Letters from the Newsroom

from Vince Davis

11.24.03

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Vince Davis

Dear Diversity Institute,

I know you’d like to hear that I hit the ground running. That’s true to an extent.

I spent the first two weeks training on the cop night shift, worrying about accuracy and details. It was a flurry of briefs, eight-inch stories and endless contributions to stories — from the pope to police shootings.

All of those exercises (at the Diversity Institute) that (instructor and training editor) Robbie (Morganfield) put us through kicked in and got me through. I cover the police beat Sunday-Monday and I work on general assignment stories Tuesday-Thursday.

Every chance I get, I thumb through my white notebook to reinforce all of the lessons I learned at the Diversity Institute. So far I’ve relied on the interviewing exercises the most.

They came in handy when I had to talk to a grieving woman about her brother who was shot and killed by a policeman that same day. Her brother was caught trying to burglarize a police surveillance truck. When another reporter and I knocked on her door, the TV segment about her brother was running and the family was up in arms. When she answered the door I introduced myself, told her I was sorry for her loss and asked if she would like to tell readers about her brother.

Everything worked out. She gave me heartfelt quotes for the story.

Later that night when I called her to try to get more information, her boyfriend or husband answered the phone and cursed me out when I said I was with the Express-News. I experienced both ends of the interviewing spectrum that day.

Recently, one of my Diversity Institute classmates said attending the Diversity Institute was like a dream. That’s true. It was a dream that came true. Thanks for making the dream a reality.

Vince Davis, a reporter at the San Antonio Express-News, is a graduate of the third Diversity Institute class.

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