(gentle upbeat music) (gentle soaring music) - "Eye On Education," I'm Fred Martino.

In 2022, The School of Journalism and Advertising at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale celebrated its 75th anniversary and WSIU is a big part of the history offering students a chance to begin a career in multimedia journalism.

Today we are honored to welcome a graduate of the program, WSIL anchor and reporter, Danny Valle.

Danny, thank you so much for being here with us today.

- Thank you for having me, Fred.

It's an honor to be back here at campus.

It's been a while since I've been here at this desk.

I actually sat where you're sitting right now, (Fred laughing) oh quite a while ago.

- And it's more, it's more comfortable to be on this side of the desk, right, asking the questions, rather than - A little bit, yeah.

I'm not used to being on the receiving end, but, you know, I'm happy to do it here.

- I am so glad that you are with us today.

And I wanna start with this issue of, you know, the importance of experience in this career.

It is so important, and I wanna understand and learn about what WSIU meant to you as you were earning your degree at SIU Carbondale.

- I mean, it was the backbone of my education here.

I mean, WSIU was everything.

Freshman year, you know, I took a year to kind of explore the campus, kind of explore everything else out there.

And then sophomore year is when I kind of got the gun jumping on doing sports with WSIU radio.

That's where I started doing "Sunrise Sports" downstairs in the basement at WSIU FM, spending long Friday nights putting together that show.

It was so worth it.

It was so fun.

There were a lot of hours down there with so many great people.

It helped me form friendships and relationships that I still have.

And, you know, the thing I love about WSIU is that, you know, you weren't just sitting on the sidelines.

I mean, they, you know, they asked, you know, they trained you and then they, whenever you were ready, they let you go and do your reporting.

You know, of course some of the bigger subjects, maybe the veterans would handle but if you're a student, maybe some of the smaller stuff, you could tackle that and they'll let you, and they'll guide you, they're patient with you.

That's what I loved about WSIU, Jen Fuller, Brad Palmer, Jeff Williams, I mean those three were the most amazing people there at FM and they're still there today.

Just speaks to the dedication to their craft and the dedication to the students that come here, and to the listeners too, that listen to WSIU Radio.

- Yep and of course, all three of them, you see on WSIU TV as well.

Jen Fuller regularly, and from time to time also Jeff Williams and Brad as well.

So that hands-on learning, a lot of people watching right now and folks who watch you when you're reporting on WSIL may not realize it's not only important from an editorial sense, but a technical sense as well that when you're working in news, commercial news in particular, having those hands-on technical skills is also really important, right?

- Oh absolutely.

I mean, you know, today, I mean, there's a lot of emphasis with phones and everything.

So, you know, anyone can pick up a phone and go shoot, you know.

If you get to a news station, you know, they're not all of 'em are gonna use their phones.

They have those big cameras.

And when I was at WSIU TV, right after I did radio, I moved on to TV.

I got to learn some of the, like the JVC cameras we used.

There were small cameras, there were big cameras, there were just cameras that you could learn off of and cameras that you could use and take out in the field.

You know, that's something that, you know, as a sophomore, as a junior, like, you know, you kind of wait until you're a senior to do that but they're letting you take this early on, especially if you're confident and especially if you're a go-getter, you know.

They love go-getters here at SIU and you know, but the more you can learn about a camera or any little piece of equipment that you're gonna use, the more open your creative mindset is gonna be.

Because that's what's ultimately important in TV, in TV reporting, is to find a creative way to tell a story or know how to craft a story.

- Yeah, and of course, so many folks who work in commercial television as reporters are often the camera person as well.

They're shooting their own video.

- One man band or one person band I should say.

- One person band yeah.

I mean, and also very often editing video.

I know when I worked many, many years ago in commercial television, I would often edit my own reports.

But now that doing that camera work is also very, very common, especially in small and medium sized markets.

But even in some large markets, there are multimedia reporters.

- Yeah, MMJs, multimedia journalists and they do it all.

They cut, they shoot, they write, they basically do everything.

I mean, that's what I was doing yesterday doing this story about this former pastor who passed away in a tragic accident at the Herrin House of Hope.

