(gentle music) - Sometimes life gives you an opportunity to reflect on what you would do with a clean slate.

Our guest on this episode is journalist Vicki Yates, formerly News Channel 5 anchor.

♪ I've thrown away my compass ♪ ♪ Done with the chart ♪ ♪ I'm tired of spinning around ♪ ♪ Looking for direction, Northern Star ♪ ♪ I'm tired of spinning around ♪ ♪ I'll just step out ♪ ♪ Throw my doubt into the sea ♪ ♪ Oh, what's meant to be will be ♪ A Detroit native, Vicki started her news journey as a telecommunications major from Michigan State University, where she received her degree and worked at the campus TV station, as well as a reporter for the "Michigan Chronicle."

She went on to work as a news writer, producer, and reporter at stations in Michigan, Ohio, and Pennsylvania before landing and staying in Nashville.

In 1990, she joined News Channel 5 as an anchor and reporter, where she brought news to Nashville every evening until her recent retirement.

Vicky has accumulated seven Emmys, along with the Emmy Silver Circle Award.

(audience cheering) Highlights in her career include a presidential interview at the White House, trips to the Super Bowl, and of course, building lifelong relationships with many of Nashville's most beloved journalists and leaders.

A believer in giving back to the community, she has been actively involved in several nonprofit organizations and served as a longtime co-host of the Annual Children's Miracle Network Telethon.

Vicki and her family reside in Nashville, where she even produced a weekly podcast with her daughter Torri, called "Wild Wisdom Women" that can still be found online.

Vicki Yates will join Nashville Public Television later this year as a segment producer for the popular series, "Tennessee Crossroads."

Wow, Vicki, I'm so excited to have this time with you.

- I'm so glad you invited me.

I've seen the show and it's great.

- Thank you, thank you.

You know what?

You are a Nashville legend.

You are beloved in this community.

- Thank you.

- Why did you make Nashville home?

- That's a good question.

I had come from Pittsburgh.

I'd been there for five years, and I was working weekends.

I was the weekend anchor.

Well, during that time I was married, of course, but I decided it was time for me to move on from- - Yeah.

- from the marriage and from Pittsburgh (chuckling).

- Okay, okay.

- And I had three children, and so it was a big step.

I got the offer to come here.

- Wow.

- And I decided, "You know what?

I've never been to Nashville.

I don't know anything about Nashville, except country music, but I'm going."

And it was the best decision I've ever made.

It's just like my second home, seriously.

- What year was that?

- I got here in 1990.

- Oh, wow.

- It was in 1990, yeah.

- Okay.

- So I've been here 33 years.

- Wow.

And you just retired?

- I did.

- Did you come as an anchor?

- I did, I came here as an anchor.

- So tell me about that.

Back in the day of network news- - Right.

- and being an anchor in Nashville.

And Nashville is a major market, so that was a big step, right?

- It was.

It was a big step.

And it's a bigger step now because Nashville's so much larger than it was when I got here.

- Right.

- But it was something that I've kind of always enjoyed the news.

Even as a teenager, I would watch the news and a lot of teenagers didn't.

But to me it was very interesting.

- Right.

- And I wanted to, I'll make a long story short.

I went to Michigan State University and I took communications.

Well, I thought I wanted to do advertising, but once I got into it, I didn't like the classes.

And I'm like, "Oh, what am I gonna do?"

And my guidance counselor said, "Well, have you thought about telecommunications?"

And I'm like, "No, but I'll try it."

And that was all I needed.

- Wow.

- I got there and I was... We had to do our own TV shows.

We had to be the camera person, we had to write stories, we had to do almost everything.

- Wow.

- And I just loved it.

- Well, Michigan State University is pretty...

I mean, they're pretty topnotch- - Oh, they are.

- when it comes to journalism - For sure.

- And so having that kind of an experience early- - Right.

- You probably just hit the ground running at that moment, right?

- I did.

And actually, we had a TV station because Lansing, where the school is, is the capitol.

And so we had a TV station where they would do a lot of stories about the capitol and things like that.

And I got an internship there, and that just gave me even more fuel to work with because I got to go on Capitol Hill and, you know, talk to some of the people who were there.

So it was a win-win situation.

- Did you do a lot of writing?

Have you seen journalism change, especially television journalism change over the decades?

- Yeah, because everything is so fast now.

