Donna Alvis-Banks’ blue eyes sparkle as she introduces herself to an unfamiliar face. Her thick, southern drawl is charming and her smile warm as she talks about work, life and family. It is clear that this is a woman who loves her job.
   Alvis-Banks is a native of the Christiansburg area and a Radford alumna. It’s been nearly two decades since she began working for The Roanoke Times, and she still has no intention of retiring anytime soon. Alvis-Banks covered arts and entertainment for 15 years and currently writes human-interest features.
   Although Alvis-Banks is as dedicated to reporting as anyone has ever been, do not be fooled. Her main priorities in life are to be a good mother to her two sons and to be a good person. It certainly sounds like she has her priorities straight.

Did you discover your interest in journalism in high school?
No, I discovered I liked creative writing. I wrote plays for play festivals and things like that. I wrote poetry for the school magazine; it was all creative.

Where did you attend college and what did you study?
I went to Radford and I majored in English. I got a teaching certificate in journalism. For six years I taught high school English, speech and drama. I had a teaching certificate in speech and drama and in journalism with a degree in English.

What is it like to be you on a day-to-day basis?
It’s busy just trying to shuffle two or three stories at one time. And then trying to work on some long-term projects too.

Why did you switch areas of coverage from arts and entertainment to human-interest features?
Burnout! I just had enough. You shouldn’t cover a beat for 15 years, it’s too long. I just needed a change. I was very efficient at what I did. I had so many contacts and so many people who kind of depended on me. It was good for them as well to have a new person. And this was just a challenge that I needed to help me grow as a writer and as a reporter.

Which area of reporting have you enjoyed more?
I like the freedom of this; having a variety of assignments. With arts and entertainment you are limited to what’s happening in the area.

As a reporter, what drew you to your area of coverage? Why not the “news” side of reporting?
Well, I have done that a little bit. I am a general assignment reporter and features, so I get the leftovers. And a lot of times the leftovers aren’t too bad (laughs). There was a fire with children involved - well the police reporter had to cover that - but it was an awful lot, so I got to help out with the human side of that. So, you know, that was hard and challenging and exciting and all that other stuff.

From a reporter’s standpoint, how would you define a reporter and what is their role in society?
Reporters report (laughs). You don’t take one side or the other, but you try to turn over all the stones and gather the truth and inform and enlighten. They are informers, entertainers, watchdogs, all those things.

Reporters are often praised for uncovering information that the public needed to know. On the other hand they are equally as criticized for things that they uncover. When do you feel a reporter has crossed the line?
Well, I think you have to take that on a case-by-case basis. Certainly ethics is a big part of it. It’s just really important, you know, that you get the truth. But you can’t do it at the expense of people. You can’t exploit poor people or people who just aren’t media savvy. It’s real important that you’re real honest with people about the truth. You don’t have to go to bed with them but you have to have them trust you. You’re not trying to paint a rosy picture, you want to be honest, you want to be truthful and you want to be straight with them. You’re not trying to hurt them, but you’re trying to get to the bottom of it.

What have you found to be the key in balancing the reporter’s need-to-know with the emotionally aware side of yourself? For example, with the interview you did with Kelsie Kemp, how did you find information while remaining sensitive?
Thanks for reading it! He was hard. He was hard, because he didn’t want to talk about it. I kind of had to rely not only on what he told me, but I had to rely on what he told me to get inside his head. I also had to do a lot of research; various reports, you know, trying to find out if what he told me jived with what history told me. So I had to get into a lot of different sources.

How would you say you got Kelsie Kemp to open up to you?
I think I had a personal connection in that because I was attending his church in Barren Springs. I just, you know, somehow someone in the church knew I was a reporter and approached me, so I had an inside connection. I think that in itself and the fact that he had seen that I wasn’t coming out of the blue. And the big key was getting his wife on my side. I talked to her and she convinced him it was something he might want to do.

Did you ever receive word about the other USS Serpens survivor?
No, we looked and looked and looked and called the Cost Guard and wrote to the Coast Guard - tried to get records - but none. I was really hoping.

When you are writing a feature about someone who is deceased versus someone who is living what do you take into consideration?
It’s hard. It’s hard to write your obituary. One thing is people tend to glorify a person after they’re gone. It’s really hard. So I always make sure I ask people, “Did he have any faults or anything about him that makes him human?” But we do tend to do that - glorify people after they’re gone. I had one guy who said, “You don’t want to write about my mother, she wasn’t very interesting.” I said, “If I were you mother…” (laughs).

