KKTV

An Overall Toxic Work Environment

The GM needs to go! When she is actually around (she’s NEVER here), she micromanages EVERYONE, in EVERY department - because she knows everyone’s job (hardly). Kerri is extremely manipulative, sneaky and VERY negative. She has just enough working knowledge to be dangerous and that shows every day! She is a walking dumpster fire! The only reason she hasn’t been fired is because the corporate office is in Georgia, and they have no clue how toxic she really is. She has mastered the art of “throwing people under the bus” to save her ass. She has unrealistic expectations, and we’ve lost good people because of her short-sightedness and disastrous micro-management. She hires people with experience in their fields, then, promptly tells them how to do their job when she has absolutely ZERO experience in that area. Then, when it fails she tosses the blame on them. An example of this… we just lost our 4th Creative Services Director in the same amount of years! At some point one has to realize that it might not be the Directors, but the GM. We have a few experienced people left in the newsroom and they are completely over-worked! Why they stay is beyond me. Anyone with any experience in the news department leaves this place in the rear view mirror as soon as their contracts are up. We had a solid reporter leave recently. He was promised something during his last contract negotiations, then once he signed another contract, the GM broke her promise. Needless to say, he’s now in Denver and thriving. So we lose good, experienced staff, and get inexperienced journalists and it shows on air. I will not sign another contract in this hell hole. The morale here is incredibly low, the communication is non-existent, and the GM thinks everything will be fine once we move into the new building. The ONLY way we will be fine is if the home office FINALLY sees that Kerri Blanco is out of her league and is destroying this station. To be honest, Kerri is just a figure-head at KKTV. Everyone knows that the REAL GM is the HR Director, who is constantly putting out the fires that Kerri starts.

The Newsroom is a mess. Not enough reporters, especially those with experience, 2 photogs, run down news cars (always in the shop), an over-worked Creative Services department, a few experienced journalists being dumped on because everyone else is inept, and a home office that is out of touch with the true nature of how the station is being run.

Sexual Discrimination, Sexual Harassment, An Overall Toxic Work Environment

Extremely toxic environment, run, don't walk from this station. The language used around the employees to describe what viewers would/wouldn't want to see is extremely archaic and completely inappropriate for a workplace, even a visual medium one at that. Even though this station is run by women I have never seen an organization put down so many young women through manipulation, gaslighting and disrespect.

They will low-ball you, and refuse to pay what is needed in the market to survive. The trend is hiring younger and younger, so the level of experience/mentorship is dwindling. The lack of organization is frankly sad for a city this size, with no clear direction of what/how a story should be pursued.

There is no respect for employees' time outside of work and the news director will purposely pry into your personal life to then use it against you later on in contract negotiations or when they want to manipulate you.

Managers will talk about you to other talent behind your back, create a toxic environment and encourage you to "not tell anyone" about your conversations with them. Their chief & news director are married to each other, if that tells you anything about how not by the books this station is. The news director is impossible to locate and hardly ever in the building, never explaining where she was (ie work event or meeting) and would just breeze in/out whenever.

There is no good reason to work at this station, if you want to work in Colorado Springs, work for any other station.

Sexual Discrimination, Sexual Harassment, An Overall Toxic Work Environment

The News Director, Lauri Martin, is married to the chief meteorologist, and multiple people filed a complaint about feeling threatened/violated by her husband. He called women busty, too old for the business, and even said people watch for your looks when you're a woman. Due to the unprofessional management, the news director discovered the names of everyone who filed an HR complaint and started punishing each person differently. Lauri Martin then met with her higher-ups about the people who went to HR in the building. News Director Lauri Martin and anchor Lindsey Boetsch now tell everyone that the TEN PEOPLE who quit in two months were the toxic ones, and it's all their fault. They continue calling all ten people filling the report liars and saying our story is untrue. When in reality, people reported situations that made them feel extremely uncomfortable and not safe. I can not stress this enough: twenty people have left KKTV in one year and take absolutely zero accountability. I would not want anyone else to go through the traumatizing experience I had working there and with many colleagues.

An awful place, that I hope no one else has to go through the same experience.