Everything, you know, at one point when I was coming along, you had time to write a story.

Now you're like, "Hey, we need you to get this done in like the next five minutes."

- Yeah.

- And you've gotta really be ready to do that.

And so I think that's how it's changed.

It's just so much faster.

And I enjoyed that.

But there's something about the leisure of really stopping and putting a story together that means a lot to me.

- Yeah.

So one thing I think is so interesting about you, you and I are in Leadership Nashville.

- Yes, we love it!

- Yeah, best class ever, 2024.

- That's right.

(Vicki chuckling) - So what I love about that class though, is we're learning so much about Nashville and so much about the, really our classmates.

- Right.

- And what a wonderful program that is.

Do you wish you had done this earlier?

- I do, I really do.

- So tell me about that.

- I wanted to do it because I've had friends who were in Leadership Nashville, and I thought, "Wow, that's cool," you know?

And I was offered the chance, but the station wouldn't let me do it.

And so I was like, "Great."

- Because of the time?

- Yeah, because of the time.

They said, you know, "It'll take too much time away."

- Yeah.

- And I was just kind of bereft, because everybody who's gone sings its praises like we do.

Like, man, that's such a great opportunity to learn so much about your city and government and I mean, almost everything.

- Right.

- And so, yeah, I was kind of upset that I didn't get a chance to do it, but now that I'm retired, it's not a problem.

(both chuckling) - Well, and if I know you, you're not gonna stop, so.

- No, no.

I wanna learn.

- Right.

- I've always enjoyed that.

- Right.

- Always.

- So what do you think in your trajectory, and I do want to talk about some of the stations that you've worked at, you've mentioned in Michigan, when you first started, I read that you were doing, was it like six daily newscasts plus two public affairs shows in a week?

Wow.

- Yeah.

- [Becky] So what kind of a life is that?

- (exhales) It's busy life, but it's good because like I said, I like news.

And so you keep on top of things.

You learn things first.

Sometimes, not always.

But sometimes you learn things first 'cause you're out there and people will call you and tell you, "This is going on.

You need to know about this."

So it was difficult, but it was something that I enjoyed.

- How did you balance that, Vicki, with being a mom, being a wife, being, you know?

I mean, how do you balance and have three kids?

- Well, they were small.

My daughter was three when we moved here, and my sons were a year old.

They're twins.

So I had three little ones.

But you know what?

I think it made me a better person because I had to learn how to work with my children because they were always my first priority.

- Right.

- But then I was working a job too, and I couldn't, you know, short shift that.

- Sure.

- So I had to do that.

It was just, it made me a better person because I had to think about other people too.

I can't just come into work and say, "Well, I'm sorry I'm late.

I got three kids."

Well, they don't wanna hear that.

- Yeah.

(both chuckling) - They don't want to hear that.

And I don't wanna say that.

- Yeah.

- But, you know, sometimes you juggle what you have to do.

You do what you have to do to get it done.

- So maybe I don't wanna pry too much about your family- - Yeah, sure.

- but your children, I know, are so important to you.

And I know- - They are.

- you have grandchildren, right?

- I do!

- Yeah?

- I have two and one on the way.

As a matter of fact, her due date is tomorrow, so.

- Wow, that's exciting.

- I'm hoping she gets here soon.

- That's right.

(Vicki laughing) What do you want your children to know about you as a person in this world of work?

Not just as their mom but- - Okay, sure.

That life is not fair, but you can make it work.

Because I didn't wanna... Truthfully, I wanted to move to Nashville, but the reason I wanted to is because I kind of had a bad marriage.

And so that was not an upside.

But I told my kids, "You know what?

When you get," like they say, "lemons make lemonade."

And that's kind of the way I've always felt that things can always get better.

I've always believed that.

I've never thought, "Well, this is it.

I'm done now," or "I can't do this anymore."

I've always thought that another door opens.

- Yeah.

- If you just give it a chance.

When they would go out and something would happen, or they'd have a bad day at school, I'd say, "You know what?

We're a gang.

We're a gang of four.

And if you have a bad day, then we have a bad day.

So you come home and we'll talk about it and we'll figure out what we should do."

And to this day, they'll call and say, "Hey, I need some help."

Or, "This is going on.

What do you think I should do?"

And they're grown people.

They have their own families, you know?

