KELLY DIETZ
Journalist
Emmy award-winning investigative producer and multi-skilled journalist for KARE11, the NBC affiliate in Minneapolis, MN. Passionate journalist. Facilitates all special projects from start to finish. Experience adding daily depth to newscasts, as well as producing long-form documentary-type investigative reports.
Fueled by getting results and accountability. Thrives in a high-paced, challenging environment.
Special skills in interpersonal management, research, planning, editorial decision-making, and social media.
INVESTIGATIONS:
LONG-FORM SPECIAL REPORTS
My best-produced work, complied into 30-minute investigative specials.
THE JOURNEY FROM TIP TO ACCOUNTABILITY
A variety of stories in which sources’ last cry for help landed them in our Denver7 inbox. From the western slope to a rural mountain town south of Denver, this special report gives a behind-the-curtain look at the journey from tip to accountability, spotlighting how trusted insiders have helped Denver7 uncover hidden documents, get families’ answers, and ask tough questions for leaders in power.
Both stories in this half-hour special were produced and led by me. I specifically handled interview setups, source vetting, identifying story direction, submitting CORAs, filtering through documents provided for "smoking gun" info (we found it for both), assisted in the writing process, and led editorial decision-making and final edits. I was responsible for web-script/digital versions of all of the stories showcased (can provide individual scripts outside of the special version if needed). Also, brainstormed and facilitated social media posts and studio talk-backs for both stories to extend story shelf life across multiple platforms.
IMMEDIATE JEOPARDY: SECRETS INSIDE A MENTAL HEALTH HOSPITAL
This special dives into the secrets inside the walls of a mental health hospital an hour north of Denver. Over the past year, informed insiders have come forward saying the conditions inside Johnstown Heights Behavioral Health are nearly identical to a hospital with the same address but different owners, shut down by state regulators in 2020. This investigation exposes claims of a hospital prioritizing profit over patient care, uncovers concerns over a death inside the facility, forces inquiries by state regulators, and brings questions to Colorado's most powerful leader about a state agency's "not-so-surprise" inspections.
Each story compiled in this special was produced and led by me. I garnered various sources for these reports, reviewed hundreds of pages of documents from the state, and was able to identify a HIPPA-protected patient outlined in an inspection report and confirm the same death of that patient at the facility. I was also responsible for assisting in script writing for the on-air version of this story, leading editorial decision-making and final edits as well as independently writing the web-script/digital versions of all of the stories showcased.
AT THE STATION, IN THE FIELD
I strive to be the "jack of all trades" producer, who goes above and beyond for the story. Find me conducting undercover projects, field-producing live elements, and traveling for exclusive confrontations.
13-HOUR STAKE OUT
Strong sources paid dividends when their intel led me to Arizona for the arrest of a woman accused of conspiring to provide false records to a court. I coordinated with our legal team as well as police to capture footage of the confrontation, fed soundbites and updates back to our newsroom, wrote multiple day-of segments for on-air, and independently completed the web version of this story. This was an exclusive story.
UNDERCOVER
Hidden camera operations conducted by me, after learning Colorodans weren't being given EpiPens for a discounted price, despite a new state law putting the cost-cut into effect. I identified various locations to conduct our tests, set up background calls with our legal department to facilitate the undercover, and coordinated the team in the days footage was gathered.
CALLING SHOTS
Expertise in the field led me to the live production of the one-year anniversary of the Marshall Fire, the most devastating and destructive wildfire Coloradans have ever seen. I served as the communication liaison between our field and studio crews, sourced locations for live shots, and facilitated a half-hour of live coverage.
PRINT AND DIGITAL
A compilation of web scripts written by me, showcasing exclusive or breaking content produced day-of, with an investigative edge.
FIREFIGHTERS QUESTION USE OF RETENTION BONUS TO AID FAMILIES OF PARAMEDICS CONVICTED IN ELIJAH MCCLAIN'S DEATH
March 01, 2024
Aurora Fire Rescue firefighters have raised "moral and ethical concerns" about a retention bonus that was redirected and went toward a fund to support the families of Jeremy Cooper and Peter Cichuniec successful outcomes. To hook new potential clients, show how your work has provided solutions for past clients.
MORE INVESTIGATIONS:
Stories from previous market in Norfolk, Virginia. Initiated development of investigative unit, serving as the station’s first specialty producer.
HAVE YOU SEEN ME?
A News 3 investigation reveals the downfall in equity when reporting missing persons cases comes down to diversity in newsrooms and in law enforcement.
People of color make up roughly 40 percent of missing persons cases, but the cases that become household names are usually white women, according to an analysis of news coverage in the Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology.
“No one, not one person can name a missing black or brown male, female or child that has garnered mainstream media,” said Derrica Wilson, co-founder of the Black and Missing Foundation. “It's not to dishonor any community. We just want to even the playing field.”
Wilson, a former deputy sheriff for the Arlington County Sheriff’s Department in Virginia, said law enforcement and news organizations can help level that playing field.
Footnote: since these stories aired, I've taken on a station-wide initiative to highlight three missing cases per week, which would not typically garner the attention of news media. This has resulted in an outpour of trust from our community, who come to us first when providing tips about missing persons cases.
WRONGFUL INCARCERATION
A year-long investigation of thousands of court records pointed to a former Chesapeake basketball coach’s innocence after he was convicted of robbery.
Brian Faulcon's case revealed DNA evidence does not connect Faulcon to the crime; the victim’s testimony evolved to match Faulcon’s description; police asked the victim to identify Faulcon while she was under duress and he had already been placed in handcuffs; police destroyed evidence in a different robbery that occurred the same night, even though a surveillance image uncovered by WTKR shows a man who more closely matches the victim’s initial description of the man who robbed her.
WTKR’s exclusive reporting sparked a community effort in December 2021 led by state lawmakers and the NAACP for Governor Ralph Northam to use his power to pardon Faulcon. The community held rallies and collected more than 4,300 signatures in a petition to the governor. Northam pardoned Faulcon days before his term as governor ended in January 2022 (not shown in this video because Faulcon’s actual release happened in 2022).
Faulcon, a former junior varsity basketball coach and car detailing business owner, spent nearly a decade in prison trying to prove he was not the gunman who robbed a pizza delivery woman in 2012. He endured three trials before his eventual conviction in 2018. Faulcon and his family reached out to WTKR’s investigative team to expose the head-scratching chain of events that led to Faulcon’s arrest, conviction and sentencing. Investigative reporter Jessica Larché reviewed court documents, forensic reports, 911 calls, and surveillance video – video the jury that convicted Faulcon never got a chance to see – until this report aired.