I think we had heard that this morning on WSA Radio.

And you know, I was by myself.

I'm usually by myself, but you know, I hear about how these people talk about Jeffrey Gee and so I try to convey the emotion with my shots.

Like tighten, like when I'm intimate, when I'm talking about an intimate moment, maybe tight shots.

You know, kind of general, you make wide shots, you know, as you kind of grow as a storyteller and as you grow with how you, with your skillset on the camera, the stories are gonna come.

It's just all about the reps.

It's all about going at it and you know, 'cause you're not gonna get it right the first time.

You're not gonna get it right maybe the second time, if you do, you're awesome, superstar.

But for most people it takes a little bit of time and, you know, sometimes myself, you know, I get kind of frustrated with some of my work because I feel I could have done better here, could have done better here.

Sometimes things don't work out that way and you gotta go with what you have.

And to adapt is the most important thing in media overall.

- Absolutely, adapt and in so many jobs, it's a skill that we get that that really makes a difference.

Do you have a particular professor or class that comes to mind that really helped?

- You know, I really loved Dr. Novotny Lawrence, I believe he's over in Kansas at the moment.

But when he was here, he was my, he was actually the first professor I had a class with at SIU and he was the very last professor I had a class with at SIU.

It was RT200, which was my Intro to Media.

And then the last class, which was "Blaxploitation" about the film, the Blaxploitation films in the 1970s.

The best thing about him was he knew how to encourage you.

He knew how to talk.

He knows how to talk to people.

He knows how to put things in a wider perspective and, you know, I also learned a lot in his class just about...you know, one quote sticks with me.

"You want to see the history of America and race.

You look at cinema, you look at the history of cinema," You know, you look at the first film, it was about "The Klansmen" and you know, you go to today there's more diversity in films.

So, you know, what he says kind of still stands true to me.

And that kind of sticks with me because, you know, I'm a big movie watcher and you know, you see the history of media representation and how it's evolved over time.

It's something that stuck with me.

And also Dr. John Hochheimer, he's an amazing person.

He's got so many stories about music and his time in Boston, but he also talked about life experiences and applied his own life experiences and taught us about those.

And so I was glad to have those two as professors and you know, I hope whoever is in their presence, learning from them or talking with them, I hope they have the same feelings that I have for them as well.

- Yeah, it's a lifelong gift and a gift that grows 'cause you pass it on you.

The things you learned, you pass on to others.

You've already talked about the fact that when you were here as a student, you did sports reporting and you have a lot of love for sports and interest in that.

But you're also, you know, someone who's passionate about news and journalism.

And I understand that your interest in journalism began with the attacks on the World Trade Center in 2001.

Tell me about that.

- Well, it was like any normal day.

I remember it was a week after my ninth birthday.

I had to think about that for a little bit.

It was a week after I turned nine and it was the morning of September 11th.

And my mom wasn't home at the time.

She was actually in surgery with a wrist.

And so my dad woke me up and it was a little, a little earlier than usual and he tells me to go walk to the living room, you gotta see something.

And I see my oldest sister, she's standing there with her, you know, like this and she's crying and I'm seeing the towers on fire.

And then I see another plane hit and it's just like, "Is this a movie?

You know what's going on?"

You know, as a kid I'm like, "Wow, this is a crazy movie."

But then it got real, like when I got to school, a classmate I had actually had a relative in one of the towers.

She was actually taken out of school to be told that.

It was only later until I found out.

But we spent the whole class listening, doing schoolwork, not like regularly scheduled work, just workbook stuff.

We were listening to the radio the whole time to the ABC coverage of 9/11.

And it just stuck with me that it was kind of a, it was a shared experience in a way 'cause we were all taking in this once in a lifetime event that we didn't know, as kids we don't know why that happened, but, and I was one of those weird kids that was in the history book section and then the cartoon book section.

And so my affinity, my love of history kind of played into that too.

I still love history, reading about history to this day.

And so I guess with, when I saw 9/11, I kind of took the reins of being like the news person in the house.

And most of the time they just wanted to hear about the weather.

