Steve Wilson Leaving WXYZ Channel 7

After nearly nine rewarding years as Chief Investigative Reporter, I am leaving Channel 7.

I am making this announcement here and now because I wanted you to hear it first directly from me. And because truth and honesty is what I have always tried my best to stand for in my work and in my life, let me say candidly this decision is not my own.

Simply put, Channel 7’s corporate management in Cincinnati just does not see the value in continuing to invest in me and the work I do here in Detroit. I have received written notice that my contract is not being renewed when it expires at the end of March.

More details and full statement are in attachment...click below to read more.

Good luck Steve.

Steve, that is indeed stupefying news. Logic never seems behind this sort of thing, even if it is couched in revamping, freshening or some such verbiage.

Personally, I hope you consider staying here in town. I know you're a Fla guy, but we still need good people here. Don't think you have to leave just because some pencil neck in Cinci doesn't see how valuable you are.

That said, when there are no words, just say, "fuck 'em"

I made the above comments before reading your attached DOC. That sounds fantastic Steve. There is a similar international model that has been in effect for a little over a year, I'm sure you are all over that concept, but if not let me know.

Love your work and I hope things work out for the better, good luck.

It's a shame.

I'm glad to see you arent giving up on this city though. I look forward to your reports - perhaps now you can fully investigate everything you wanted to before... this could be a good thing if it takes off...


PS - locate the offices for this new group downtown :)

Good luck Steve.

[Full Statement copied here for the benefit of those who may not be able to open a Word document]

Although it won’t be at Channel 7, before I leave Detroit where there’s so much work to be done, I’m exploring a new way to continue investigating government corruption and other waste and frauds that have so badly hurt this region.

Before I explain the new concept I’m developing, I must say a heartfelt thank you for the opportunities and support I’ve received from managers here inside Broadcast House. I want my colleagues especially to know that were it not for those past and present managers here, people with the courage to stand up for Channel 7’s long tradition as a Detroit leader in investigative reporting [[and my own willingness to quietly accept a substantial pay cut I’ve lived with for the last two years), I would not have been on the air at WXYZ-TV this long. Nonetheless, my own experience has made me even more mindful of the countless families whose lives have been virtually devastated through absolutely no fault of their own, either.

Although it is deeply disappointing to see the further reduction of local investigative reporting—Channel 2 recently parted with its chief investigative reporter, a veteran with 22 years in Detroit, and newspapers across the region have made well-publicized cutbacks—I am not at all bitter and fully respect the right of my corporate managers to meet their business goals as they see fit. I’m sure they also appreciate my right to wonder, even in a tough economy, how a decision to reduce or eliminate investigative efforts as they are also doing at other stations in the group squares with the company’s promise that it remains “committed to…providing high-quality content…and public service.�


I’m leaving a wonderful newsroom full of journalists unlike any other I’ve ever had the pleasure to work with and a station that’s home to so many folks I admire and deeply respect. I know they will continue to do their best to make “on your side� more than a slogan.

Finally—and most important—to the people of Southeast Michigan: Thank you for showing that you still enthusiastically favor news organizations that exhibit the courage to serve up hard-hitting, no-nonsense reports about issues that really matter. I will be forever grateful for the support and encouragement that so many of you have voiced on the phone, in writing and personally wherever I go. I hope I can count on you to help me establish a new home for more tenacious local reporting before it disappears to an even greater extent.

Inspired by similar models that are already working in New England and Texas and California, places where investigative reporting was withering, I’ve begun the work to establish a Michigan Center For Investigative Reporting. As a 501[[c)3 non-profit organization, it would be home to a first-rate investigative reporting team that would have the time and resources to tenaciously dig deep into issues of real importance, to uncover what would otherwise remain hidden. I'm talking about picking up where I've left off and concentrating on stories I've promised to do, like the insurance crisis in Detroit.

This plan will require partners at local broadcast and print outlets that would carry the stories without any one of them having to bear the full cost. The lion’s share of the funding would come from grants from various sources and foundations…but to some extent, The Center will also need to count on “support from people like you,� as they say on public television and radio.

