Robinson was born in
Toomsuba in
Lauderdale County,
Mississippi in 1951. After service as a musician in the
United States Marine Corps, he began his career in broadcast journalism on radio in Southern California and then worked successively in television in Mobile, Alabama and New Orleans prior to being awarded a Nieman Fellowship to Harvard University. After completing the Nieman Fellowship he joined CBS Network News in New York, and the
District of Columbia (where he served on the
White House Press Corps for
CBS) before moving back to New Orleans. Robinson is known for his tough straight forward interviewing skills. It was on the news program which Robinson anchors that New Orleans
City Councilwoman
Stacy Head was interviewed as she started posting her e-mails online during the height of the 2009
New Orleans e-mail controversy.
1991 Louisiana gubernatorial debate Robinson received significant national and international attention in 1991 when he questioned
Louisiana gubernatorial candidate
David Duke, a Republican State Representative and former
Grand Wizard of the
Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, during the state's runoff debate. Robinson, who is African-American, told Duke that he was "scared" at the prospect of Duke winning the election because of his history of "diabolical, evil, vile" racist and anti-Semitic comments, some of which he read to Duke. He then pressed Duke for an apology and when Duke protested that Robinson was not being fair to him, Robinson replied that he didn't think Duke was being honest.
Jason Berry of the
Los Angeles Times called it "startling TV" and the "catalyst" for the "overwhelming" turnout of black voters that helped former Governor
Edwin Edwards defeat Duke. == Personal life ==