Charles Garland Robinette (born August 21, 1943 in
Boutte, Louisiana
Boutte is a census-designated place (CDP) in St. Charles Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 3,075 at the 2010 census, and 3,054 in 2020.
Geography
Boutte is located at (29.901060, -90.386434).
According to the United States C ...
) is a journalist in the
area. He was recently the host of "The Think Tank" on New Orleans
radio
Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmit ...
station
WWL (AM)
WWL (870 kHz) is a U.S. AM radio station in New Orleans, Louisiana, owned by Audacy, Inc. The station has a talk radio format with sports talk at night. Studios are at the 400 Poydras Tower in the New Orleans Central Business District.
WWL ...
.
Robinette was a news anchor and investigative reporter on New Orleans TV station
WWL-TV
WWL-TV (channel 4) is a television station in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States, affiliated with CBS. It is owned by Tegna Inc. alongside Slidell-licensed MyNetworkTV affiliate WUPL (channel 54). Both stations share studios on Rampart St ...
Channel 4 for twenty years (August 1970 until August 8, 1990). After leaving the TV station, Robinette served as head of
public relations
Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. P ...
for
Freeport-McMoRan
Freeport-McMoRan Inc., often called Freeport, is an American mining company based in the Freeport-McMoRan Center, in Phoenix, Arizona. The company is the world's largest producer of molybdenum, is a major copper producer and operates the world's ...
in New Orleans before starting his own firm. He returned to the media in 2005 on
WWL (AM)
WWL (870 kHz) is a U.S. AM radio station in New Orleans, Louisiana, owned by Audacy, Inc. The station has a talk radio format with sports talk at night. Studios are at the 400 Poydras Tower in the New Orleans Central Business District.
WWL ...
as a fill-in for David Tyree, a popular host stricken with cancer. The position became permanent when Tyree succumbed several weeks after
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina was a destructive Category 5 Atlantic hurricane that caused over 1,800 fatalities and $125 billion in damage in late August 2005, especially in the city of New Orleans and the surrounding areas. It was at the time the cost ...
.
Radio show
Robinette came to national attention with
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina was a destructive Category 5 Atlantic hurricane that caused over 1,800 fatalities and $125 billion in damage in late August 2005, especially in the city of New Orleans and the surrounding areas. It was at the time the cost ...
in 2005. As the storm made landfall radio station WWL was the only broadcast media in New Orleans able to continue operating during the disaster. Robinette was broadcasting from a hastily thrown together set-up in a closet of the WWL studios after the high rise building windows blew out. In the days between the time when the hurricane hit New Orleans and when outside help arrived, Robinette's broadcasts were an important information source for those able to hear radio broadcasts in the
Greater New Orleans
The New Orleans metropolitan area, designated the New Orleans–Metairie metropolitan statistical area by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, or simply Greater New Orleans (french: Grande Nouvelle-Orléans, es, Gran Nueva Orleans), is a me ...
area. On September 2, 2005, Robinette conducted the famous interview with Mayor
Ray Nagin
Clarence Raymond Joseph Nagin Jr. (born June 11, 1956) is an American former politician who was the 60th Mayor of New Orleans, Louisiana, from 2002 to 2010. A Democrat, Nagin became internationally known in 2005 in the aftermath of Hurricane K ...
where the mayor urged those in the Federal Government who had been promising but not delivering aid to "get off your asses".
Robinette is one of the interview subjects in ''
When the Levees Broke
''When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts'' is a 2006 documentary film directed by Spike Lee about the devastation of New Orleans, Louisiana following the failure of the levees during Hurricane Katrina. It was filmed in late August and ...
'', the 2006
Spike Lee
Shelton Jackson "Spike" Lee (born March 20, 1957) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. His production company, 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks, has produced more than 35 films since 1983. He made his directorial debut ...
documentary about the
effect of Hurricane Katrina on New Orleans
As the center of Hurricane Katrina passed southeast of New Orleans on August 29, 2005, winds downtown were in the Category 1 range with frequent intense gusts. The storm surge caused approximately 23 breaches in the drainage canal and navi ...
. He also appears alongside
Angela Hill
Angela Patrice Hill (born January 12, 1985) is an American mixed martial artist who competes in the strawweight division. She was formerly signed with the Invicta Fighting Championships, of which she was the strawweight champion. She is also ...
