Relationships keep us going, even when the relationship is between a person and a television station. For some people, particularly the old or the infirm, a television is the only link to the outside world, the only human voice in a small apartment where no one comes to visit anymore. I learned that lesson early in my career in TV news, and I’m re-learning it this week with the demise of my old station, WTVH.
Many years ago, perhaps around 1985, I received a fan letter from a very young viewer who it appeared had just learned how to write. The little girl’s name was Michelle. She said she enjoyed watching me on the news and I wrote back to thank her, ending the letter with a question. “How old are you?” I wrote, intending to show praise for good penmanship in a child so young. Michelle wrote back quickly. I will never forget the words. “Dear Maureen. I am 24. I was hit by a car when I was 4.”
From that day on, Michelle and I were friends. She came to watch me do the news at the New York State Fair. I once brought her swimming at Nottingham high school and took her out for her favorite fast food, a Burger King hamburger.
Michelle called me every single week. Only when I was on vacation or maternity leave did I not hear from her on a Tuesday. Her brain injury made her speech breathy and halted and difficult to understand, so the conversations on the phone at my desk in the newsroom sometimes lasted longer than a person on deadline should have allowed, but I knew this relationship was important to Michelle and therefore it was a priority to me. Michelle taught me a lot about loyalty, patience and longevity. She was as reliable in calling me at Channel 5 as Channel 5 was in broadcasting the news to her and many like her in this region.
It’s what makes this week’s gutting of Channel 5 all the more sad. As we spoke to a seemingly solitary camera lens the audience looked back and saw a friend, and now there are fewer friends to deliver the news in Syracuse as this town effectively dwindled from three news gathering stations to two.
I’ve heard from so many wonderful old friends who have found this blog and left comments. And I’ve heard from others too, for whom the relationship was invisible to me until they introduced themselves as someone who watched Channel 5.
There are thousands of people in every city across the country, who in spite of the addictive qualities of the internet, are still turning on the television and making a daily investment in the friend they see there. As television stations return dividends to investors in order to survive, let’s hope they remember to invest in the relationships that are often ignored for their invisibility. Invisible, but profoundly important.
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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi Maureen,
I can say proudly that I’m from Syracuse and that I watched you & Ron as a child growing up. So much so of watching the local news that I took it to go into the business despite everyone saying to stay away from it (even Rod Wood told me to while I worked at Wegman’s through my undergrad years at Le Moyne) because of pay and other things. I stuck it out, went on to Newhouse and got my masters in Broadcasting Journalism. I was taught by some of the best former Syracuse News personalities out there (Randy Wenner, Ron Hastings, Dona Hayes & John Nicholson). They had much to offer and I had much to learn.
What has happened at 5 has left a giant hole in what news is offered here in Central New York. WHEN/WTVH was a powerhouse in the 80′s & 90′s with you folks at the helm. Seeing you guys on a daily basis and always having a quirk for telling my friends what was going on not only around here but all over was the spark that pushed me to get into this business. I put a complete effort into what I do and I enjoy it (both the ups and the downs).
There is a rich history of television here in Central New York and more people need to appreciate where 5 is in getting the ball rolling. I’ve had the great pleasure of meeting Jean Daugherty when she was alive at a documentary competition through OHA and she told me much of her time in the golden era of television at 5. I can only hope that the history contained within 5′s walls will be preserved for future generations to observe, learn from and enjoy. Take care.
Grant H. deBruin
Noon Producer / Web Producer
WKTV NEWSChannel 2
Dear Maureen;
Most of us are probably allured by the attractive notion that effortless relationships exist.
Whether it be happily-ever-after marriages, or friendships which last forever, or parent/child bonds which supercede the need to understand each other, we’d all like to believe that our most intimate relationships are unconditional, and strong enough to withstand whatever may come.
However, at some point in our lives most of us need to face the fact that relationships require effort to keep them strong and positive, and that even wonderful, strong relationships can be destroyed by neglect.
You are the exception to this rule!
Bill Dalton, PhD
CNY Homeless Veterans Services