| Topic Name: |
steve wilson--the best? |
| Message Name: |
No Fear, No Favor |
| Date Posted: |
05/29/2005 |
| In Reply To: |
and other station's reporters and managers follow. Never have Detroit "investigative" reporters been so assertive - until Steve's stories began to bring in big ratings at WXYZ.
Money always changes things. If you can prove something will make money, news managers will throw it on air.
So far it's working well in Detroit, as long as Steve and his pack of followers at 2 and 4 attack government. The true test of station investigative resolve is going to be an advertiser out of line. Will bosses back a fair and balanced investigative story about a company that advertises on WXYZ? Will Fox 2 and WDIV back their reporters if an advertiser with deep pockets is discovered doing something bad?
Stay tuned all ye tv news reporters of truth and justice...you may be about to learn the TRUE American way. |
| Message: |
"PeeOns" must not be in the Detroit market to write:
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This test has already been passed time and again at WXYZ. One example: I recently reported on the Ford recall of only a fraction of cars with faulty ignition switches which cause vehicles to burst into flames long AFTER they're turned off, the key is removed and they're parked--often inside a garage.
That story underwent the same editorial and legal review most investigative reports are subject to...and despite the fact it was Ford--and the station is in Detroit, no less--I was not asked to change a WORD of the story that was documented with facts and balanced with Ford's opportunity to respond.
I dare say there are not a handful of television stations in America that still put the public interest ahead of the interest of their corporate bottom line when push comes to shove, day in and day out. Honest investigative reporters will tell you this privately, or here using pseudonyms to protect their jobs.
This NOT to say there are no longer good stations with well-meaning management that support a strong investigative piece...but look at the SUBJECTS of those stories and see if they aren't, more often than not, attacking public officials and others who have no financial pressure they can bring to bear, or public figures who are unlikely to file a legal claim.
Heck, you can even still find a good solid story on Dateline and 20/20 now and again, amidst all the murder mysteries and yarns that have little or nothing to do with what really matters to viewers these days.
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