Robin Carolle Brantley (born August 4, 1957), known professionally as Robin Robinson, is a longtime Chicago television news anchor best known for her 27 years as main news anchor at

Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

-owned

WFLD WFLD (channel 32) is a television station in Chicago, Illinois, United States, airing programming from the Fox network. It is owned and operated by the network's Fox Television Stations division alongside Gary, Indiana–licensed MyNetworkTV ...

-TV in Chicago. She can now be heard on the radio at

WBBM (AM) WBBM (780 kHz) – branded ''Newsradio 105.9 WBBM'' – is a commercial all-news AM radio station licensed to serve Chicago, Illinois. Owned by Audacy, Inc., its studios are located at Two Prudential Plaza in the Chicago Loop, while the station ...

as a fill-in anchor/reporter and

WVON WVON (1690 AM "The Voice of the Nation", originally "Voice of the Negro") is a radio station serving the Chicago market, which airs an African-American-oriented talk format. WVON is owned by Midway Broadcasting Corporation, and broadcasts at 169 ...

as host of her own show, 'Robin's Nest.'

Early life and education

Born in Chicago, Robinson is the daughter of Louie Robinson, who was the West Coast editor for ''

Ebony Ebony is a dense black/brown hardwood, coming from several species in the genus ''Diospyros'', which also contains the persimmons. Unlike most woods, ebony is dense enough to sink in water. It is finely textured and has a mirror finish when pol ...

'', and Mati Robinson.http://www.thehistorymakers.com/biography/biography.asp?bioindex=1815&category=MediaMakers&occupation=Journalist%20%26%20Television%20Anchor&name=Robin%20Robinson Robinson moved with her family to Pomona, California in 1960 and to Claremont, California in 1963. She graduated from Claremont High School, helping to integrate the school. Robinson earned a bachelor's degree from

San Diego State University San Diego State University (SDSU) is a public research university in San Diego, California. Founded in 1897 as San Diego Normal School, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CSU) system ...

Professional career

Robinson began her career in 1979 working for

KGTV KGTV (channel 10) is a television station in San Diego, California, United States, affiliated with ABC and owned by the E. W. Scripps Company. The station's studios are located on Air Way in the Riverview-Webster section of San Diego, and its ...

-TV in

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

as a reporter and morning news reader. In 1982, she shifted to

KMGH-TV KMGH-TV (channel 7) is a television station in Denver, Colorado, United States, affiliated with ABC. It is owned by the E. W. Scripps Company alongside Sterling-licensed independent station KCDO-TV, channel 3 (and its Denver-licensed translato ...

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

as a consumer reporter. In 1984, Robinson joined

WBBM-TV WBBM-TV (channel 2) is a television station in Chicago, Illinois, United States, airing programming from the CBS network. Owned and operated by the network's CBS News and Stations division, the station maintains studios on West Washington Stre ...

as a consumer reporter and later was promoted to news anchor. Robinson worked for WBBM-TV until 1987, when she joined the staff of

-TV in Chicago as part of its first evening news anchoring team, alongside fellow KMGH alum Kris Long. In taking the WFLD job, Robinson passed on an offer to return to KGTV in San Diego as an anchor, according to a June 24, 1987 report in the Chicago Sun-Times. In 1993, Robinson was joined on the anchor desk by longtime Chicago news anchor

Walter Jacobson Walter David Jacobson (born July 28, 1937) is a former Chicago television news personality and a current Chicago radio news personality. He currently provides opinion segments for WGN Radio AM 720. From 2010 until 2013, he was an anchor of the 6 p ...

. Robinson and Jacobson worked together until Jacobson retired in 2006. Robinson co-anchored WFLD's late local news with

Bob Sirott Robert "Bob" Sirott (born August 9, 1949) is an American broadcaster. He is the morning host at WGN in Chicago. He is also a former television news anchor, most recently working in that role at Chicago's WFLD. Professional career Sirott began ...

. She has won numerous local Emmy awards for her work. She also has appeared on multiple episodes of Fox's

The Chicago Code ''The Chicago Code'' is an American crime drama television series created by Shawn Ryan that aired on Fox in the United States. The series was filmed in Chicago, Illinois, originally airing from February 7 to May 23, 2011, with Fox announcing ca ...

as a Fox Chicago reporter alongside

. In November 2013, Robinson stepped down as weeknight anchor of

's 9PM newscast after 26 years. She was reassigned the new role of host of the station's special segment, 'Chicago at the Tipping Point,' which focused on the growing violence in the city. She stayed in that role until July 28, 2014 when she left WFLD after a 27-year run. In April 2015, she was hired as a fill-in anchor/reporter for

NewsRadio 780. On May 12, 2015, she was hired to host her own show on

-FM. In September 2015, Robinson, along with former colleague and anchor

Lauren Cohn Lauren Cohn is a radio host at WLS in Chicago. Cohn previously worked as a morning anchor at WLS-TV in Chicago in 1993. She later moved to be an Anchor/general assignment reporter at WBBM-TV in 1998. Then, she worked for WFLD as a general assignm ...

joined 'In The Loop,' a half-hour public affairs news program on

WYCC WYCC (channel 20) was a public television station in Chicago, Illinois, United States. It was last owned by not-for-profit broadcasting entity Window to the World Communications, Inc., alongside PBS member station WTTW (channel 11) and classica ...

, the

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...

station in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. During the mayoralty of

Rahm Emanuel Rahm Israel Emanuel (; born November 29, 1959) is an American politician and diplomat who is the current United States Ambassador to Japan. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served two terms as the 55th Mayor of Chicago from 2011 ...

, she held a public outreach role with the

Chicago Police Department The Chicago Police Department (CPD) is the municipal law enforcement agency of the U.S. city of Chicago, Illinois, under the jurisdiction of the City Council. It is the second-largest municipal police department in the United States, behind t ...

. Robinson left this role during the mayoralty of

Lori Lightfoot Lori Elaine Lightfoot (born August 4, 1962) is an American attorney and politician serving since 2019 as the 56th mayor of Chicago. She is a member of the Democratic Party. Before becoming mayor, Lightfoot worked in private legal practice as ...

Santa Claus comment

On December 1, 2011, during a live 9 p.m. newscast, while speaking with another on-air reporter, Robinson said, "There is no Santa." The station received numerous telephone calls and emails complaining about her comment. Robinson later apologized and said that she should have given viewers the opportunity to take any children out of the room before making the comment.

Personal life

Robinson dated educator, author, and businessman

Stedman Graham Stedman Graham (born March 6, 1951) is an American educator, author, businessman, and public speaker. He is the long-term partner of Oprah Winfrey. Early life and education Graham was born on March 6, 1951, in the Whitesboro section of Middle ...

from 1982 until 1985. She has been married three times. Robinson was married to retired track and field sprinter Steve Williams in the 1980s. Her second marriage was to NBC spot salesman Terrence Brantley from July 1986 until 1990, and they share daughter Jade (1989). Her third marriage was to Dennis Allen from June 1991 until 1994, and they share son Cameron (October 1991). Robinson lives in the Bucktown neighborhood on Chicago's Northwest Side.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Robinson, Robin Living people Television anchors from Chicago American television reporters and correspondents San Diego State University alumni 1957 births African-American journalists People from Chicago People from Pomona, California People from Claremont, California Journalists from California 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American people