WW-Moderator-Bio-Costa-April2017

ROBERT COSTA

“WASHINGTON WEEK” MODERATOR

Robert Costa is the Moderator of Washington Week, the Peabody Award-winning weekly news analysis series on PBS. Costa is also a full-time national political reporter for The Washington Post, where he covers Congress and the White House and regularly travels the country to meet with voters and elected officials.

At Washington Week, Costa oversees the weekly roundtable discussion of journalists on the program, which broadcasts live each Friday at 8 p.m. ET on PBS stations nationwide and on digital content platforms. In addition to his moderating duties, Costa files social media reports during the week on behalf of Washington Week, expanding its digital footprint and engaging with viewers.

Costa joined Washington Week in April 2017 with nearly a decade of reporting experience that began with granular coverage of movement politics and Congress and later the battle over health-care policy and the 2010 mid-term elections. In 2012, he deeply covered the race for the Republican presidential nomination and published interviews with all the major candidates. 

More recently, his reporting has focused on both politics and policy, with special attention to the challenges facing party leaders. His writing during the 2016 election included closely covering President Donald Trump’s political ascent as well as the rise of hard-line nationalism and populism in American politics. He also followed Sen. Bernie Sanders’ campaign ahead of the California Democratic primary, among many other national assignments.

Prior to joining The Washington Post in January 2014, Costa was a reporter and then Washington Editor for National Review, directing a team of reporters and where his reporting on the 2013 U.S. federal government shutdown earned acclaim. 

Costa is also a political analyst for NBC News and MSNBC, and has appeared frequently on television in recent years, in particular on NBC’s Meet the Press, MSNBC’s Morning Joe and Hardball, and PBS’ PBS NewsHour and Charlie Rose, where he once served as an intern.

A native of Yardley, Pennsylvania, Costa earned a master’s degree in 2009 from the University of Cambridge, where he studied Winston Churchill and was an active member of the Cambridge Union debating society. A year earlier, he earned a bachelor’s degree in American Studies from the University of Notre Dame, where he is a member of the board of trustees and on the advisory committee of the John W. Gallivan Program in Journalism, Ethics, and Democracy.

Costa is the eighth moderator in Washington Week’s 50-year history. He had appeared as a panelist on Washington Week dating back to 2014, and more recently as a frequent guest moderator.

Follow Robert Costa on Twitter via @costareports. For more information about Washington Week, visit pbs.org/washingtonweek or follow on social media via @washingtonweek or facebook.com/washingtonweek.

April 2017