, his former coanchor and ex-
wife
A wife (plural, : wives) is a female in a marital relationship. A woman who has separated from her partner continues to be a wife until the marriage is legally Dissolution (law), dissolved with a divorce judgement. On the death of her partner, ...
, in ''
Hexing A Hurricane'', a documentary about the first six months in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.
Garland Robinette retired from WWL radio in July 2017 after a 12-year run, to focus on painting.
Trivia
* Robinette, a native of the Louisiana
bayou country and
Hahnville High School
Hahnville High School is a public high school located in Boutte, Louisiana, United States. It is part of the St. Charles Parish Public School System, serving grades 9 through 12. J.B. Martin and R.K. Smith Middle Schools are the feeder schools fo ...
alum, is a U.S. Navy veteran of the
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...
.
* In 1988, Robinette was caught attempting to enter the
Republican National Convention, which was held in the
Louisiana Superdome
The Caesars Superdome, commonly known as the Superdome (formerly known as Mercedes-Benz Superdome), is a multi-purpose stadium located in the Central Business District of New Orleans, Louisiana. It is the home stadium of the New Orleans Saints ...
, with a concealed
firearm
A firearm is any type of gun designed to be readily carried and used by an individual. The term is legally defined further in different countries (see Legal definitions).
The first firearms originated in 10th-century China, when bamboo tubes ...
in his
briefcase
A briefcase is a narrow hard-sided box-shaped bag or case used mainly for carrying papers and equipped with a handle. Lawyers commonly use briefcases to carry briefs to present to a court, hence the name. Businesspeople and other white collar pr ...
.
* Robinette is also an artist—known particularly for his portraits. He studied at the
New Orleans Academy of Fine Arts and created the official poster for the 2011
New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival
The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival (commonly called Jazz Fest or Jazzfest) is an annual celebration of local music and culture held at the Fair Grounds Race Course in New Orleans, Louisiana. Jazz Fest attracts thousands of visitors to New ...
.
* On his radio show on 25 October 2006, Robinette advocated the use of
nuclear weapons in an attempt to end the
Iraq War
{{Infobox military conflict
, conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق (Kurdish languages, Kurdish)
, partof = the Iraq conflict (2003–present), I ...
.
* On his radio show on 28 May 2008, Robinette vigorously defended his position that, just like a janitor, the President of the United States needs no experience and can rely on experts and training in this position.
* When they were husband and wife for 9 years (1978–1987), Robinette and
Angela Hill
Angela Patrice Hill (born January 12, 1985) is an American mixed martial artist who competes in the strawweight division. She was formerly signed with the Invicta Fighting Championships, of which she was the strawweight champion. She is also ...
were paired. (Hill retired from the anchor desk in April 2013.)
* His last name means, roughly, "little bright fame," ironic considering that he became very famous after Hurricane Katrina.
* Sometimes mistakenly called "Robin Garlanett", and jokingly refers to himself by using this moniker at times.
* Robinette and Hill were collectively referred to as "Garangela the two-headed monster" by local talk show wag, Dennis Williams during his tenure (1982–1987) on WSMB-AM and later WNOE-AM both rival radio stations at the time to WWL-AM.
* Robinette humorously refers to Democrats as "Dema-don'ts" & Republicans as "Republican'ts" and both as "Fear Clubs". He uses both these terms in the same sentence during a live CNN Anderson Cooper broadcast on 6/15/10 in making a point about the BP Gulf Oil Spill.
* On 2010 October 22 Robinette's ''Think Tank'' became the first media outlet to mention
lieutenant governor candidate Caroline Fayard as a potential
Democrat
Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to:
Politics
*A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people.
*A member of a Democratic Party:
**Democratic Party (United States) (D)
**Democratic ...
alternative to
Republican
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
governor
A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
Bobby Jindal should Jindal seek
reelection in 2011.
[''Cf.'' Louisiana state elections, 2010#Lieutenant Governor.]
References
External links
Transcript of Robinette/Nagin interviewwww.robinettestudios.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Robinette, Garland
Living people
People from St. Charles Parish, Louisiana
American talk radio hosts
American television journalists
Television anchors from New Orleans
American male journalists
1943 births