program while at WAOK-AM in Atlanta.-Radio show:...
, are responsible for breaking stories like: former Atlanta Mayor and United Nations Ambassador Andrew Young
Andrew Young
Andrew Jackson Young is an American politician, diplomat, activist and pastor from Georgia. He has served as Mayor of Atlanta, a Congressman from the 5th district, and United States Ambassador to the United Nations...
's comments about Sen. Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
not being ready to be president; syndicated columnist Leonard Pitts
Leonard Pitts
Leonard Pitts Jr. is a politically progressive African American commentator, journalist and novelist. He is a nationally-syndicated columnist and winner of the 2004 Pulitzer Prize for Commentary...
being threatened by a white supremacist group; and NBC Nightly News Managing Editor and Anchor Brian Williams
Brian Williams
Brian Douglas Williams is the anchor and managing editor of NBC Nightly News, the evening news program of the NBC television network, a position he assumed in 2004...
comments about diversity not being a big issue. Both Williams and NBC apologized for those comments.
The web site's top content is syndicated hourly by Google News. Its stories are heard regularly on NPR
NPR
NPR, formerly National Public Radio, is a privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization that serves as a national syndicator to a network of 900 public radio stations in the United States. NPR was created in 1970, following congressional passage of the Public Broadcasting...
and the Fox News Channel
Fox News Channel
Fox News Channel , often called Fox News, is a cable and satellite television news channel owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, a subsidiary of News Corporation...
. Its comprehensive coverage of the black community became a resource for Fox News during the Don Imus
Don Imus
John Donald "Don" Imus, Jr. is an American radio host, humorist, philanthropist and writer. His nationally-syndicated talk show, Imus in the Morning, is broadcast throughout the United States by Citadel Media and relayed on television by the Fox Business Network.-Personal life:Imus was born in...
' "nappy-headed ho's" controversy. Its scoops have also been acknowledged or linked to by BET
Bet
Bet or BET may refer to:* A wager in gambling* Basic Economics Test * Bet , the second letter in many Semitic alphabets, including Aramaic, Hebrew, Phoenician and Syriac* Brunauer-Emmett-Teller isotherm. See BET_theory...
, MSNBC
MSNBC
MSNBC is a cable news channel based in the United States available in the US, Germany , South Africa, the Middle East and Canada...
, The Hill
The Hill (newspaper)
The Hill, a subsidiary of News Communications Inc., is a newspaper published in Washington, D.C. since 1994.Its first editor was Martin Tolchin, a veteran correspondent in the Washington bureau of The New York Times....
, Roll Call
Roll Call
Roll Call is a newspaper published in Washington, D.C., United States, from Monday to Thursday when the United States Congress is in session and on Mondays only during recess. Roll Call reports news of legislative and political maneuverings on Capitol Hill, as well as political coverage of...
, The Baltimore Sun
The Baltimore Sun
The Baltimore Sun is the U.S. state of Maryland’s largest general circulation daily newspaper and provides coverage of local and regional news, events, issues, people, and industries....
, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is the only major daily newspaper in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, and its suburbs. The AJC, as it is called, is the flagship publication of Cox Enterprises. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is the result of the merger between The Atlanta Journal and The Atlanta...
, The Washington Times
The Washington Times
The Washington Times is a daily broadsheet newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States. It was founded in 1982 by Unification Church founder Sun Myung Moon, and until 2010 was owned by News World Communications, an international media conglomerate associated with the...
, and The National Newspaper Association.
The web site - which has been called "an Internet clearinghouse for African-American news," by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution - won Black Web Awards in 2008, 2009 and 2010.
The radio show - which is heard on SiriusXM 128 and on almost 10 radio stations via GCN - comes after Redding was named one of the "100 most important radio talk show hosts in America" by industry trade Talkers magazine.
He has also been called a "rising star" (Talkers magazine
Talkers magazine
Talkers Magazine is a trade industry publication related to talk radio in the United States. Its slogan is "The Bible of Talk Radio and the New Talk Media"...
), "one of the most respected names in the media" (Upscale magazine), "one of the most intellectual and intriguing radio talk show hosts since Tavis Smiley
Tavis Smiley
Tavis Smiley is a talk show host, author, liberal political commentator, entrepreneur, advocate and philanthropist. Smiley was born in Gulfport, Mississippi and grew up in Kokomo, Indiana. After attending Indiana University, he worked during the late 1980s as an aide to Tom Bradley, the mayor of...
" (Radio Facts) and awarded a proclamation by the Atlanta City Council for his hard hitting uniquely Independent talk radio
Talk radio
Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often feature interviews with a number of different guests. Talk radio typically includes an element of listener participation, usually by broadcasting live...
show.
In addition to being on the air nationwide, he was once one of the only black program directors of a mainstream conservative talk radio
Talk radio
Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often feature interviews with a number of different guests. Talk radio typically includes an element of listener participation, usually by broadcasting live...
station, KMLB
KMLB
KMLB is a radio station broadcasting a talk radio format. Licensed to Monroe, Louisiana, USA, the station is currently owned by Holladay Broadcasting. The current schedule includes Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Moon Griffon, Michael Savage, Neil Boortz, Art Bell, George Noory and Rob...
-AM in Monroe, Louisiana
Monroe, Louisiana
Monroe is a city in and the parish seat of Ouachita Parish, Louisiana, United States. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 53,107, making it the eighth largest city in Louisiana. A July 1, 2007, United States Census Bureau estimate placed the population at 51,208, but 51,636...
.
Other work
Redding is author of Hired Hatred: Why politicians and the political prejudices they tout are mutually exclusive from good government. His Independent manifestoManifesto
A manifesto is a public declaration of principles and intentions, often political in nature. Manifestos relating to religious belief are generally referred to as creeds. Manifestos may also be life stance-related.-Etymology:...
is said to "invoke an activist spirit," according to a review in 2005 by New York's Black Star News.
In 2006, he founded IndependentThinkers.org, an organization dedicated to conducting research and rewarding its members with scholarships, internships, jobs, publishing, broadcasting and networking opportunities that advance critical nonpartisan, independent thought.
He is also publisher of The Washington Continent, a general interest continuously updated website
Website
A website, also written as Web site, web site, or simply site, is a collection of related web pages containing images, videos or other digital assets. A website is hosted on at least one web server, accessible via a network such as the Internet or a private local area network through an Internet...
covering politics
Politics
Politics is a process by which groups of people make collective decisions. The term is generally applied to the art or science of running governmental or state affairs, including behavior within civil governments, but also applies to institutions, fields, and special interest groups such as the...
in and around Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, from a nonpartisan
Nonpartisan
In political science, nonpartisan denotes an election, event, organization or person in which there is no formally declared association with a political party affiliation....
, independent perspective.
He is also founder of Black Talkers, a web site which covers the black talk media industry.
Redding is also an artist
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
, who paints abstract "smear paintings." The Washington, D.C., Georgetowner highlighted only his art in a group show on Capitol Hill in 2006 writing: "It is always an event anytime Rob Redding's smear paintings are featured."
Redding is also author of the "Resolution of Risk," which was first used at the International Public Debate Association's National Tournament after being published in the organization's peer-reviewed publication, "The Journal of the International Public Debate Association," and being presented by Redding before a packed audience.
Redding is also narrator of "Stay Brady Stay," a documentary about the future of Louisiana.