October 30, 2003

Letter to the Editor

The Journal News

 Beware the lure of Network News!

Recently my parents, who are respectively 99 and 95, were part of a National Study conducted by scientists from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and the University of Maryland and led by Dr. Nir Barzilai. Because of its conclusion that there may be a cholesterol-linked gene that may be the key to long life, ABC World News Tonight contacted me. I was asked to please make my parents available for an interview that they wanted to do on this emerging story. I agreed and was at my parent’s apartment this past Tuesday to facilitate this effort. Little did I know, but I was soon aware, that this interview team would take up five hours of my parent’s and my time and it would be as disruptive and intrusive as possible. Of course we went along with the delays, repetitiveness and insipid questions for the sake of the story and to be part of history. After it was all over, I had second thoughts about the whole ordeal, but thankfully my parents didn’t get to their advanced age by not being hardy folk. It wasn’t long until I received the foreshadowing call, that the ABC News was limited on their time, and the segment would have to be trimmed. So in conclusion, like many others their segment was left on the “cutting floor.” What a waste of time, what a waste of money, and besides, I was told that five other teams were intruding on others, no less! The report came on, last night it said very little, not unlike the rest of network news. So beware of the lure of fame, it is fleeting.

Richard J. Garfunkel