But we're still connected.

And I always told them, "Family comes first.

Family comes first over job, family comes first over riches, or whatever."

That's very important to me that my kids know that I'm there for them, and I know they're there for me too.

- Yeah.

- Mm-hmm.

- That is so important.

And did you ever find a time where you were challenged to live into that?

- A lot of times.

Sometimes it would be simple times.

Like my sons would have a game or something, you know, and I'm like, "Oh, I can't get there fast enough."

And, you know, I didn't want them to be there without me.

- Yeah.

- And so I'd have like a neighbor take them or something.

- Yeah.

- So little changes like that.

But then there was one incident where my daughter was maybe seven or something.

No, she was a little younger maybe.

Anyway, I came home from work and I had a babysitter there.

And she said, "Torri, I think, is upset about something."

I said, "Oh, okay."

And so the babysitter left and I went into her room 'cause she was going, she was in her room.

And I said, "What's going on?"

And she said, "Oh, nothing."

I said, "No, I've heard something's wrong.

What's going on?"

And she told me that one of her...

Her teacher had this, I guess it was a program where they were talking about your roots, where you came from.

- Right.

- And she said that, she said, "Well, Mom, I told them that I'm African American and I have some British, and I have something else."

I can't remember what we decided it was.

But she went back to school the next day, and one of her friends said, "My mom said, 'Black people can only be Black.

They can't be anything else.

They can't have British, they can't have, you know, German, they can't have anything like that.

They're just Black.'"

So I came home and immediately called the mother.

Thankfully, they gave us the names and numbers of other- - Right.

- families.

And so I had to talk to her.

And I was like, I was so hot.

(both laughing) I'm like, "If I could come through this phone."

- Right.

- But I didn't.

- Right.

- But we had a long talk.

And she, you know, she just didn't know any better.

- Right.

- "I didn't know that.

I didn't know that Black people could- (Becky sighs) - couldn't be anything but Black."

(Vicki laughing) - Oh (groaning).

- So things like that.

But now we laugh at it when we think about it.

Every now and then, she'll say something about it and we'll laugh, but.

- You know, Vicki, that's really important for me to hear.

I think we live in a time where it's difficult for us to understand each other- - It is.

- and appreciate each other just as humans- - Exactly.

- and appreciate our differences, really.

- Right.

- And so much can be confused by just not taking the time to understand.

- Right.

- What has it been like as a Black woman in the south, in Nashville, in such a prominent position?

- You know what it's been a challenge upon occasion.

I remember when I first moved here, I was going to the grocery store and I heard all this, I heard rap music, like, just screaming from somebody's truck.

And so I'm like, "Who is that?"

And this guy comes by and he's got this big Confederate flag, but he's listening to rap.

And I'm like... (both chuckling) You know, like a dog looks like, what?

- Yep.

- And it doesn't compute.

- [Becky] Right.

- So, you know, you have to get used to that.

And then there were, when I first moved here, there were a lot of people who were very much Confederate flag fans.

And I understand that, but like, I told my children, and they were like, "Doesn't that mean something bad?"

I said, "Well, to them it didn't."

- [Becky] Right.

- I said, "But to us it does."

- You know, your trajectory, Pittsburgh was pretty instrumental for you, right?

- It was, it was.

- And why was that?

- It was a station that was number one.

It was a station that would teach you.

If you didn't know something, they would say, "Look, come on in over the weekend and we'll go over this."

- Wow.

- You know, so you learned.

And that was very important to me.

Also though, when I was at WKRC in Cincinnati, that was also a wonderful station to work for.

We talked about Nick Clooney.

- Well, I wanted to ask you about that, because you mentioned to me that you recently went to a celebration for Nick Clooney.

- Yeah.

- Who was a mentor of yours.

- Oh, he was.

- And he's celebrating a larger birthday, right?

- 90, turning 90.

- 90!

So one of the things you said to me was that he had really taught you some things that were just so instrumental in your career.

- He did.

I remember one day I'd done a story earlier in the day, and I went home and, you know, kind of just relaxed, and didn't have kids then.

And I turned the TV on and I turned it onto the competition.

And the guy who had done the story for the competition had something that I didn't have in the story.

So I'm like, "Oh my God."

And so I remember getting in my car and driving at night back to the station, because Nick Clooney did the 11 o'clock news.

