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TV anchor reveals lessons
 Media Credit: Blair Schlichte KSTP channel 5 anchor and reporter Angela Davis speaks to students about diversity in the media Tuesday afternoon in Ritsche Auditorium. Davis was brought to SCSU by the university’s chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists.
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TV journalist Angela Davis shared her experiences as a minority in the life of a professional journalist Monday in Ritsche Auditorium.
Davis is a co-anchor on KSTP Channel 5 “Eyewitness News Morning” and “Eyewitness Midday.”
The Twin Cities is the 14th largest news market in the nation and is highly sought after. Davis and the Eyewitness News Morning team were awarded an Emmy and named “Best Single Morning News Program” in 2002 by the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.
Davis put in a lot of hard work as a student, intern and as a new reporter before she landed her current job.
The first step to landing a great job is getting internships, she said. While attenting the University of Maryland, Davis worked as an intern at the Baltimore Sun newspaper as a newspaper reporter before switching to TV broadcast news. She interned at a number of news agencies in the Washington, D.C. area including the Washington Bureau of CNN.
“You really can’t get a good understanding and appreciation for it unless you spend some time in the work environment and learn how they actually do their jobs,” Davis said. “One of the things interns need as a journalist is thick skin because you’re constantly dealing with deadlines.”
Davis also emphasized the importance of making connections during internships.
“In journalism, more than any other field, it is who you know,” she said.
Davis got her first job in an entry-level position at CNN with the help of someone she met while interning. Over a thousand people had applied for this position and Davis was afraid she wouldn’t get the job. In addition to her skills, one of Ted Koppel’s producers called and made them take notice of her application.
“She asked what was taking them so long to hire me and that my frustrations over waiting for their phone call was getting in the way of my work,” Davis said. “Two days later I got a call and I was hired.”
Davis warned students of the dedication needed to work in the many, low-paying television jobs. While working in smaller cities, she and her co-workers were always broke.
“We didn’t have money for dry-cleaning, laundry or even groceries; it was very very hard,” she said. “But, it inspired us to get better (at our jobs) so we could go to larger cities where we could make more money and get better jobs.”
Davis, a member of the Twin Cities Black Journalists, also spoke of her experiences as a minority working in the media.
Davis moved to Minnesota in 1994.
“My first impression after living in Virginia, Maryland, D.C., and Atlanta was ‘boy there sure are a lot of white people here,’” Davis said. “I formed some great relationships and within a year met the man who would be my future husband.”
Davis is married to Duchesne Paul Drew, an editor for the Star Tribune.
Davis and her husband moved to Dallas, Texas where she experienced culture shock during her very first assignment.
“Everybody I approached was hispanic, Mexican. There I was, about to go on the air in 15 minutes, and nobody spoke English,” Davis said.
Luckily her photographer spoke Spanish and translated for her.
“I can’t imagine that in the year 2002 that there’d be a place you can pick to live in the U.S. where you’re not going to find people that are different,” she said. “Many people think diversity is a choice, like when you go to Dairy Queen and you’re gonna get a plain cone because you don’t like chocolate and you’re not comfortable with swirls.”
Davis said that diversity is not going to go away; people just have to deal with it.
“What people need to be focusing on is not differences,” she said.
Davis thinks we need to focus on tolerance and how to live our lives the way we want to without impeding on other cultures.
As a black journalist in a mostly white newsroom, Davis highlighted the importance of having people from all different social, cultural and religious backgrounds.
Every now and then, co-workers will turn to her for the black perspective. She joked that she speaks on the behalf of all black people.
She thinks its okay to ask about other cultures, religions or lifestyles even if the questions may seem silly. Davis also turns to other co-workers for their perspectives.
For instance, while reading through a story, she had a question about Jewish religion and a co-worker was glad to comply.
“They respect that someone wants to get it right,” she said.
Davis’ visit was sponsored by the Society of Professional Journalists. She was the fourth annual fall diversity speaker.
“It’s important to recognize people like Angela Davis as an African American and a woman, who has gone far in her career and has set an example,” said Blair Schlichte, senior photo journalism major and president of the Society of Professional Journalists.
“I learned a lot from her,” said Kacie Klemmensen, a fourth year mass communication-broadcasting student. “It’s nice to hear professional view points and stories of how she got where she is today.”
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