Steve Wilson Leaving WXYZ Channel 7

**Roq** · February-26-10, 07:11 PM

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.

**Bigb23** · February-26-10, 07:17 PM

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.

**eriedearie** · February-26-10, 09:02 PM

I just heard about this on the radio when coming home this evening! I am shocked

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!

**Cincinnati_Kid** · February-27-10, 12:54 AM

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

**shovelhead** · February-27-10, 01:02 AM

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..........

**Enduro** · February-27-10, 02:07 AM

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.

**jams** · February-27-10, 09:53 AM

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

Tongue planted firmly in cheek!

**john collier** · February-27-10, 10:29 AM

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

**jackie5275** · February-27-10, 07:53 PM

Originally Posted by buildingsofdetroit

Another Detroit watchdog silenced.

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

**Thames** · February-27-10, 08:06 PM

Originally Posted by buildingsofdetroit

Another Detroit watchdog silenced.

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.

Mista Alan · March-01-10, 04:01 PM

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?

**Thruster315** · March-01-10, 05:25 PM

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.

Michigan · March-01-10, 06:45 PM

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

**Thruster315** · March-02-10, 01:17 AM

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.

**dtowncitylover** · March-02-10, 02:28 PM

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!

**sumas** · March-02-10, 02:50 PM

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

**Lowell** · March-02-10, 04:33 PM

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.

**Hornist9** · March-02-10, 04:52 PM

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...

**Hornist9** · March-02-10, 04:55 PM

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

**RealityCheck** · March-02-10, 05:39 PM

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."

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..

**sumas** · March-02-10, 06:41 PM

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).

**RealityCheck** · March-03-10, 07:27 AM

. . . '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?

**Just Amazed** · March-20-10, 06:26 PM

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

The Dude · March-20-10, 10:31 PM

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.