- [Becky] Oh.

- And he was there working on the show.

And I said, "Nick, I think I messed up."

And he said, "What?

What'd you do?"

And I told him, I said, "I didn't have that in my story, but he did.

And I feel badly that I," you know, "I've messed the story up."

- Yeah.

- He said, "You didn't mess the story up."

He said, you know, "Next time you'll know that you need other things."

But he said, "That story's still good."

He said, "I saw it earlier at 6:00 and it was fine."

He said, "But because somebody else had it, it doesn't make you a bad reporter.

- Right.

- So don't worry about it.

Just next time, you know, maybe look a little deeper."

And ever since then, I would go over things twice, three times, and make sure I hadn't left anything out.

- Yeah, yeah.

- He was very good about that.

And he was also good about respecting people.

Nick is sort of a national treasure in Cincinnati.

His sister is Rosemary Clooney, for anybody- - Oh, of course.

- who knows her.

- Of course.

And so then he's related to George Clooney.

- [Vicki] He's George's dad.

- Oh, he's George's dad.

- He's George's dad.

- Okay.

- Yeah.

So he was just always aware that people would be watching you.

But that you can shine, you know, regardless of who you are.

He would always be very fair with people.

There were a lot of people who didn't believe that, you know, news directors, because he was also the news director and anchor, that you should have that kind of power.

But he just made you feel comfortable.

And he told me, he said, "You don't have to be mean to get your point across.

You don't have to belittle somebody else to make yourself feel good."

Just things like, not because I was doing that, but because he was trying to teach me.

These are things that happen sometimes in this business.

- Right, and they do.

- And they do.

- And you've not been that person.

- No, oh no.

- Ever.

- Ever, not ever.

- And I think what people love about you is you're so approachable and you're just so- - Aww, thank you.

- genuine and gracious.

You are, you know?

- Thank you.

- It's just so great.

You are who you are.

- Well, thank you.

- And I love that.

- I appreciate it.

- There's no pretense about you.

- Thank you, Becky.

- So thank you for that.

- Oh, it's my pleasure, thank you.

- When you were working at Channel 5, you did a lot of, you did a lot of charitable work as well.

- Oh, for sure.

- You did the Children's Miracle Network.

- Yep, did that.

- Right, co-hosted that- - Sure did.

- for a long time.

- For years.

That sports Vanderbilt Children's Hospital?

- Yes.

- Right?

- Yeah.

- And then you've been involved in YMCA, and so many other things that really support our community.

- I think you have to give back.

You know, I've always said, if you don't... Because, let me put it this way.

I've known other anchor people who've gone out and they don't like being bothered.

"Don't talk to me."

You know, "I'm busy."

And I've always thought, "How rude is that?"

You know?

And if you don't wanna be bothered, get off TV.

(both chuckle) Nobody will be looking for you if you're not on television, so.

- Right?

- So, yeah, I just think you have to be kind to people.

And I think you have to...

If you're part of the community, you have to be involved with the community.

- Yeah.

- It's not enough just to report, oh, this is what I'm doing, and I'm going home, and, you know, eating bonbons.

- Right.

- That's not enough.

- Right.

- You have to be involved.

- That's so great.

You know, the premise of this show- - Right.

- is "Clean Slate."

- Yeah (laughing).

- So what would you do with a clean slate, either personally or professionally, or maybe it is for your community?

- If I had a clean slate, I would probably still stay in television because I do love news.

I would probably still stay in television.

I'm glad I'm retired.

But if I had to do it all over again, I would probably still do television.

Personally, I would reach out to more people.

I do already do a lot of things, but I think there are more people I could reach.

And, especially children.

I'm a big...

I used to do school patrol on News Channel 5.

- Right.

- And so, part of that, when you do that, you just become so much more desensitized, or sensitized, I should say, to the students and what they need.

You'd go sometimes and you'd go to certain schools that they were doing really well.

They had everything they needed.

They had books, they had great lunches.

And then you'd go to another where they didn't have money.

They didn't have the money to do that.

And I want to adopt a school.

I really do.

And maybe for the students who can't afford to buy a lunch, I can pay for their bills.

'Cause no child should go without eating.

And no child should have to watch other children eating.

And they're, you know, doing the least.

- [Becky] Right.

- So that's very important to me.