I’ve already begun conversations to help this happen…and I believe with real community support, it can. Detroit is a place that’s seen how tenacious investigative journalism is sometimes the only way to know what we’ll never hear from any politician’s soundbite, and to hold accountable the people who put their special interests ahead of the public interest.

There is so much to be done and I know the job of launching a new model to invigorate local investigative reporting here will not be easy. If you’re so inclined, I’d certainly appreciate reading your thoughts here, especially about whether such a model for investigative reporting can work in this area at this time...and your best suggestions and advice for making it happen. You can reach me with an e-mail to wilson@investigatemichigan.com.

Steve, I am deeply saddened to hear you possibly leaving the area. We need more like you around these days.
Keep up the great work wherever you end up being.
-Chub

Sorry to see you go. Your work will be missed indeed.

This is bad news. Only way to put it.

Steve, thanks for your hard work. I knows that for every short story on the news, hours of your work were required.

It would be wonderful if you were able to see the Kwame story through to the end, and to do so before WXYZ's owners make their big mistake permanent.

I also appreciate your presence on this board and your even temperament even as some of us took our shots at you. Very classy!

So sorry to hear you are leaving WXYZ, but will be anxiously awaiting hearing from you on your new venture. Thanks for all the great reports you have given us.

Steve,

I have always loved your reports. I hope you well in whatever you do, please keep in touch.

Wow, so sorry to hear this. I hope your new center takes off...this region needs it!

Sorry to see you go, Steve. I would think there's a rich vein of corruption in this town to keep an army of investigative reporters busy. I guess the corporate heads in Cincy could care less what happens in Detroit. You don't think they'll bring in Scott Lewis to replace you?

Metro Detroit will not be the same without Steve Wilson on the front lines. Thanks & Good Luck!

Good Luck in your new endeavor, Steve. I too have always enjoyed your reports and looked forward to your findings on all the investigations you have been involved with. Your determination and tenacity in getting to the heart of the stories was always something special.

I look forward to hearing more about your non-profit...be sure you keep DetroitYes! posted!

Thanks for all the kind words and support. Anyone with specific ideas on the best way to get The Michigan Center For Investigative Reporting up and running with local support, I'd love to hear from you.

Eno asked if I thought Scott Lewis might replace me here. Scott is a terrific, first-rate investgative reporter. You'd best ask him about his plans after leaving Channel 2 recently. With that said...While you'd think his 22 years here in Detroit would be an asset, I think he, too, has seen that often the demands on investigative reporters these days are not consistent with producing a first-rate, accurate, fair and in-depth report or series of broadcasts. He and I both have high standards about what we want to put our name on, as do others here in Detroit and beyond.

Many stations now expect to provide signficiantly less support to an investigative reporter and then have higher expectations about frequent appearance on the air. As you can imagine, getting on the air 3 or 4 times a week is just non consistent with taking the time to investigate topics of real significance and make sure you're not wrong. This is why in some cases you hear plenty of hype in the promos and then when you tune in, it's all sizzle and little, if any, steak. It's sort of like airport security...it SEEMS like security but when you look closely, you understand it's really just more the ILLUSION of security.

well put steve! I will miss your reports on WXYZ as well. I appreciate all the work you have put in throughout the years and it is my hope that you will continue to frequent and post on DetroitYES!

Steve, good luck in your new endeavor! Perhaps investigative reporting is best done when it's not dependent on what provides the highest Nielson ratings.

Thanks Steve for all your work thus far and hope you don't give up to uncover the facts through your new Center, which is quite innovative for Detroit and Michigan. You will be missed on TV and Channel 7 has lost a great reporter! Good luck! Bon Chance!

I second that you should locate those offices in downtown Detroit.

All the best to you, Steve, in your new endeavor. I'll never forget a day eight years ago when I walked out of my classroom at the old Cass Tech and there you were with your television crews interviewing the teacher next door!

