Steve Davis Reporting Professor

Chair, Department of Newspaper and Online Journalism

I’ve taught at Newhouse for 15 years, after a career doing a lot of different jobs at very large newspapers like USA TODAY, and at quite small ones like the community newspaper I ran for a half-dozen years in Pennsylvania that was 100 times smaller than USA (2 million circulation vs. 20,000). Here in Syracuse, I started The Stand newspaper and website, which covers the South Side of Syracuse.

I like the small news operations, because you’re closer to your readers and the area you cover — and thus feel more accountable. That’s a good thing to check your ego, and keep you on top of your craft.

I teach a number of different reporting classes to grads and undergrads. Projects like this are my favorite, because we learn so much about topics that matter.

My favorite room

All I wanted in our house in Baldwinsville was a room for a full-size pool table. I got it.

When I was growing up, my dad bought me a 7-foot table that had been beat up in a local “establishment,” and you’d have thought it was a gold-standard Brunswick pro model. No one knew that table and its idiosyncrasies better than I did — except my dad, who was ridiculously good.

But now I’ve found that I don’t play. Too many school projects, and too much sports on TV. I am determined to fix this when I retire; it probably won’t happen before then, though.