If you ask Denise Watson why she stayed in journalism for more than three decades, her answer is clear: because it matters.
Watson, WHRO’s new team editor, first found her voice at Norfolk State University, where she studied public relations. But it was the newswriting classes that sparked something deeper. The college newspaper published several of her stories after a professor submitted her classwork.
“Eventually, I realized I enjoyed my newswriting courses more than the business and marketing,” she said. Internships at The Virginian-Pilot soon followed, and shortly after she graduated, she was hired full-time. She's been telling the stories of Hampton Roads ever since.
Watson has reported on everything from the arts to public policy, always with an eye toward how stories shape our understanding of the world and each other. Perhaps most fulfilling are the stories that result in calls or emails from readers thankful for information they did not have, or the stories that have an impact on the local community. She recalls an early-’90s series on domestic violence that led one local government to revise its policies within days of publication.
Her move to WHRO seems like a full-circle moment. “It feels like home,” Watson said. “Just like I grew up reading The Pilot, I grew up with WHRO’s shows, including Sesame Street, Zoom, and the Electric Company. I’m old enough to remember when Morgan Freeman was Easy Reader on the Electric Company, and I still remember his theme song!”
Watson will be overseeing WHRO’s arts coverage. Part of that coverage will entail highlighting the artists and events that people travel from around the country to see, for example, the annual Virginia International Tattoo, the Michaelangelo exhibition in Williamsburg, and the Perry Glass Studio at the Chrysler Museum of Art. “We need to remind locals that we’re fortunate and that the arts can grow even more if we support them,” she said.
She also plans to broaden the scope of WHRO’s arts reporting, spotlighting not just Hampton Roads but also nearby cultural hubs like Richmond and Northern Virginia. “Art lovers are willing to drive for quality entertainment, and Hampton Roads is an easy drive to bigger entertainment hot spots,” she explained.
She is also a firm believer in putting local culture and history front and center. “You can’t discuss any local issue without the context of who lives here and how we got here,” she said.
Outside the newsroom, Watson finds creative energy in the garden and the pages of great books. A self-described history buff, she’s deeply influenced by her grandfather’s and father’s war stories. Last summer, she traveled to Auschwitz to better understand the history she’s long studied. Her bookshelf spans from Jane Austen to Ta-Nehisi Coates, with James Baldwin and David Blight in between.
And she’s a mentor at heart. For two decades, Watson led a summer journalism program at The Virginian-Pilot for high school and college students. One of those students? Mechelle Hankerson, now the news director at WHRO.
“Mechelle Hankerson was a great writer when I first met her in high school, and she’s become a leader in nonprofit newsrooms, helping start the Virginia Mercury in Richmond and now WHRO’s newsroom,” Watson said. “I love what I’m learning from her.”
Watson also continues to teach journalism locally to college students, and her message to them is honest and hopeful. She warns them that they will not get rich, the work will be hard, and the hours will be long.
“Other than that, it’s the best job in the world,” she said. “You help people; with local journalism, you see your communities grow and prosper. What can be better than that?”
Denise can be reached at denise.watson@whro.org.