You know, I would yell, "It's gonna be 33 today or 54 today," you know, and I'm sure that annoyed my mom, but, you know, at least I wasn't, you know, being bad out in the street or anything, you know?

And so I think my love of history kind of, you know, furthered my appreciation and you know, my love of news too.

'Cause I love sports too, but I think with news we're kind of the first draft of history in a way.

- Yeah, absolutely and so important and the work that you do covering the news, one of the things I always ask folks who are in journalism is what are the topics in the news that interest you most as a reporter?

- The topics that interest me most.

That is a good one because there is a lot that's interesting right now.

I think I'm interested in, you know, why people are so divided.

I'm really interested in, you know, both sides of the coin because all we see on the national media.

Yeah, we do see both sides of the coin on the national media, but it always seems like it's always angry or it's always, you know, "No, my side is right and you know, better than yours."

There's insults a lot, you know.

- And sometimes the anger's even based on incorrect information.

- Yeah and that sort of, you know, feeds this whole craziness that we're seeing now.

And so I'm not afraid to talk to the other side because I am a reporter, that is my job.

But sometimes people think that we're gonna be out to get them.

It's not true.

We're not out to get anyone.

We want to hear your story.

You know, whether the quote unquote "mainstream media" wants to air it or not.

We want to hear that side of the story.

I think it's important to let whatever side wants to say something, vent and then let the discussion continue.

Because cutting off somebody, I mean, that's just, it doesn't solve anything and we're in an age of, it seems like we're in an age of debate where it's, there's little compromise.

And I'm so interested in why that is.

And that's kind of one of the things that has given me a further appreciation for the political circuit.

Like, I haven't been, I was never really interested in politics up until, you know, the last few years.

And I think everybody got interested in it and still is, especially now with the war in Ukraine happening and, you know, with the Roe v Wade decision, there's a lot to talk about.

And I think divisiveness is at the heart of all of that.

- Interesting and something that's fascinating to me as well.

This is a tough one.

It's always tough when you ask somebody, give me one, but I.

- Let me adjust my collar real quick.

(both laughing) - Right.

Do you have a favorite story?

From your time in Southern Illinois?

You have been here a long time between college and then the many years now at WSIL.

- I mean I don't even know where to start.

I mean, I could tell you about the time that me and one of my great friends broadcasted the college football game between SIU and SEMO at Busch Stadium.

I mean, sitting in the visiting broadcast booth, we were sitting in Pat Hughes's booth, the Chicago Cubs announcer.

We were sitting in that booth and so it was an awesome experience.

But I think my favorite story happened actually that same weekend, the next day.

So it was River Region.

I had to do a story for River Region and I pitched the George Harrison marker that's in Benton.

George Harrison, if many don't know, he actually visited Benton here in Illinois back in the early 1960s to see his sister, Louise Harrison, who lived here.

And so that was a really, I was big into The Beatles.

I love The Beatles still to this day, and so I really wanted to tell this story.

So I, you know, I couldn't make it to the marker dedication itself 'cause it was the same day of the game and so the next day I went here to grab camera gear with my other colleague of mine.

We went to Benton, we shot some standups and you know, we really didn't have much to go on.

We had the interview with the radio DJ who interviewed Harrison back in the 1960s.

And we went into town square and we went to this antique shop that supposedly he went into and bought some stuff off of.

We went inside looking to shoot memorabilia.

And an older gentleman is in there and he says, "Oh, you guys looking for something?"

I said, "Yeah, we're looking for some George Harrison memorabilia, anything that we can shoot, you know, we're doing a story for college TV show."

"Let me get you someone that I think you'll be interested in meeting."

Goes to the back, brings out this small old woman.

It is Louise Harrison, herself, the sister of George Harrison.

George Harrison is my favorite Beatle and I am talking with his sister.

Are you kidding me?

Like, come on.

Like, I just broadcasted a game at Busch Stadium.

Now I'm talking to a Beatle's sister.

I can't believe it.

And so we, you know, I met her, I was so awestruck and we talked, you know, briefly there.

And then we sat at a table and we filmed like an eight minute interview.

One of the coolest experiences I've ever had.

