Caryl Rivers

BU journalism professor Caryl Rivers was the 2007 winner of the Helen Thomas Lifetime Achievement Award from the Society of Professional Journalists. She is a nationally known author, journalist, columnist, media critic and professor of journalism at Boston University, and has been reporting about—and commenting on—American life and politics for four decades. As a Washington newspaper correspondent, she cut her journalistic teeth on the civil rights movement and the Kennedy presidency. Later, she wrote on the Vietnam debate, the women’s movement, the rise of the political right, the battles over political correctness and the divides over race, class and gender that have often convulsed the nation for U.S. newspapers and magazines.

She blogs regularly on media and politics for the Huffington Post, she is a regular commentator for the award winning website Women’s e news and her op-eds have appeared in many national publications, including The New York Times, Los Angeles Times and Washington Post. Her latest book (of the 14 she has written) is Selling Anxiety: How the News Media Scare Women. Teaming up with Brandeis Senior Scholar Dr. Rosalind Barnett, she has co-authored a series of award-winning books on the behavioral sciences that debunk myths about women, men and society.

Her best-selling novels, published around the world, spring from her experiences as a journalist. The Chicago Tribune says, “Few writers are as funny and none funnier, yet she is capable of wrenching your heart and soul.” Her coming-of-age novel Virgins sold a million copies around the globe. Her books have been selections of the Literary Guild, Book of the Month, Doubleday Book Club and Troll Book Club.