Sexual Harassment, An Overall Toxic Work Environment

While I didn't personally experience Sexual Harassment, my coworkers did from our chief meteorologist Brain Bledsoe. So we should start there. Lauri Martin and Brian Bledsoe are married and unofficially run the new station together, even though it's just supposed to be Lauri. Throughout my time here I have heard of my coworkers receiving “mentoring" from Brian that consisted of commenting on their bodies, and how "no one takes women seriously in sports" or no one listens to "busty women" on-air either, I don’t know everything that has been said but he makes the women in this station very uncomfortable. These comments go back all the way to September/October 2022. We pushed my coworkers to go to HR about Brian then, but since he is married to the news director they were scared to speak out against him because of potential retaliation from Lauri Martin.
Brian has also helped Lauri choose some of the talent on air, technically that’s against the rules, but they get away with it because Lauri runs the station. After months of just trying to let it go, they finally went to HR and now at the time of writing this, there is an investigation open against Bledsoe. 
No one is supposed to know this because Grey Media is trying to keep it quiet, but I feel it is important to mention if you are a female considering coming to work for this station. I can’t imagine he is going to get fired from this station at the end of the day either. The man is too deep into Grey that he won’t be let go because of his connections. 
On top of that, he verbally threatens people's careers because of his connections at Grey, making it even harder for people to want to speak out against his comments. Not that anyone should work for this underpaying, exploitative company in the first place that can barely afford to pay it’s employees and gives them awful health insurance benefits. 
Multiple people here work 2-3 jobs just to make ends meet because, surprise, $18 an hour is barely enough to get by in this city. From what I have personally experienced during my time here. 
There is an expectation to be on board with every story, and every scene they send you to or you will be reprimanded for having a “bad attitude.”
Would you be excited if everything you go out to film is either a small fender bender or a couple of cop cars outside a business without their lights on?
No? I didn’t think so. 
Our station heavily relies on Breaking News and if you were to watch our broadcast you’d think Colorado Springs is a crime file cesspool. 
It has it’s issues, like most cities, but it really isn’t that bad of a place to live. 
I understand that breaking is important and there are some things happening that people need to know about but there’s a balance that needs to be struck between good news/lighter packages and breaking. 
I would say our once-a-week “Good News Friday” in the morning show does not cut it. I have also seen reporters spend all day on a story, getting interviews, VO, and Writing scripts. Only for it to be ripped away because a crash has a road closed down and that’s more important for the 10 PM newscast for some reason. 
You can imagine how hard that hits reporters when their work gets cut down to a VO/SOT and they have to talk about a wreck on air that we will never talk about or air the footage again. I have spent full shifts with reporters getting video and helping them with stuff for their packages only to be sent to a completely different scene by the end of the night or have the reporter's packages be ripped to shreds by anchors that have forgotten what it’s like to be a reporter and have a story they’re passionate about. 
Seeing that hurt in their eyes is something that has stuck with me.

Talk to anyone who works here or who has worked here and they will tell you to not base your opinion on news off of this station.
KKTV is a mess.

Our equipment barely functions, our cameras look like garbage in low light and all this is apparently going to go away when we move into a new building sometimes in 2023?

No. 

A new building can’t fix bad management.
It can’t fix a petty, vindictive couple that probably thinks of themselves as the next power couple in TV news.
When in fact this place is barely hanging on and their attempts at discipline do nothing to keep people in line.

It can’t fix a small little weatherman who thinks he’s the best when all he does is make the women here scared and feel like garbage while blocking them all on Twitter and being petty online. 
(He’s twice their age too.)

It can’t fix the expectations of overworking or the guilt-tripping if you need to take a sick day or don’t feel safe driving in the snow.

If you are looking at KKTV for work, they will make it seem like the team is great and the people are happy here. 
That is a lie.

Stay away from this place.

I CANNOT stress the immense toll this job has had on my mental health. The toll it takes if you’re in a relationship, or have friends outside of work.

I feel like a different person. 
I’m more tired and bitter than I have ever been and I’m not like this usually. 
I was tired of working in the service industry when I took this job but at least I wasn’t this cynical and angry serving food and making drinks. (Also with tips, it paid better some days)

It’s incredible how badly the management squandered a great team here. 
People have left for Denver stations, even moving out of state on a whim to get away. But they are more appreciated and looked after at those stations.

I might try another News Station as well, but this place has all but killed that love I have for telling local stories.
That love of creating something I’m proud of.
I can count the events I have been to on both hands that I am proud of.
I am tired of filming flashing lights, and the constant expectation to listen to a barrage of police/fire scanners for the next bit of breaking news.
I’m tired of filming people’s worst days.
Tired of filming events that will shape the rest of their lives, only for it to be aired and then forgotten about 24 hours later.

I’m. Tired.

There are three other stations in this city and I am sure that any one of them is better to work at than here.
Screw this place, I’m done. 


An Overall Toxic Work Environment

KKTV has no semblance of Leadership. the "management" team is a toxic mess of petty people who never seem to be there when you need them. No communication comes in many forms, from rapid schedule changes to receiving three different sets of instruction while out in the field. The "leaders" are petty and toxic, constantly gas lighting anyone who makes any achievements while taking the credit for themselves. They will not communicate instructions and then yell at you for not reading their minds.

DO NOT, for the love of all that is, work here. This is a career killer. People leave news after working here. People go home crying, and have panic attacks on the way into work. You will likely be miserable here.

An Overall Toxic Work Environment

The amount of favoritism at this station is incredible (the news director is married to the chief meteorologist if that tells you anything). It is also insane how unorganized it is, and the errors and mis-planning of management always fall on the little guys. The anchors constantly talk about reporters and producers behind their backs in the newsroom. Producers and reporters don't get feedback or tips on how to improve. If reporters ever said they were uncomfortable doing a story or a live shot, they were forced to do it anyways. The station thrives on "breaking news" and "shocking video" but doesn't actually care who it affects.

Run, don't walk from KKTV. This is the place where journalists' careers go to die. In the past year, the station has lost 13 on-air people alone--many of them leaving TV News and Journalism altogether. They do not care about you here--they just want to be first with breaking news. You will never get a raise because there is an apparent never-ending "pay freeze" but they will sting you along for months. Reporters rarely do more than a VOSOT, because KKTV is too busy using them as photojournalists (because they can't hire anyone for pennies). I've never worked in a more dysfunctional, toxic, horrible work environment. Management hires people on false promises (so if you are told something, get it in writing). You will be used here, and when you ask for a better schedule, circumstances, or god forbid an extra dollar an hour--you will be told a BS answer as to how it isn't possible and then asked to go shoot video of a car accident. It's shocking and sad how many good journalists have left the business after working here. I am writing this to hopefully save others from this station as there are not any recent reviews. I also chose intern to protect my identity--the station didn't have interns when I was there.