Meeting that close to a Beatle was just amazing to me.

And she gave me some pictures, then she signed one of 'em.

And you know, unfortunately she did pass away recently.

And we did re-air a segment at WSL using the footage that I shot at WSIU.

So thanks to WSIU for letting us use that footage.

But that probably was my coolest story, just meeting that person at just the right place, right time.

- It's one of the greatest gifts, isn't it?

Of working in this field that we get to meet interesting people all of the time.

Many of them are not famous people.

Or relatives of famous people but there are so many interesting people that we get to meet.

- Yeah, interesting people with interesting backstories and you know, I think the real stories are the people who aren't the public officials, the people who aren't the celebrities, it's the regular folks that live in towns, in small towns especially.

I think the smaller towns really have great stories.

I want to pursue more small town stories because, you know, not only do you unite that small community, you kind of give a glimpse into an area that nobody else is going to glimpse into because we're all so focused on getting the national stories out there.

I think there's a lot of focus on national stories these days and you know, yes, give it that attention.

But I think local TV stations, there has to be an emphasis in more local media.

You know, I read a quote by this, from this article, I believe a Pointer article writer had retired after 50 years in the business.

And one of his things was that we're losing institutions, we're losing local knowledge.

And I think one of the things I want to do in, you know, as I go forward is wherever I go, go where the knowledge is, go knock on doors, go talk to people, find out where that knowledge is, find out what you can about that small town because any time you can unearth, you know, like, you know, any stories from there, I think it's a better product for you because that shows you can dig and you can look for it.

- Yeah, I was at a journalism conference this week and I thought the keynote speaker was outstanding and one of the things he said was, "Be curious and if you're curious that will make you a good reporter."

What advice do you give students who are interested in broadcasting?

And I know you probably also have had interns at WSIL who you have done mentoring with.

You've given them advice.

What advice do you give them?

- Well, I think to go off what you said about, you know, never stop asking, never stop learning.

That's one of the big things is that sometimes we get to a point that maybe we don't need to learn this trait.

Like let's say, you know, I'm the TV anchor and they are the meteorologist, you know, I don't need to learn, you know, what, you know, certain instruments are or what certain data is what, and how the weather works but I want to know, you know, I want them to explain to me.

Not it's like a Socratic method or anything.

I'm not trying to call anyone out, but I just want to learn about that person's, you know, passion for one, but also, you know, just the data itself.

I wanna understand how things work, so never stop learning about the things around you.

Whether it's, you know, shooting a camera or even producing.

I think learning multiple skills can only help you and can only make you more of a better worker because, you know, right now, I mean a lot of people are being asked to do more in media.

Well you know, MMJs for example, they're doing all their own stuff.

And so, you know, take the time now to learn what you like but also, you know, learn other things too.

Don't, just be centered on one because if one fails, you know, you'll have the other.

You know, I had producing, producing was a backdrop, you know, and, you know, anchoring was a second because it's hard to be an anchor.

You have to work your way up to that.

I got lucky, but I've maintained that because I've been able to, you know, do all those things.

- And by starting as a producer, you I'm sure that some of those skills were very transferrable to your reporting work and your anchoring work 'cause you understood, especially the anchoring.

I mean, you understood what it takes to put that newscast together.

And if you're like many people and myself included who worked in commercial television, I was also the fill-in producer as the news anchor.

So I would be producing regularly in a fill-in basis and in one job as a regular basis as a producer and anchor so.

- And one of the things, and the other thing that gets you is a better perspective of the jobs that people do.

Because you know, so oftentimes if we're stuck in one role, we don't understand what the other role does.

And that's the what goes off to me saying, "Don't ever stop learning because this person doing this role has a different experience than you."

You know, producers, you know, they're, you know, they're inside, they're putting the show together, they are working hard and they are making sure that we have the latest.

Us reporters we're going out there and searching for it.

You know, and if producers can't understand that, it takes a little bit to get those interviews, you know, there could be some miscommunication.

So I think if you learn all those positions or at least learn those perspectives, you can learn to have a better appreciation, but also know how, know what you need to do to get that work out the way and get it done.

