this girl is taking bets

Shorthand may or may not have been something he learned at UC Berkeley back in the early 70s. There's some evidence that a particular style of shorthand might've been taught in US schools back in the 50s, but the version Daniel most likely would know is Teeline Shorthand which was developed in the UK in 1968. It's a system that's primarily used for English and provides a unique way to transcribe conversations by cutting out unnecessary letters and effectively making letters much quicker to write. Shorthand for the whole alphabet exists!

Source: Wikipedia

If Daniel didn't learn shorthand at university, there's a high chance he would've learned it in a newsroom or of his own volition. It's an extremely handy tool to have in a journalist's toolkit and can make the difference between missing an important quote or information from a source—even if you're recording the interview. It's also just handy to know for when you're on the ground reporting and taking notes about things happening. Rules for this kind of shorthand system aren't super strict, so some writers even personalize the shorthand with their symbols.

So, Daniel knows shorthand. And over the years of his career, he starts to personalize the system for his own work. But that personalization especially happens when he begins his investigative journalism work in 1982 (as per the show's LinkedIn account for him). By that point, he's been a journalist for almost a decade. 

Source: Daniel Molloy's LinkedIn

But the early 80s is when his investigative journo path begins and he has the aforementioned progressive beats that undoubtedly see him traveling alot to do coverage in the cities and communities he’s writing about. We know he goes to other countries for many (past Devil’s Minion) reasons. Shorthand would be a ridiculously helpful skill to have — whether he was working on interviews with a translator or just working through ideas for a story while on the go.

Daniel Molloy whose career saw him writing for a pretty niche paper to the San Francisco Chronicle (where he presumably was fired from) to Time Magazine and The LA Times as a freelance journalist later in life. Freelancing for over 40 years isn’t for the weak of heart, not when freelance budgets can be flowing heavy in one quarter and completely bone dry the next. But Daniel, both because of his own drive and the little vampire boost from Louis, never has a problem holding down a job or finding more work in journalism. 

Freelancing is a precarious career path, and freelance investigative journalism even more-so. Reporting on investigative pieces can range from as little as a few months to literal years, depending on the scope of the story and the research, work, and travel needed. Think finding sources and building trust with them (sometimes speaking to them on or off the record), referencing documents, searching databases, receiving leaked information, and building a selection of supporting documentation on which to write your piece(s).

Investigative journalism is also known as watchdog journalism which, according “aims to check the abuses of those who have wealth and power. It exposes wrongdoing so it can be corrected, not because journalists and their patrons benefit from exposure.” This is the type of journalism that Daniel Molloy moves into. 

Source: Columbia Center for Teaching and Learning: Defining Investigative Reporting

Think of 20-something Daniel who’s seemingly focused on the stories of everyday people. He’s searching for all the fascinating bits and pieces of the folks he’s interviewing. Take Vera, the single mother who “works in a titty bar on Market Street.” And Kevin, the “Vietnam vet who lives in The Castro with his Vietnamese refugee boyfriend with no legs.” These are just relatively average residents of San Francisco — but Daniel sees something in each and every person who’s story he commits to tape. He’s looking beyond just a passing glance with each individual that he comes across. There’s something about each person that catches his interest enough for him to want to sit and listen to them. Daniel himself says it best to Louis in s1, ep6:

Daniel: Hey, you know, I could interview you. Louis: Well, I'm no one of importance. Daniel: Well, that's my speciality. You see, I look for people in the cracks, you feel me? Louis: I do feel you. Daniel: You know, it's about the people, you know, who make the city, right? You know, not a cop or a politician. 

He starts out his career finding the people in the cracks of society and telling their stories in print. So it’s no surprise that Daniel, dog with a bone that he always is no matter the circumstances, becomes an investigative reporter once he’s a few more years into his career. Investigative journalism at its core is finding things in the cracks, digging up things that are secret and hidden, working to reveal systemic failures and larger patterns of both lawful and legal abuse and wrongdoing. Daniel turns telling individual people’s stories into a very long, very prolific career that sees him covering a number of impactful stories during that time.

So 20-something Daniel, both before and after that life-changing interview with Louis, really sets the way for his own career trajectory further down the line. That bright young reporter with a point of view lets said POV guide him over and over again when it comes to stories that require a big time and labor commitment to coverage and he’s good at it. There’s a passion for the work and a need to dig as deep as possible and needed. 

Journalism isn’t a well-paid field, barring a few high paying roles here and there. You don’t stay in the industry for the money. It’s definitely a “bring your passion for the work” to the table industry and Daniel certainly has passion in spades that sees him through the early tumultuous years all the way to the 2020s where he’s an established journalist, considered to be “one of the finest,” as per Leonard Micheal’s comment in s2e8. 

It’s a career that shaped his entire life and how he views just about everything he’s ever done. Consider that the classic foundational set of journalism questions—Who, What, When, Where and Why—are practically in his blood from the first time we see him. The Five Ws guided him in both his cassette tape and investigative days and they led him through to the end of the second interview with Louis. There’s hardly a part of Daniel that doesn’t yearn to know the answers to all of his questions—no matter what it takes.

Daniel Molloy, who says there are stories that need to be told, who spent his entire mortal life telling stories, who questioned Armand when he was being held captive, who never lost sight of the end of the tunnel, always seeking out more and more stories to dig his teeth into and share with the world.

There’s a very real doggedness to the work Daniel has done, but there’s also a reflection of a long, human life that’s allowed him to learn the skills he needed to be very good at what he does.

For some prime examples of real-world investigative journalism, see the Pulitzer Prize winners in that category dating back to 1985.

For some prime examples of real-world investigative journalism, see the Pulitzer Prize winners in that category dating back to 1985.