Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) morning host Angela Davis is part of the University of Maryland’s Philip Merrill College of Journalism Hall of Fame class. The three Black women in the six-women class, which is the third class inducted into the Merrill College Hall of Fame, are: Davis (class of 1990), Michelle Singletary (class of 1984), and the late Dr. Lee Thornton, who died in 2013 and was the first Black woman to serve as Merrill dean.
Davis, a veteran television and radio journalist, joined MPR in 2018 after over 25 years of reporting and anchoring in the Twin Cities and other U.S. cities. She is the only Black female voice heard daily on the public radio network, leading conversations about life in Minnesota and how the state is changing. She recently started the Power Pairs series that features prominent Minnesotans in close relationships such as married couples, siblings, or best friends.
“A journalist frequently referred to me and my husband [Duchesne Drew, American Public Media senior vice president and MPR president] as a power couple,” revealed Davis. “I’ve never felt comfortable with this… I knew lots of people who have had long-term relationships that have made them stronger and who are still very close.
“One of my managers suggested, ‘Why don’t you call it Power Pairs?” she recalled.
Davis said in a recent MSR phone interview she first learned about her upcoming honor shortly after returning home from a trip to Cuba shared with Singletary, a longtime friend and mentor, and others.
“I was at home and I got a phone call from the dean of the College of Journalism,” said Davis. “I thought he was going to tell me that students at the University of Maryland had just won an award for an investigative project that they have been working on.
“It means so much to me because it really feels like recognition of a lifetime…in the field that I think many people know is very challenging, demanding, competitive,” she pointed out. “It’s time consuming and sometimes emotionally draining, and I think it’s especially hard if you have high standards for yourself, and I know I do.
“I’ve had a love affair with journalism since I was a child,” she said. Growing up in southern Virginia, Davis said she got interested in news at an early age watching network television news with her grandmother.
“I was always writing, and I really wanted to see other places,” she added. But later, as she studied journalism at Maryland, a professor intentionally or unintentionally advised her to go into another field, which initially shocked her, she recalled.
“‘You don’t have the look,’ said the professor, who when she asked him to review her broadcast resume tape instead told her to pursue a job outside of journalism or go to law school. Davis, however, refused to let that poor piece of advice deter her from now nearly 30 years as a broadcast journalist
“I was a freshman at Maryland, and one of my internships was for Ted Koppel,” she said proudly of the legendary television journalist. She later worked at CNN and local stations in Washington, D.C., Dallas, and Lexington, Kentucky. Davis also anchored morning and evening newscasts at WCCO-TV and KSTP-TV and is a multiple award-winning anchor and reporter.
She believes her time working with Koppel very much shaped her successful journalism career. The internship “shaped my mindset of what journalism is,” she said. “That’s what I’ve always tried to model, the high quality work, and also consistency. When I grew up as a young aspiring journalist, I thought of Ted Koppel.
“I am 55 years old, but I often feel like I’m 25 years old. I have a lot of energy for what I’d like to try to accomplish as a journalist,” said Davis. “I still have a lot of tenacity.
“I’m very interested in producing documentaries… I’m really excited about what the future holds in my own career, and I believe the best is yet to come.”
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