- This next question, I'm really fascinated to hear your opinion on this.

As you know, the internet and social media have become very important in our work.

When I got into this field, they didn't even exist.

So I'm feeling very old right now asking you this question as well, Danny, but I wanna get your opinion on this.

You know, there are so many beneficial aspects to this, but some may say are not so beneficial at times.

What are your thoughts?

- Well, it is...I think social media, whether you like it or not, it's important.

Everyone uses it.

Whether they have good intentions, whether they have, you know, malicious intentions or whatever intentions they may have.

Everybody uses social media.

That's where everybody is.

Admittedly, you know, I have to be more using that more, you know, 'cause I've been focused more on just, you know, building the skillset and you know, the reporting getting comfortable.

But once you have that, it's time to expand on, you know, social media because that's where people are gonna get their news first.

That's where people are gonna be looking for at least the latest updates.

Kind of like the, I think the afternoon news or the evening news is kind of like the bow tie on what happened today, you know, because you already know what happened on social media.

We already saw it on Twitter or Facebook.

- Or on websites.

- Or on websites, yeah.

And the thing with social media too is not only you get information, you find stories there.

One of the best places to look for stories is the comments section.

And yeah, you gotta sift through all the bad language sometimes, but you know and that's one of the negatives too.

But you have to look at the positives.

You have to look at what you can do.

You can't look at what holds you back and that's, you know, it's part of having tough skin, you know?

And I don't like to say that because, you know, you don't have to have tough skin, but you do have to learn that some people are gonna feel a certain way.

You can't change that.

And that has to be something that you have to use in order to move forward because... - I think it's important for another reason too, Dan.

I don't know how you feel about this, but it also gives you insights that you might not otherwise get.

Because some people will never say something that they would write on social media.

- It's infinite.

- So you kind of say, "Whoa, okay, I see."

- Infinite perspectives, infinite perspectives.

- It's really interesting.

Any other thoughts on that before we move on?

- You know, and I think that, but when, you know, just to focus on the positive of social media.

I mean, there are people that, you know, maybe, you know, less fortunate or, you know, they're going through cancer, you know, GoFundMe is one of those things.

You know, it has been used for bad purposes.

We've seen scams on that but when it is legit, we see people come together and help this person, you know, whether it's get a kidney transplant or help them with medical expenses.

The Internet's a powerful tool and it could be used for a lot of good and it has been.

And I think that with that being said, we have to be careful about how we approach it because, you know, there could be traps in these like scams and everything.

So it's easy to fall, you know, for a dog picture like on a GoFundMe and donate to the dog.

But when you find out it's fake, then it's like, "Ooh, should I not trust those anymore?"

So be mindful of all of that, but still don't be afraid to show your kindness on the internet.

- Yeah, well beyond our contacts of course on social media, journalists are constantly talking to a lot of people.

What do you find when you talk to people about what they want from the news media and what they are missing, the criticisms that they share with you?

You know, it's funny that you ask because about a month ago, you know, I started, when people came up with me and say "Hi," you know, it was a brief, "Hi, hello, you know, nice to meet you."

I started to ask more about, you know, "What do you want to see more from our coverage?"

And a lot of 'em always say, it's almost an universal answer, "More local."

There was an example of a couple, they live over out west of Jackson in West Jackson County.

There's a crash on Route 3.

It's a very long road.

They didn't know about updates, you know, because we hadn't gotten to that coverage yet and so, you know, there's a big focus on just making sure that we have everything as much local as we can.

You know, 'cause of traffic alerts, you know, especially too when there's crashes, people are driving, they want to know if that route is safe to take or, you know, what happened.

So I think a lot of the answers from that side are more local, more local.

- Well, Danny, thank you so much for being here today.

I'll enjoy continuing to watch you on WSIL and I'm so glad I got a chance to meet you.

- Well, thank you Fred.

I really appreciate the opportunity for you having me and I'm so glad to do it and go Dogs.

- All right, go Dogs.

My guest was WSIL, anchor and reporter, Danny Valle.

For all of us at WSIU, I'm Fred Martina.

Thank you so much for being here and have a great week.

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