KMID | KPEJ

An Overall Toxic Work Environment

People will argue with you and try to manipulate you. No one has your best interests in mind. You will be over worked. I worked 12 hour shifts for 6 weeks and was expected to produce 3 hours of content every day. During that time I was covering a vacant position and saw zero compensation. Nexstar pays next to nothing and never let me sign up for health insurance. No one wants to be there. Both general managers say they'll fix problems, and never do anything about it. The news director doesn't direct the newsroom. We had zero plans for election night until our web editor got tired of waiting and made one himself. The production staff is trained poorly, and shows constantly get messed up. The production manager has no relevant experience and has a bad temper. You'll rip your hair out working here.

Odessa/Midland is a very expensive area to live in because of oil, and KMID/KPEJ doesn't pay a living wage. If you don't work in oil, you're screwed. Over 2/3 of my income went to rent each month, leaving me nothing for other expenses. I went broke working there.

An Overall Toxic Work Environment

Every department is toxic. No matter where you go in this station, there are people out for one another. People claim that it's "constructive criticism" when they tell you what you're doing wrong. But in reality, KMID/KPEJ is a station full of big egos and small minds. Everyone wants you to do things their way. And if it is not done their way, they will tell you it's wrong.

I appreciate the skills and experience I have gained during my time at the station. But at the end of the day, the job does not pay anyone well enough to deal with the everyday stress. If you are looking for a starter's market. I would recommend anywhere but KMID/KPEJ.

An Overall Toxic Work Environment

There's a lot of pettiness in the newsroom. A lot of gossip, people talking behind each other's back instead of addressing issues in person. Not many people can handle criticism when it comes to script writing. It's interesting to see how many people think they have the industry figured out when they've only been in it for a year or less. There are people who are nice and work hard but of course there are also people who are just mean, to be mean.

This is a great starting market and because the contracts are typically 2-3 years here, new people will be joining the team soon and others who are coming up on their contracts will rotate out, that's how it goes!