I am glad that you're planning to stay in metro Detroit. Hope you'll continue to post here.

I am deeply saddened by this news. The loss of the quality of your reporting will be missed.

There is little news content on the air and our newspapers should be embarrassed to call themselves news.

As to your 501c3. It has merit. I imagine internet is the way to go. Get some paying advertisers. I write grants for our 501c3 although I have been sadly lazy this year. Should I come across any grants that apply to your goals, I will forward them.

One caution, make sure you keep meticulous records since many 501c3 are shams. Hey that could one of your first stories.

Write a book of your experiences. Wayne State Press would be a good distributor. Hit the lecture circuit and sell your book. Some pay honoraiums [[sp) some don't but it will highlight your organization. Keep a log book on attendees and create a newsletter.

If I think of any other suggestions, I will post. I am sure I can think of more suggestions but I suffer from insomnia and at 4 in the morning I not the brightest star in the sky.

One other thought, make sure Metro Times covers this story. Maybe you could free lance for them.

Im truely sorry to see Steve leave channel 7. He was truely an asset to the company, I really enjoyed viewing his reports over the years.

Just had a few more thoughts, become an associate professor at the various universities. Enlist the classes in research.

Grosse Pointe has a private local cable channel, maybe contract with them to do a monthly or occaisional program something like, all things point. Of course it would have to be local news but plenty of corruption to be found everywhere.

Best wishes and good luck.

Ps: sending a nasty letter to channel 7. They are complete idiots!

Sumas

The more I thought about it, the madder I got, so I thought I would post the letter I am sending the station. Not my best effort but I think I covered all points.


February 26, 2010

Dear Channel 7 Corporate Officials,

I am extremely dismayed at your cancellation of Mr. Wilson’s contract. The news has become mostly fluff and stuff with giggling anchors and stupid banter.

Mr. Wilson is an investigator and reporter of the highest integrity. His loss to this viewing community cannot be measured.

I’ll be switching to other airtime news mediums shortly but only after I note your corporate sponsors and write to them at my dismay.

You cheapen the name news.

Sincerely,

Classy move, Steve, to break the news here . . . where it was picked up within a half-hour by another hard-working Detroit journalist who knows how to mine grass-roots info.

Quote:

---

. . . announced tonight on DetroitYes.com that his contract wasn't renewed . . .

". . . let me say candidly this decision is not my own," Wilson wrote on the popular metro Detroit online forum, where he's a regular poster.

---

That's from a post by Crain's Detroit Business reporter Bill Shea, also a DY regular.

Popular is a popular word for this town e-square. ". . . Wilson also posted the news on DetroitYes.com, a popular local Web forum." -- Detroit News today, which needed two reporters to chase Shea's newsbreak

A call to WXYZ-TV tells me that the president of the company that owns Channel 7 is Brian Lawlor. I for one plan on sending him an email:

Brian.Lawlor@scripps.com

Sorry to here this Steve....always loved the way you went after people and never gave up....Good Luck and God Bless

Know what your going through bro. I just lost my job with EDS/HP after 13 years. The cuts are being made by Corporate weasels far away from the community.

Thanks Mista, Now my letter can go directly to the head bozo. This is why I love this board. Informed people sharing info.

Steve, you are one of the last great investigative journalists out there. Your leaving 7 is a loss to our community. guess they will fill the air with more "isn't that a cute puppy?" stories. a shame, a sham.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by rb336

Steve, you are one of the last great investigative journalists out there. Your leaving 7 is a loss to our community. guess they will fill the air with more "isn't that a cute puppy?" stories. a shame, a sham.

---

I hear that! The local news stations are a joke

Good luck on your new venture Steve. You are needed here so don't give up.

Smart, sobering perspective is blogged today by Matt Friedman, a local strategic communications strategist and past WDIV news producer:

Quote:

---

This is another example of how media companies are trying to cut their way to the future. Take a look at the ratings most nights and you’ll realize it’s not working. Why stay up to watch an 11 p.m. newscast now? You can get the weather forecast and sports scores on your phone, anytime. You can get news headlines online. Without original, enterprise local reporting, how can TV news make any compelling case to attract an audience?

