Media failed square dancers

I think that all of the news media should be ashamed of their reporting on Hoopfest weekend. Not all of the people in the Inland Northwest are interested in basketball. There are many thousands of people that do things or have interests like fishing, golf, and other activities that involve our minds and bodies.

The National Square Dance Convention was held right here in Spokane, bringing in dancers from 49 states and five countries. How could you dismiss the square dancers that filled buildings with energetic and well-dressed people of all ages doing just the same thing as the basketball players were doing? They were doing what they like to do: dance.

One TV station, when called, said that they did not have enough people to cover everything. They had enough people to send a reporter to Portland to cover a track meet that even fewer viewers were interested in.

Hundreds of men and women worked six years to bring thousands of dancers from all over the world to see the city of Spokane. The dancers spent money and displayed true elegance. That is more than the news media did.

Calvin Greenaway

Chewelah, Wash.