Investigative Reporting

Veteran investigative reporter Steve Wilson, who spent nearly a decade with Detroit’s WXYZ before leaving in 2010 after his contract was not renewed, is returning to TV with WJXX-WTLV in Jacksonville.

WXYZ reporter Ross Jones announced the move this week on the Michigan Radio and TV Buzzboard.

“Bad guys in Florida: your days are numbered,” Jones wrote on the forum. “On Monday, Steve Wilson was named investigative reporter at the Gannett station in Jacksonville.” Read more

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Richard Kim, the owner of Town Square Market in Washington, DC, was found guilty yesterday of selling alcohol to a minor (video above). The store has been a focal point of an investigation by CBS-affiliate WUSA since December.

WUSA reporter Andrea McCarren began investigating Town Square Market earlier this year as part of a series on underage drinking. The series sparked outrage and discussion amongst WUSA viewers, and McCarren took a week off from reporting the story in February because of calls for “revenge and retaliation” against her family. Watch her original report on Town Square Market inside… Read more

An investigative report from WFTV, the ABC-affiliate in Orlando, was featured on “World News with Diane Sawyer” yesterday (watch above).

WFTV reporter Jeff Deal got a tip that the owner of a local parking lot was taking cars out for a spin while their owners were out. To investigate, Deal equipped a rented red Corvette with a tracking device and left the convertible at the parking lot. Read more

As part of a renewed commitment to investigative reporting at the NBC O&Os, seven stations will launch dedicated online investigative reporting sections on their websites.

“Investing in local, investigative reporting has been a priority, and we’re pleased that these hard-hitting stories will be available to viewers in a more in-depth way on the station websites,” Valari Staab, president of the NBC O&Os, said in a statement.

The online sections will highlight embedded documents, infographics and maps related to each station’s investigative reports. Websites for the stations — WNBC in New York, WMAQ in Chicago,  WCAU in Philadelphia, KNTV in San Francisco, WRC in Washington, KXAS in Dallas and WVIT in Hartford — will be updated in the coming weeks.

Investigative reporter Matthew Nordin has joined WXIX, the Fox-affiliate in Cincinnati.

“He will hit the air the first day of sweeps (Thursday) with a great investigative story about dangerous truck drivers in our area,” news director Matt Miller told the Cincinnati Enquirer.

Nordin joins WXIX from WMBF in Myrtle Beach, where he has been an investigative reporter and morning anchor since 2008. He has also worked at KTVA in Anchorage and WSPA in Spartanburg, SC.

Last November, Minneapolis-St.Paul ABC-affiliate KSTP lost the biggest defamation suit in Minnesota history, stemming from a 2009 report about a mentally ill woman who considered suicide after speaking with a holistic healer.

Minneapolis alt-weekly City Pages now has an in-depth story on the $1 million case, featuring interviews with the holistic healer, her attorney, and the jury foreman.

It appears that the defamation case, which the KSTP attorney described as “he-said/she-said,” came down to the station’s unwillingness to thoroughly investigate the woman’s claims against the healer as it raced to promote the story. Read more

Changes are coming to the morning newscast at KXAS, the NBC O&O in Dallas.

Scott Friedman, who currently anchors the newscast, is leaving the anchor desk to run the station’s newly-launched investigative team.

“I could not pass up the opportunity to be part of this new team,” Friedman said in a statement. The investigative reporting unit, which will be launched when it is fully staffed, will include a producer, researcher and photographer. Friedman will remain at the anchor desk alongside Deborah Ferguson until his replacement is named.

KXAS morning meteorologist Jennifer Lopez is leaving the station after four years. She will be replaced on an interim basis by Samantha Davies, who joined the station last year as meteorologist for the 4:30 a.m. newscast. Read more

Local police officers decided to fire back at WVUE reporter Lee Zurik following his investigation into voter fraud that involved some sheriff’s deputies.

After Zurik’s investigation, WVUE discovered police officers were using his photo as a target during firearm training.

The sheriff responsible for the officers involved told WVUE that Zurik was one of “four or five” people to be targeted during recent firearm training. The sheriff apologized but did not take any disciplinary action against the officers who took aim at Zurik’s photo. Read more

Scripps announced today that it is expanding its D.C.-based national investigative bureau.

“Scripps has earned a solid reputation, through its local news organizations and across all media platforms, for providing investigative reporting that informs and empowers the communities it serves,” the company stated in a press release.  “Now Scripps is enhancing its TV investigation team to provide stories with national impact in addition to the award-winning local stories the company covers today.”

Scripps has tapped Jim Osman (left) as the lead reporter of the investigation team and Lawan Hamilton as its executive producer. Read more

Referring to KPRC as “the fourth-place TV station in Houston,” local conservative talk radio host Michael Berry lashed out at the NBC-affiliate during his show on Tuesday for a series of reports the station aired last week about his alleged involvement in a hit-and-run outside of a gay bar.

“It’s a smear campaign on me,” Berry said, before addressing KPRC directly. “I am your rival in the media… you will not smear my name and me go down without a fight.”

Last week, KPRC began reporting on Berry’s alleged involvement in an accident that occurred outside of a local gay bar. The station’s coverage was bolstered by surveillance video showing Berry having a beer at the bar and then leaving alone. Read more