---

We sure don't want to see you go Steve...you broke many important stories here in the Detroit area. I think the station is crazy to let you go and still keep some of the "talking heads" that are doing traffic reports and weather. I will certainly let the station know what I think. Good luck to you.

Who's next...M.L. Elrick? What are these news companies thinking? Investigative reporting is their "meat and potatoes". I guess there must not be any more corruption in this city to report about. :rolleyes:

D.U.M.B.

Well, the local stations here in Las Vegas seem to be 50% full of fluff, also. Ain't a day goes by but what they don't air something about a dog shelter or a wild horse roundup or some such. And if a quarter inch of rain is in the forecast, they blow it up so you think Noah is putting lumber together again.

Good luck, Steve. Your kind is all that makes TV news worth much any more.

I know what you mean Ray, We get two inches of snow and its reported as a disaster. This is Michigan so I expect we realize we get snow in winter. Just would like some hard news.

While Steve has not said anything, I do wonder if there were constraints at the station that kept him from reporting as he may have preferred. Could be there was no support from managment, roadblocks thrown up at every turn, subtle or blatant. Just speculating. I think a fine place to relocate is somewhere like next door to the station, with one big bad *ss sign they would have to look at coming and going every single day. Maybe with a lighted sign like "Kramer" had from the chicken shop across the street from his apt. on Seinfeld.:D

Good luck Steve in your future ventures. I hope that your idea for the center works out. I am terribly shocked that scripps would do this. Journalism is not the same anymore.

Stromberg2

Nobody wants "news" anymore. Not even WWJ who proclaim to be "news radio" everything is fluff. We get formula radio if we have a regular am-fm radio, there are no more personalities. And to be honest - I don't think anyone has the attention span anymore to recognize familiar names and voices, so, at least Mr. Wilson has a plan and can continue his work. Good luck.

Another Detroit watchdog silenced.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by rotation_slim

and fully acknowledging Steve's great work in the PAST, but has Steve broken any significant stories in the last 2 years? I am not talking about follow up stories, but breaking a huge story? I just can't think of any.

Again, I give full props for his early reporting on Kwame, Detroit Schools, and others, but he seems to be in a dry spell. His boss was in the freep saying this was not a perfomance issue, but I am not so sure.

I know steve is a darling on this board, as he comes to our sandbox and plays, but is he really the big player in town anymore?

---

Usually first time posters are welcome on this forum... but when they come out and post for the first time sounding like a Shill for WXYZ.... I'm not so sure.... :eek:

I don't know what the local stations are like up there any more. It used to be a toss up between 2, 4 and 7 as to who would get the best story first.

Out here in the sticks, one of our main stations is more focused on Facebook and their own website that they are towards on-air news. They do a quick blurb and then say, 'for more info, go to our website .... '. I'm used to the full story being broadcast.

Headline News now runs about 10 minutes of opinion polls and reading Facebook replies in place of NEWS. They used to be the place to get real news any time of the day or night. Now they're only on the air a few short hours during the day. Then they go off the air and switch on a bunch of useless gab shows.

I don't know of any serious investigative reports any more. I believe the stations are afraid of offending businesses that are advertisers.

I'm so sorry to hear you're leaving WXYZ. I thank you for the courageous investigative reporting you've done over the years. IMO,you've shown tremendous fortitude&dignity in your reports that have exposed blatent corruption&greed by those who felt they were above the law and beyond the reach of authority. I thank you for standing tall for MetroDetroit.
Best of luck to you Steve! We'll miss you!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by rotation_slim

and fully acknowledging Steve's great work in the PAST, but has Steve broken any significant stories in the last 2 years? I am not talking about follow up stories, but breaking a huge story? I just can't think of any.

Again, I give full props for his early reporting on Kwame, Detroit Schools, and others, but he seems to be in a dry spell. His boss was in the freep saying this was not a perfomance issue, but I am not so sure.

