Detour: TV Coverage
Behind the scenes as local news programs cover my story
From the moment I discovered that Jerry and Rita Alter had stolen two more paintings (read that post here), I knew that the media would report the news. What’s surprised me is that the story continues to get coverage. One reporter explained to me that viewers seem to love art theft stories: they offer drama without violence.
Two TV stations ran pieces on my work this week.
Phoenix ABC15 reporter Anne Ryman was the first to break the original de Kooning story in 2017. She interviewed me for a second time a couple of weeks ago. This time, we taped the piece in Old Town Scottsdale, in front of the gallery where the two stolen paintings were auctioned in 2018. It was funny conducting the interview on the sidewalk. Passing tourists reacted as if some major news was breaking or someone important was getting interviewed, and I’m sure I disappointed them.
Anne cleverly headlined her story, “Have You Seen These Stolen Paintings?” Since they were sold in Scottsdale, which is one of the world’s hubs for Western Art, it’s likely the missing works reside here in someone’s home. Anne projected their images and asked anyone who has seen them to contact the Harwood Museum.
You can see the segment here:
Ryan Laughlin, a reporter at KOB4 in Albuquerque, focused on the New Mexico angle. He interviewed me at the Harwood Museum in Taos, where the paintings were stolen, and 400 miles away in Silver City, NM, near where the Alters lived. He also filmed me driving in my car. A camera operator sat beside me as I drove and rambled about whatever came to mind. I love that Ryan’s piece conveys the flavor of my writing: travel combined with true crime. Ryan’s story is about seven minutes long and does a phenomenal job of making my findings visual and engaging.
That segment is here:
Though you wouldn’t know it from watching these two pieces, the self-talk in my head during all the interviews is, ‟Smile, smile.” I still come across as overly serious (though of course not in the still I carefully selected above, where I appear skeptical and bemused).
Stay tuned: Another Albuquerque station will be running a story in the next few days. I’ll post that once it airs.
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