February 21st, 2016: Still no response, no apology, no explanation. We don't exist. The club owner does not exist. The pianist does not exist. SILENCE!
January 26th, 2016: Still no apology. Zero response. It's obvious serving the public interest is less important than the bottom line. Makes sense why this company is inferior to all the other television stations. I shall contact the CEO that owns 31 for the inconvenience we all had to endure with their broken commitment.
January 22nd:
No response, no apology, no explanation. SILENCE! I guess their viewers don't matter and are not important. Sigh.
January 12, 2016
Ms. Holy Gauntt, Vice President and News Director
KWGN-TV
100 East Speer Blvd.
Denver, CO 80203
Dear Ms. Gauntt:
The coverage of news and human-interest stories that channel two broadcasts was the main reason I chose to inquire if your news department would be interested in covering a story idea that I submitted.
Below is the gist of my submission:
(Here in Denver there is an 86-year-old internationally known jazz pianist who is plagued with dementia. I pick him up every two weeks and drive him to a restaurant where he sits down at the piano and waits for guests to call out tunes. As soon as he hears the name of the tune, he begins to play it flawlessly. He knows more than four thousand songs, and yet, when I drive him home he has no recollection of having performed.
I am a retired psychologist and love music and thought a story about Mr. Wallace would inspire so many people to witness that there is something mysterious about the human mind, that a man can brilliantly play any song that is requested and yet have no memory of having done that. Would you be interested in doing a story about Mr. Wallace? I believe the impact on so many who have family members suffering memory loss would be inspiring.)
A few days later, Kevin Torres called and said he very much wanted to do a story about Mr. Wallace. So I immediately went to work to see if the restaurant manager, Janet Poth, could accommodate his request. And she did. She went out of her way to rearrange her performance schedule to allow Mr. Wallace to perform so that Kevin could film the event. The date was set for January 5th, 2016. Ms. Poth then started marketing and spending a considerable amount of time advertising that channel two would be doing a story about the internationally known pianist, Billy Wallace. Many of the guests who attended told me they were there for that reason.
On the morning of January 5, 2016, I phoned Kevin as he had requested to give him instructions where he could meet me and to see if there were any last minute concerns he might have. I also called to let him know when I would pick up Mr. Wallace so that Kevin and his cameraman could film Billy and me in the car talking to one another as I drove him to the restaurant.
But I soon became puzzled when Kevin did not call back. I waited an hour, two hours, called again, left another message and waited, but nothing. I called Janet, the manager, and it was the same story with her, no call, no explanation. Even more perplexing, I never heard from Kevin again, not during or after the performance. And the next day, no return call to explain, perhaps, or to apologize why he did not show or why he did not return my calls. I waited several more days and had no choice but to reluctantly write this letter.
Much to the restaurant manager's humiliation, and my embarrassment, both of us had to inform all the guests that attended that we had no idea why channel two did not follow through. We were repeatedly asked why and we had no answers other than what I described above. Most of the customers announced they were there to observe the filming and I must say, quite angry. Several said that they would never watch KWGN again. Several also said that they would write on-line complaints demanding an explanation.
To this day, it remains a puzzle to me why Kevin did not have the professional courtesy to call the manager or me to explain or apologize for not following through especially after I postponed my travel plans to be there for the event.
,
Which brings me to my point. When I told attendees at the restaurant that I would write this letter they insisted I demand that channel two management remedy this unprofessional and ethically questionable behavior with more than a verbal or written apology for the trouble they went through to support Billy and KWGN-TV by being at the restaurant. They asked me to request that someone else on your staff seriously reconsider doing the Billy Wallace story so that the viewers who have family and friends suffering from cognitive impairment can remain hopeful there are ways they can connect with their loved one.
I said that I would and assured them, I was confident you would honor their request.
I am hopeful that is the case.
Sincerely,
Dr. Sydney H. Harriet
cc: Peter Maroney, General Manager or Interim General Manager read more