I know steve is a darling on this board, as he comes to our sandbox and plays, but is he really the big player in town anymore?

---

Well, well...why am I not surprised there's a disgruntled colleague in the [[broadcast) house who wants to take a snipe or two on my way out the door? Let's just leave it at this: Nobody knows Jack like I know Jack.

Heard Steve on WRIF this morning, [[wish it was on the web site to hear again) and I would have to say he is really going to be missed. Just hope the new projects take off and Steve is still around town as much as possible. You have a great following. Thanks for all you have done so far.

Wow. Steve, I can't begin to tell you how much you will be missed in "these parts". What the hell could WXYZ possibly be thinking [[there's the operative word...THINKING). They're willing to part ways with you, but keep on those jabbering fools who can't deliver the news without their maddening giggles and annoying side banter. I find the whole story, at best, sickening. You have a tenacity that some of us wish we possessed. You weren't afraid of being on the front lines. I admire what you did for us, for the City of Detroit. You became our voice. You went to bat for us. You were pushed around [[sometimes quite literally). But, in the end, you gave us what we wanted, a damn good story [[without the fluff). Steve, you have done Detroit proud. The hell with WXYZ. They will not be left holding the winning hand without you. All the best to you whereever your path leads [[hopefully it will remain with roots in Detroit) and kudos to you. Thank you Steve. Thank you very much!

One more thing, Steve, when you were given this "news" you could've used a line from Christine Beatty's playbook, "Do you know who the %$#^%%^ I am?"....naaa, you have too much class to stoop to that level.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by unclefrank

I hear that! The local news stations are a joke

---

..right along with the daily papers who print complete and utter drivel for the most part. Steve Wilson, Scott Lewis, M.L. and a few others are the only local media people I give any credence to.

Christ, they say it's a cost cutting move? What's next, outsourcing anchor jobs to India?

I really hope Steve's investigative reporting foundation takes off and becomes successful...perhaps beginning with an expose' on Bob Sliva. ;)

Steve - Thanks for you're involvement in Detroit politics over these many years. Now we can look foward to expanded coverage of "Dancing With the Stars" and menial scientific reports. The love has gone for the local news.

I just heard about this on the radio when coming home this evening! I am shocked :eek: to say the least. Steve, IMO you are the best investigative reporter ever. And I think it all has to do with what so many on this forum have already mentioned. Your tenacity. You will be missed on Channel 7. However, I wish you the best of luck in your new venture...to borrow a phrase from another channel...GO FOUR IT! :)

Since Kwame won't be around any longer, I guess Channel 7 felt there was no need to keep him around.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Bigb23

Steve - Thanks for you're involvement in Detroit politics over these many years. Now we can look foward to expanded coverage of "Dancing With the Stars" and menial scientific reports. The love has gone for the local news.

---

I was thinking along the same lines..........

Shall we discuss the newspapers, naw, let's not..........:rolleyes:

Steve, I'd like to say as a lifelong metro Detroiter [[30+ in the city, 1/2 year in Oakland County) I really appreciate all your efforts, it's possible the citizens of Detroit would still be getting robbed by Kwame if not for you. I'll make channel 7, the only local news I watch, aware of my displeasure.

I'd love to see you dig into Matty Maroun.

I hope Channel 7 realizes your severance pay should reflect your need to maintain a "lavish lifestyle".

Tongue planted firmly in cheek!

Steve, great work and never despair .

I was put out by the newspaper strike and even got fired from the Journal [[strike newspaper) . And, here I am , better for it.

Life goes on and so will you. Its their mistake and they already are slipping in the ratings.

I am in a better place than I have ever been and they did"nt
touch one of my moral scruples .

GOOD LUCK STEVE

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by buildingsofdetroit

Another Detroit watchdog silenced.

---

Unfortunately and particularly at a time when we really need them.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by buildingsofdetroit

Another Detroit watchdog silenced.

