New interview: Denise Watson Knows How To Talk To People
A longtime feature editor and writer, who often writes about race and history, shares her knowledge
The primary theme of this week's interview with veteran journalist Denise Watson was pretty simple. Don't be afraid. Talk to people. Really talk to them.
Denise, now a team editor with WHRO Public Media and formerly a writer and editor at The Virginian Pilot was a shy kid. But it was journalism that got her going.
"I'm very shy, very introverted. I would often ask people to tell me their stories as a way to concentrate on them. And so that I would just listen. It just became part of my personality. When I was offered the opportunity to write for the newspaper, sitting and collecting those kind of life bits that create narratives of people became very natural.
The rural diner where everybody goes on a Friday before they go to the high school football game to me is just as important as a city council meeting, for a different reason. But it's just as important to the community that you're covering and that you're connected to."
Denise's specialty has been deeply reported features about race and history, including the integration of public schools in her coverage area. We talk about a couple of her best pieces in the episode. Those required a lot of relationship building to do.
"You have to go and talk to people and ask them 'Do you have any diaries? Did you keep any journals?' Because people actually did that back in the day. If someone pulls boxes out of an attic, I consider those things blessings. People don't have to give anyone any time. I'm coming in and I'm asking them to take time out of the day to talk about something that may or may not want to revisit."
Persistence, kind persistence, is a necessity too.
"You always do the second phone call, you always go back for the visit. You be yourself. I think people can pick up on when you are really interested and it isn't fake."
Denise is someone who knows that to take the time to talk to people is hard work. And she advocates to make sure that others understand it.
“Respect the work. When people say, well, why didn't you cover this? Why don't you cover this? It's like, ‘Do you have a subscription? Are you supporting your news outlets so that they can get the resources to cover those issues?’
You can't have it both ways. You can't say that news is too expensive but then you wonder why we don't have the staff big enough to cover every city and every issue.”
Next week: Lola Claire, editor-in-chief of Hilltop Views, the school newspaper at St. Edward’s University, which just got a grant from the Solutions Journalism Network to report on mental health.
I want to make sure I’m getting the guests that you want to hear from. Do you have any suggestions for future episodes? Let me know here or via email at journalismsalute@gmail.com