So I would do something news-wise, but I would also maybe consider doing something with children.

Maybe be a teacher.

- Wow, that's cool.

(Vicki laughing) - Maybe.

- That is really cool.

So I think that, you know, you've had so many milestones in your career.

You've won Emmys, I think seven Emmys.

- Seven and a Silver Circle Award.

- [Becky] Yeah, and what is the Silver Circle?

- That means you've had more than 30 years of service in television, basically.

- [Becky] Right, wow.

Congratulations on that.

- Thank you.

- And then you were invited by the White House- - I was.

- during the Obama presidency?

- Yeah, that was great.

- What was that like?

- Oh my gosh.

When they told me, our news director, Sandy Boonstra, I was at my desk and she called me.

And I'm like, "She's right there.

Why she didn't come out?"

Anyway (chuckling)... She said, "What are you doing tomorrow?"

I said, "Coming into work."

And she said, "Would you like to go to Washington?"

I'm like, "Washington?"

She said, "D.C." I'm like, "For what?"

And she said, "To interview Barack Obama."

I'm like, the next thing I knew, I was in front of her.

I think I had just thrown the phone down and gone run into her office.

- Oh, wow.

- So she told me, you know, that we'd been invited to do it and that we only had seven minutes to do it.

But that if I was ready to go, you know, we could do this.

And so I'm like, "Oh, of course I wanna go."

The White House is a whole different thing.

You know, you're like, "I'm at the White House."

- [Becky] Yeah.

- You know, you can be anywhere, but you're like, "I'm at the White House."

And we were in this room where everybody was, they had all the...

They had invited four of us from across the country to do it.

And they had their camera set up behind a rope.

And they said, "Okay, he'll be here soon."

And I was the first one up.

And so I'm just waiting there with my notepad and everything.

And then he touches my shoulder and he said, "Vicki, I'm Barack."

And I'm like (humming).

- Oh my goodness.

(Vicki laughing) - I'm like, "What?"

And I'm trying to be cool and everything.

I'm like, "Hello, Mr.

President."

(Vicki laughing) And he sat down and we talked.

We were kind of talking a little before I started asking questions.

And he said, "Where are you from originally?"

And I said, "Detroit."

He said, "Do you have family there?"

I said, "Yeah, my sister Michelle is there."

He said, "Okay."

So we go through the questions and he gave us two extra minutes.

So I had nine minutes.

- Wow.

- (Chuckles) And we're talking, and I said, "God, don't let me mess this up.

(chuckling) Please, just don't let me mess this up."

And I didn't, everything came out well.

And at the end of it, he would stay there and then the next reporter would come in.

So I was taking off my mic and he said, "Tell Michelle I said 'Hello.'"

I said, "Okay."

And so I walk out and I'm like, "Oh my God."

I had to get my phone out.

"Michelle, I just talked to the president.

He said to tell you, 'Hello!'"

(both laughing) She's screaming on one end.

I'm screaming on the other.

But I'm screaming low (imitates a muffled scream).

And she's screaming loud (laughing).

- That had to be the best moment.

- It was.

It really was.

I remember it like it was yesterday.

- So you also got to go to the Super Bowl when the Titans- - Yes.

- were in the Super Bowl, right?

- I know, man.

That was so much fun.

It was in Atlanta, and it was the coldest it had ever been in Atlanta.

Sort of like, it's been really cold here.

- [Becky] Right.

- And went with Chris Clark.

So many people, Mark Howard, who used to- - [Becky] Right.

- who was here once upon a time.

He's passed on since then.

But anyway, it was just so much fun because you were going all the time.

They had different places for you to go, different people for you to meet.

They'd set things up and we were doing live shots and it was just, it was fantastic.

The only bad thing was that we didn't win (laughing).

- Right, right, right.

Well, there is that, but- - There's that.

(Vicki chuckling) - So you know, you mentioned Chris Clark.

- Yeah.

- And what a beloved, beloved person.

- He really is.

- What was it like having that kind of co-anchor, somebody who just was so important also to the community?

- Exactly.

You know what, you always felt protected.

You always felt like you were, he had your back.

- Yeah.

- And that means a lot because if something goes wrong, and sometimes things do go wrong.

- Sure.

- You know, maybe it's something with tape or whatever.

But he was always there and we just really got along.

He's like my older uncle, you know?