---

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by jackie5275

Unfortunately and particularly at a time when we really need them.

---

Agreed. Charles Pugh is one to watch. I'll bet he's thrilled that Steve Wilson is going away.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Thames

Agreed. Charles Pugh is one to watch. I'll bet he's thrilled that Steve Wilson is going away.

---

can you imagine all the big wigs throughout Michigan who just took a huge sigh of relief?

I didn't always agree with Steve's methods but he kept some of those crooks on edge. For that he needs to be praised and will be missed in this area.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by jackie5275

Unfortunately and particularly at a time when we really need them.

---

I wonder if certain interests didn't move him to Cincinati to shut him up. Cincinati would do well to leave investigative reporters alone, some day the roles will be reversed

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Michigan

I wonder if certain interests didn't move him to Cincinati to shut him up. Cincinati would do well to leave investigative reporters alone, some day the roles will be reversed

---

All cities need to have a watchdog of some kind. Left alone, any politician's liable to be corrupted. Having an active free press with investigative folks like Steve can keep these crooks at bay.

I had an interesting idea that perhaps WWJ-TV should 1) Switch to Channel 6 to make it more marketable than Channel 62. 2) It should bring back [[full) morning, noon, evening, and a 10 pm newscast. But the newscast will be more investigative than fluff. Instead of majority medical reports, recalls, crime, and health stories, it should be hard-hitting investigative. Perhaps 80% investigative, 20% fluff. Weather and traffic [[morning and evening) will all still be there of course!

Thought I would share the reply letter I got from wxyz.

Susan - Thank you very much for taking the time to write me about the pending changes at WXYZ. I hate that you're disappointed about the recent staffing development, but I appreciate the fact that you feel passionately about the content of channel 7's newscast.
I've heard from a few other viewers in the Detroit area who also are unhappy about our decision to not renew Steve Wilson's contract. You'll be surprised to know that I'm unhappy about it, too. Steve's a talented journalist. He's very good at what he does, and he's long been a credit to WXYZ's newsroom. I agree with you that keeping Steve on our air would be good for Detroit.
But the automakers in town aren't the only ones having to adjust to tough economic realities. At every station in the country, advertising dollars fell dramatically in 2009, and that means expenses need to be adjusted accordingly. Steve Wilson had the benefit of a very generous contract that was wildly out of proportion with what investigative reporters earn these days in markets the size of Detroit. What we received in exchange for that expensive contract was a handful of investigative reports each year. That's simply not a value proposition that makes sense for any business in this economic climate.
No one should misinterpret this decision as a signal that channel 7 has changed its commitment to community-changing journalism. We're training everyone in our newsroom to shoot, edit and post stories so that we can cover the daily happenings of Southeast Michigan better than anyone else in the market. The expense of a single year of Steve's contract equals the salaries of numerous Detroit-based multimedia journalists, which is why our focus has been on training the people in our newsrooms to be more versatile and productive.
Incoming leadership at the station will determine the future direction of the newsroom, but I'm certain investigative reporting will remain part of the mix in some fashion. Until then, we'll blanket the market with a productive and efficient news team that brings the best storytelling and the fastest breaking news to your TV, your computer and your mobile device.

Brian Lawlor

Let's do a little rewording to put this in perspective....

"The expense of a single year of Steve's [an autoworker's] contract equals the salaries of numerous Detroit-based multimedia journalists [Chinese workers], which is why our focus has been on training the people in our newsrooms [China] to be more versatile and productive."

The race to the bottom continues pell mell.

Got a blog, a laptop and a camera? Send in a resume.

Why not replace Diana Lewis and the others too? I am sure there are countless people in their newsroom who could read the news off a teleprompter. I'm sure some would read it for free. In fact I'd bet some people would even pay to do it. Hey there we go... a new reality show where different people pay to read the news each night. Win-win and they could bring back Steve.

