Steve Wilson Leaving WXYZ Channel 7

[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,

[RealityCheck]

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.

. . . 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

[Mista Alan]

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

[Searay215]

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

[unclefrank]

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.

[sumas]

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

[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.

[unclefrank]

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

[bdglsmn]

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

[Roq]

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.

[RealityCheck]

. . . 'Farewell to Steve Wilson':

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?

[RealityCheck]

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

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?

[Retroit]

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.

D.U.M.B.

[Gistok]

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....

[Steve Wilson]

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.

[Buy American]

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.

[Ray1936]

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.

[sumas]

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.

[stromberg2]

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

[punky1]

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.

[preserve]

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.

[buildingsofdetroit]

Another Detroit watchdog silenced.

[jackie5275]

Another Detroit watchdog silenced.

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

[Thames]

Another Detroit watchdog silenced.

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.

[Mista Alan]

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?