Today we’d like to introduce you to Robert Riggs.
Robert Riggs is a Peabody Award-winning investigative reporter and digital media entrepreneur. He has received three coveted Alfred I. duPont Columbia University Journalism Awards for Investigative Reporting. The Peabody and duPont are respectively considered the broadcast TV equivalent of the Oscar and the Pulitzer. Texas A&M University named Robert an Outstanding Alumnus from the College of Architecture in recognition of his journalistic accomplishments. It is a distinction received by fewer than 1% of the College’s graduates.
Today, Riggs is the host and creator of the True Crime Reporter™ Podcast, the Justice Facts Podcast, and the SWAT Brothers Podcast. Besides podcasting, Riggs assists law firms with digital background research and produces settlement videos for legal cases involving catastrophic injury or death. He also helps business executives build digital marketing strategies. During his journalism career, Riggs established a reputation for fairness, accuracy, credibility, and toughness in his reporting for the CBS Television Station Group – CBS 11 News, WFAA-TV (ABC) in Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas and CBS Viacom reporting from the New York State Legislature. His investigative reports garnered a reputation for helping to send corrupt politicians and government officials to federal prison and were the catalyst for landmark changes in public policy. Riggs was an embedded reporter with the Army unit that led the invasion of Iraq in 2003 and he also covered Gulf War I. His assignments have included covering the White House, Congress, Pentagon, and State Department during the administrations of President Ronald Reagan and President George H.W. Bush. He has appeared as a guest correspondent on ABC Nightline with Ted Koppel, CNN, and ESPN. CBS 60 Minutes and CBS News Online featured his investigative reports from Iraq. He reported from the “eye of the storm” of major breaking news stories including the mass murder at Luby’s Cafeteria in Texas; the Branch Davidian siege in Waco; the Oklahoma City bombing, the standoff with the Republic of Texas separatists, and numerous natural disasters.
Riggs’ enterprise reporting primarily focused on the criminal justice system and national security with an emphasis on terrorism. In this connection, The University of Virginia Critical Incident Analysis Group and FBI selected Riggs in 2000 as an expert member of a multi-disciplinary panel that examined the architecture of terrorism and the symbolism of its targets. Meeting near the birthplace of Thomas Jefferson, the panel produced a landmark report entitled “Threats to Symbols of American Democracy” that prophetically identified vulnerabilities that would later tragically unfold during the 9-11 attacks. The Dallas Crime Commission awarded its first-ever Excellence in Crime Reporting Award to Riggs for his reporting on identity theft and Mexican Drug Cartels. The American Bar Association awarded him its Silver Gavel award for his investigative series Free To Kill which uncovered systemic corruption inside the Texas parole and prison systems. Prior to his journalism career, Riggs served as an investigator for the late Congressman Wright Patman of Texas who was Chairman of the House Banking Committee, Joint Economic Committee, and Joint Committee on Defense Production.
As the Chief Investigator for the Joint Committee on Defense Production, Riggs spearheaded inquiries that touched on Watergate and Pentagon bribery scandals. He reported to the joint leadership of Representative Patman and Senator William Proxmire. In this role, Riggs held a Top Secret security clearance from the Department of Defense and received training from both the GAO and U.S. Army. The Committee’s investigation of a defense contractor’s bribery scheme contributed to the passage of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Riggs currently belongs to the FBI’s North Texas Chapter of InfraGard which was formed in response to the 9/11 terror attacks. He is also a longtime member of the Investigative Reporters & Editors (IRE). It is a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving investigative reporting around the world. He served as an adult leader in a church-based Boy Scout Troup in Dallas and is a past board member of the Gladney Center in Fort Worth, the nation’s oldest existing adoption agency. In the true frontier spirit of Texas, Robert is the happiest when saddling up one of his horses.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
During the Recession of 2008, I along with hundreds of reporters at the broadcast networks and newspapers was cut. Fortunately, I had started a highly successful blog about international terrorism in 2013. I leveraged my knowledge of the Internet to provide consulting services to companies trying to make the transition to the new digital world. It wasn’t easy. The days of big TV contracts came to a sudden end. I had two children in college. There were no TV jobs. The networks were slashing salaries of the people that they didn’t cut. I had to learn how to run my own business. I literally had to reinvent myself. I attended classes at the University of Texas at Dallas where I received a Certificate in Entrepreneurship. For the past dozen years, I feel like I have earned a Ph.D. in new media entrepreneurship in the school of “hard knocks”. I have always loved telling stories. I began producing my first podcast called True Crime Reporter™ in late 2019.