Thanks Steve for your outstanding work! You are so very good at putting these sleaze ball politicians on their guard! To me, the medium known as Broadcast Journalism has become as bad as a poorly written, formula style Romance Novel! Every station in town comes on with "BREAKING NEWS" which is usually some bullshit story involving a seeing eye dog peeing on a blind man's leg. I personally don't give a rat's wrist about who's winning American Idol, or another station shilling another show to bolster their evening ratings. I want to see hard news, News that will help me decide who's fit to govern this State, Nation or my City, not some crap on some special diet to lose 20 pounds...

Again, Thanks so very much, especially for breaking Kwame's arrogance toward the people that elected him to provide for them, and then he takes a giant one all over them living like he's the freaking King of Detroit, or in the words of Orwell in Animal Farm: "All pigs are equal, some more equal than others" to paraphrase the quote a bit...How are we going to find out about his troubles when the FBI finally brings the RICO [[possibly spelled wrong) charges, or when Riddle finally gets his comeuppance...

Lowell, I call it the "Dumbing Down of America" Read Orwell, aren't we becoming like that society in 1984?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by sumas

Thought I would share the reply letter I got from wxyz.

---

Thanks for posting that, Susan. Fellow forumer Bill Shea took your pass and ran down the letter writer, a senior vice president at the station's Cincinnati-based owner, to 'splain some more for a blog post about a "War of words brewing."

Quote:

---

Lawlor told me this afternoon that the entire company has been pushing for two years to have its employees at all stations take on multiple roles, such as what is considered “one-man band” work that has a single person acting as the camera person, editor, writer and on-air talent sometimes.

Some people adapt to that better than others, but Lawlor declined to say if the multi-tasking was something that Wilson declined to do. He also said there wasn’t a “formal back and forth” over the contract, but more of a “philosophical discussion” instead. . . .“His flexibility didn’t allow us to get where we needed to go.”

Wilson disputes that. "There was no negotiation whatsoever. The philosophical discussion was an effort by me to enlist Scripps' support in a nonprofit model that would have allowed me to continue this work and reduce their costs drastically. They said they’re not interested."

He also said he took a "huge pay cut" in his last contract while executives at Scripps were getting pay increases..

---

Lowell, I loved your response. So true, so true.

I probably should have deleted my name since I like my anonimity. But heck any person could probably figure out my first name from my screen name.

I am still doing a slow burn about this cheapening of news sources. Soon, we really be "a nation of sheep', eating the pap they want to serve us.

For the younger ones on the board, "A Nation of Sheep" was a book highly critical of the Vietamese war [[oh excuse me, conflict).

. . . 'Farewell to Steve Wilson':

Quote:

---

You could criticize his style and tactics, but nobody doubted who the No. 1 investigative reporter in the Detroit TV market was. WXYZ-TV's Steve Wilson was going after Kwame before beating up on His Dishonor was cool.

Last week, it was announced that Wilson's contract wouldn't be renewed, evidently to save money. Investigative reporting takes time and costs a lot. If you do it right, sometimes weeks of work don't result in a single story.

However, if you send a reporter out to discover that cars get stuck when it snows, you are guaranteed lots of cheap, usable footage. That's what counts in the news business these days.

. . . TV newsrooms in the future may no longer uncover corrupt politicians and businessmen who are stealing our money. They may not look into who is permitting the destruction of the Great Lakes by the Asian carp. But they intend to leave no jackknifed tractor-trailer truck unfilmed, and will still show us pictures every time the cops find the body of a local sex crime victim.

What more could an informed citizen possibly need to know?

---

Anyone that hasn't seen it, Steve Wiosn did a report on the Kilpatrick "Civic Fund" and many people have posted comments regardingwxyz and Steve's leaving. Thought some of you may be interested.

http://www.wxyz.com/content/news/inv...spx?p=Comments

As much as I like sports, I believe it would have made more sense to keep the investigative reporters and lay off the sports anchors and do as they do in other media markets, just have the news anchors tell the sports news and scores.

Apologies if I'm late to the party with this, but Steve Wilson's Michigan News Center seems to be up and running: http://michigannewscenter.org/