A timeline/background history on the situation is what Mr. DeLapp was seemingly writing about until he penned this line: “{Michael} Benny, who could pass for Mr. Peanut if given a top hat and a cane (so, for that matter, could former anchor Kevin Schenk), had enough professional moxie to make this illusion work {referring to the switch to Channel 3 during Channel 5 broadcasts}—that is if you were an out-of-towner watching the boob tube in a Carrier Circle motel room.”
This is an unnecessary low blow to Mr. Benny and Mr. Schenk that has no business being printed in this article. The author’s opinion on Mr. Benny and Mr. Schenk’s personal appearances and “look-alike” status have no relevance to the unfortunate situation at hand with the merger of the two stations. If Mr. DeLapp had commented on a female newscaster in this regard, I’m sure there would be more uproar in the community.
Furthermore, the latter part of Mr. DeLapp’s statement regarding Mr. Benny’s newscast post-merger, is also insulting to both Mr. Benny and the Syracuse community. Mr. Benny, I am sure, is working to cope with a difficult employment situation; the majority of his co-workers have been laid off, and he is one of the apparent few to survive and he must run a newscast as he can.
In short, please take care when combining a factual and editorialized article. Name-calling and taunting in the behavior that Mr. DeLapp expressed in his article are childish behavior, and have no place in any forum other than a trashy gossip magazine.
—Victoria Perez
Liverpool