And we still meet for lunch.

- Do you really?

- Like, maybe three times a year.

- Oh.

- We meet, yeah.

And Ron Howes and Hope Hines.

- Right?

- Yeah.

- Right.

- So we all get together.

- That's just such an era, I think, for Nashville, you know, that is so important and part of our, just part of our history, but- - Right.

- But really true ambassadors for this city.

- They certainly were.

- Yeah.

- They really were.

Everybody knew them.

- Is there any other highlight from your period at Channel 5 that you really wanna make sure that we know or remember or?

- Well, I got to interview Oprah.

- Okay, that's pretty big.

- That was pretty big.

And of course, she's got her start here- - Right.

- So, that meant a lot.

But she came back for Tennessee State to speak.

She was doing the graduation and she came by the station.

And when she heard that it was my last day, or I was retiring, she took me over to the side, and she held my hand.

And she said, "So now, how are you dealing with retirement?"

And I said, "So far," you know, I said, "I haven't really done it yet.

It hasn't come up."

But anyway, she talked to me.

She said, "Well, you know what?

You just take your time.

Whatever you do, don't let people pressure you into doing anything.

You just take your time."

- Wow.

- And I just felt like a kinship with her.

- Yeah.

- I really did.

I didn't feel like, "Oh my God, it's Oprah Winfrey" at that point.

I just thought somebody with some good advice.

- Yeah.

- So that's one of the things I'll remember too.

- So what's next for you, Vicki?

- I don't know.

I'm just kind of, you know, open to life.

I don't wanna just say, "I'm doing this and I'm not doing anything else."

Because you never know.

- No.

- You have to open the door to all kinds of possibilities.

- So how about "Tennessee Crossroads?"

- You know, I might do "Tennessee Crossroads."

(both laughing) - Well, we sure would love to have you here- - Thank you.

- spending some time with us at NPT.

And is there anything that I didn't ask you that you wish I had?

- Oh, that's a good question.

No, maybe advice for others- - I would love that.

- who are in the business.

Okay.

- I would love that.

- I just think that you really have to, and this goes for any job, you have to love what you do.

You have to, you know, there are a lot of people who moan and complain about, "Oh, I hate this," or.

Then leave.

That's how I feel.

You know, if you really hate it that much, you're supposed to be somewhere else.

You're not supposed to be here.

And always have a curiosity, because the curiosity makes a good reporter.

If you're just doing a story because somebody said, "Oh, just do this story," you know, and you have no kind... You're not involved with it or feeling close to it, then you've gotta work on that.

You have to be a part of that.

You have to be open to what's going on.

Because if you're not, then they won't be either.

The audience isn't stupid.

- Right.

- You know, we have very smart audiences.

- [Becky] Yeah.

- And so they wanna know what the real story is.

- Well, this has been such a joy, and I am so grateful for you.

- Oh, thank you.

- And just, we look forward to seeing more of you.

And hopefully right here- (gentle music) - I was gonna say, right here.

- on NPT.

That's right.

- (chuckling) I'll be back.

- Thank you, friend.

- Thank you (chuckles).

(gentle music continues) ♪ I've thrown away my compass ♪ ♪ Done with the chart ♪ ♪ I'm tired of spinning around ♪ ♪ In one direction ♪ - And who do you think influenced you the most?

- In TV or just- - Just in your life.

- Oh, in my life.

Probably my mother, my mother.

I wanted to be an artist.

I wanted to paint for a life for life's- - Work?

- work.

And she said, "You can't do that."

And I'm like, "Why, I love..." And I had an art teacher who was, you know, saying, "You do great work."

And I said, "That's what I wanna do.

I wanna be an artist."

And she said, "You don't make any money being an artist."

(both laughing) She said, "You're going to Michigan State."

Because I had been accepted.

I'm like, "Oh mom, I can go another time."

She says, "No, you're going to Michigan State."

So I'm so glad I followed her advice and went to Michigan State because that opened, like I said, opened a lot of doors.

- [Becky] Yeah.

- But she was always very wise.

She wasn't always subtle.

- Yeah.

But, like that.

She was like, "No, you're not gonna be an artist.

You're gonna be going to college."

- And do you still do art?

- I'm starting to do it again, now that I'm retired.

- Oh, great.

Great.

- Yeah.

- That's great.

(gentle music)