The first season of 17-episodes chronicles the corrupt release of serial killer Kenneth McDuff from prison in 1989, his subsequent murder spree across Central Texas, his apprehension and execution, the federal prosecution of the Chairman of the Texas Parole Board, and the overhaul of Texas’ criminal justice laws by the legislature. We launched the podcast as the pandemic hit in early 2020 which created a whole new set of challenges. I was “bootstrapping” the podcast with revenue from my consulting practice. The income evaporated in one week as businesses shut down. We soldiered on and launched the podcast in late September of 2020. By March of 2021, we have had 170,000 downloads and the Dallas Observer declared the podcast as a “hair raising hit.” The podcast features the actual detectives and investigators who worked the cases. True Crime Reporter™ has also received a formal offer from a major streaming channel to turn the podcast into a 5-episode TV docudrama about the McDuff case.
Meanwhile, we have launched two more true crime podcasts. Justice Facts features me and former federal prosecutor Bill Johnston discussing criminal cases from our careers. We like to say that our true crime stories are stranger than fiction. Justice Facts has been invited by Revolver Podcast to become part of the founding group of podcast creators for Mark Cuban’s new platform called, “Fireside”. My third podcast is called SWAT Brothers. My cohost is retired Lieutenant Robert Owens, a 40-year veteran of the Dallas Police Department with twenty-years of SWAT experience. We talk to former police and military special operations members about their exploits as well as firearms safety. We have more shows in preproduction and get up every day excited about the stories we will tell. You can find True Crime Reporter™ on your favorite podcast channels.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
We tell True Crime Stories based on factual research and interviews with the law enforcement officers who were directly involved in the criminal cases. I have opened up my archive of reporter’s notebooks to reveal backstories about blood-chilling criminal cases the public has never heard about. Listeners can rest assured that they are hearing from a reporter who has been inside the crime scene tape at some of the nation’s biggest stories. I am a proud recipient of the George Foster Peabody Award (I received mine with Oprah) and I have received three Alfred I. duPont Columbia Journalism Awards for Investigate Reporting. The American Bar Association presented me with its Silver Gavel Award for uncovering corruption in the Texas Prison and Parole Systems. The Dallas Crime Commission awarded me with its first-ever “Excellence In Reporting” award. The College of Architecture at Texas A&M named me an Outstanding Alumnus in 2001.
If we knew you growing up, how would we have described you?
I grew up in Paris, Texas where my late father was a watch repairman/jeweler. His shop was located in a drug store with an old fashion soda fountain. It was a hub of social activity. My dad and uncles were World War II veterans. My parents were children of the Depression which influence my upbringing. I was taught that all you had in life was your good word. I loved airplanes and flying for as far back as I can remember in childhood. My bedroom looked like an air show. I hung dozens of model airplanes that I built from the ceiling and dreamed of piloting each and every one of them. I worked part-time in high school for a local crop duster who had been a World War II B-24 pilot. I received a Congressional appointment to the Air Force Academy but flunked the flight physical vision test.
I always had a knack for drawing and artwork. I would describe myself as a nerd then and still nerdy now. I put my artistic talent to use majoring in Architecture and Building Construction at Texas A&M University. I blossomed at Texas A&M. The architecture professors had a very positive impact on my personal development. In high school, I did not belong to extracurricular activities and was certainly not popular. At A&M I ran for and was elected to the Student Senate and I became Chairman of the Contemporary Arts Committee at the Memorial Student Center. This was regarded by former students as the “other education” that we received. I loved politics and upon graduation went to work for the late Congressman Wright Patman who launched the first Watergate investigation. I am proud to have become an award-winning journalist without ever taking a journalism or writing course.
Contact Info:
- Email: robert@truecrimereporter.com
- Website: https://www.truecrimereporter.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/truecrimereporter/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/truecrimereporter
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/RobertRiggsTrueCrimeReporter
Image Credits
Igor Kraguljac Katharine Riggs (horse)
