Donna Alvis-Banks
Donna Alvis-Banks is a recently retired reporter who spent 20 years at The Roanoke Times covering a variety of beats. Dubbed "the compassionate one" in her newsroom, editors often sent her to interview survivors of tragic incidents and gave her the responsibility of narrating stories that saddened and shocked the Southwest Virginia community where she was born and raised. Tops among those stories was the worst school shooting in U.S. history when, on April 16, 2007, a disturbed Virginia Tech student killed 32 people and injured dozens of others before committing suicide. As a result of her work, Alvis-Banks was named a Dart Center Ochberg Fellow later in 2007, and she continues to work with The Dart Society by encouraging other reporters to practice "compassionate journalism."
About The Dart Society
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The Dart Society is a nonprofit organization of journalists who advance the compassionate and ethical coverage of trauma, conflict and social injustice. Members of the society are Dart Center Ochberg Fellows and winners of the Dart and Mimi awards.