Tell me about approaching friends and family of the deceased. Is it hard?
People want to talk about it. They want to talk about it. For a lot of them, they’ll tell you that it’s just very helpful. People are flattered and putting it in the paper memorializes it.

If you could interview anyone, dead or alive, who would it be and why?
Oh that’s a terrible question (laughs)! There’s too many! I would love to talk to Lance Armstrong. I just love Lance Armstrong. I would love to talk to Jesus. I mean, I could go on and on. Shakespeare would be nice.

How much longer will you stay in the field of journalism?
Well retirement is… Well let’s see, I’m 52. I will stay in as long as they’ll let me and as long as I’m interested. As long as there are misfits out there to find, I’ll find them.

Will you always remain in the Christiansburg area?
I guess I will. I had to make a choice between career versus family. And for me it was family.

Does your family still read what you write after all these years?
No, they never read it (laughs)! Just as long as their names aren’t mentioned in it. I used to write some first person columns and that’s not a good idea with my boys.

Would you ever consider writing a book about anything you’ve come across?
I’d like to. I actually have a couple of stories that I’ve thought, “Now this would be a good book!” I had a one-legged hitchhiker who was such a wonderful character. I mean you couldn’t have dreamed up a better fictional character. He was just a person who at the end of his life rode around Christiansburg in a wheelchair. He had actually lost part of one leg and then subsequently lost part of the other leg, and so then he was no longer the one-legged hitchhiker; he had to take to the wheelchair. Oh, he was just a delightful man. Just, you know, going all around the country hitchhiking… You can’t make up these people. You just have to uncover people, who in your wildest dreams you would never imagine.

What would you consider to be your greatest triumph as a reporter?
It’s hard to tell. You don’t hear from everyone who reads. You just hope that somebody was enlightened, informed or that in some way something you reported touched their lives.

Is there a lack of feedback in reporting?
Well there is on certain stories and depending on how widespread your story is. Like, if it goes AP; really depending on your circulation.

Do you find a lot of negative criticism in your line of work?
Well, I haven’t had that much with features.

What about with arts and entertainment? For example, the article you wrote about the local restaurant Maxwell’s.
Boy, you’ve done your research! You’re good, Erin! That would be awful to be a restaurant reviewer (laughs)!

What would you consider to be the biggest mistake you’ve made as a reporter?
A bunch of little ones. I don’t think I’ve ever made a major mistake that cost somebody their reputation or anything like that. Like misspelling a name; you can’t take that back. What a dumb mistake. Even with features I’ve learned that if your mother says she loves you, check it out. It’s the first rule of journalism. We had a feature story, it wasn’t me, but someone was doing a feature story on a man who told us in the process of the interview that he was a paratrooper and that he made an enormous number of parachute landings in the Army. And after this was published in the papers, the Army called and said “Nuh uh – it’s impossible for anybody to do that!” The man had made up the entire story. So you can’t even, on feature stories, not check it out. You need to check it out.

So would you say most of your time is spent doing research?
I really am learning. I’m kind of new at this, but I try to check it all out. If I have time, well I try to make time to check everything out.

I noticed you’ve done a few articles on senior citizens recently. Do you have a specific draw towards the elderly?
Our senior citizen reporter left. So I am filling in (laughs). We are short-handed. But old people do have great stories.

Who would you say has affected you the most in terms the interviews you’ve done?
Junior Quesinberry, the man who hikes the New River Trail everyday. He walks and he walks and he walks. And he does it, he said, because the Lord told him to. And his whole purpose in doing this is to go around and spread the Word. He was in his late sixties. But he was just, just so personable. There’s just so many.

Would you say that your purpose in life was to be a journalist?
I think so. It better be. It’s too late now. When you were little did you always feel you were meant to do something? I wanted to be a writer since I was very young.

When you retire from the field of journalism what would you like to be remembered for? What would you like people to say about you?
You’re asking me to write my own obituary (laughs)! I want to be a good mom first of all. Ask the people in the bureau, I try to mother them. And then to be just a good employee, to do the right thing. That’s enough for anybody’s life I guess.