Why He Left The Firm
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A month ago, WJBK (Detroit) Investigative Reporter M.L. Elrick quit the Fox O&O and now we are finding out as to why?
Elrick said he knew he'd made the right decision to leave The Firm’s station after his bosses declined to air his report that exposed wrongdoing by a big advertiser.
In January, after he left, a scaled-back version of the story aired, minus a videotaped confrontation with the uncooperative subject of the story.
On his podcast, Elrick said, "Some of my concerns about the way the story was handled made it easier for me to make my ultimate decision to separate."
He had been at the station for 7 years.
Deadline Detroit writes that the story in question centered around high-profile personal injury attorney Lee Steinberg of 1-800-Call-Lee fame, who was accused by the Michigan Attorney Grieveance Commission of an ethical lapse.
Steinberg sent a subpoena to the Salvation Army seeking information about a client who may have been injured while working there. The law forbids attorneys from issuing a subpoena without filing a lawsuit. Steinberg admitted wrongdoing, according to an October 2019 document from the State Attorney Discipline Board, which wrote that Steinberg "committed acts of professional misconduct by creating a fictitious case name and number to give the appearance that a case was pending so that he could obtain information via a subpoena." He was fined $765.
Steinberg, who is based on Southfield, is a major advertiser on WJBK.
Elrick chased the story and at one point confronted Steinberg on camera.
Although station attorneys signed off on the story, Elrick says the station kept delaying the airing of the story.
After Elrick left the station, WJBK did finally air the story, but it was fronted by WJBK Reporter Charlie Langton and the on-camera confrontation that Elrick had with Steinberg was removed from the final version of the story.
Deadline Detroit asked Elrick if the final version was toned down and aired without any promotions because Steinberg is a big advertiser.
"That seems to be a reasonable conclusion. I can’t swear that’s what happened but that's a question I have in my own mind and I’m not comfortable with those kinds of questions."
The station, nor The Firm responded when asked for comment.
