KRIS

An Overall Toxic Work Environment

I have always known Scripps being a solid company with great stations, but, the recently acquired KRIS TV is nothing more than a "Hooterville" station in a backwoods, backwater's town of the Gulf of Mexico in Texas, where the newly grands getting their first job meet the nearly dead's on their last job. First day on the job I get my camera and it is broken. They just got it back being refurbished and they never checked it out before I started my job. Major red flag. Handed off a cheap handheld camera that had many settings changed that the chief photographer had a hard time figuring out. Given a tripod with broken locked down handle and a plate that did not lock the camera. Given a stick mic that the cube fell off constantly. A lav mic that was with a permanently made XLR cable attached. Constant issues with the camera the chief photographer who was an unmotivated bad photographer who still shoots like market 1,029 not market 129 with 17 years in the business, felt threaten by me (And the only one who did not clapped when my name was announced among the new hires in the company meeting) blamed me as user error and would not fix it when it was the previous user's error and negligence of equipment. I never worked with a reporter and sent out to shoot rollovers and vo's of stupid uneventful stuff that I asked if I can turn into an anchor pack and turned down. The desk would send me stuff with wrong address all the time to a bunch of little cow-towns. It was really boring. After watching many company videos included all forms of harassment, I reported the Chief Engineer, the chief photographer who unwanted intimidating glares to corporate H.R. since the station's H.R. manager is in Tucson at KGUN TV was never accessible by phone or email and only reached out to me the day after I left. Most of the cars that I had to drive will fail a safety inspection with bad breaks, badly crack windshields, flat tires, check engine lights on and one's catalytic converter was out. When I brought this up to a couple people I was asked, Did you tell (chief photographer) Mike? I said yea, he walked away from me. The response was, he is lazy he doesn't do anything. What can I say, every station has a Fredo.

Got an email from news director Paul Alexander to call chief photographer Mike Salazar ASAP. They are ready to move on the job. When I spoke to Mike I asked, "What's the shift?" He told me it was either coming in at 2PM or at 4AM Monday through Friday. He asked was there any shift I cannot work? I said, I won't work the 4AM shift. The next day, I drove four hours for the interview. When I walked into the interview, I was immediately hired on the spot. Paul did not make eye contact with me and that is a sign of weakness and someone you cannot trust. In the interview they never gave me a job description. I told them I want to help elevate the product and mentor younger journalist. Paul asked, "What shift work for you?" I said, I don't do the early morning shift coming in at 4AM and I am not going to work nights and weekends. I will only work dayside Monday through Friday and this was a deal breaker for me and I need a quality of life to meet people and have a girlfriend. I would come in early, stay late for breaking news.

After passing the background check, I emailed Paul needing to know about the shift before I report work on Monday. I have had some bad experiences that I showed up for a job not knowing the shift and get a shift I am not happy with or promise a shift and not get it in writing and not have that shift when I walked into the door. He would not answer the question and offered me a job without telling my shift. I made it clear what shift I will only work.

My job offer letter did not have the shift and I called and emailed. H.R Business Partner Katie Ford who works at KGUN in Tucson who was never accessible, responsible and lacks diligence. When I finally spoke to her on my first day, she told me we assigned people base on our business needs. I told her nothing has been assigned and reiterated what I told Paul and Mike on the phone and on my interview this was a deal breaker for me. This insensitive H.C.chic says, then you have to make a real hard decision when they assigned your shift if you want to stay or not. I said, I never got the shift in writing and if I don't work dayside, I'll quit.

Two weeks later, after 4 PM Mike called me and said, Paul put out the schedule and your scheduled changed. I asked what the shift was and he would not tell me. When I got back from my Vosot, after 5:10PM, I went into Paul's office recording the conversation. I said, I need to talk to you about my schedule. He laughs says, "I don't know. I don't know how to answer that question." That is your schedule. I said, what is' I don't know the schedule?" Paul says, "Okay Good. If will be coming out later." Just caught him in a lie. Mike comes back at 6:20PM and I recorded the conversation saying, the schedule Paul put out, it's going to be the morning shift. 4AM to one o'clock. If you get an hour break, it's one. Again, caught Paul in a lie.
https://vimeo.com/frommyrighteye/review/373499323/0e82bd9868

I immediately quit without notice with no intentions coming back and drove four hours back home. Called E.W. Scripps the next day report my issues and I was told to call in sick. The worthless, unprofessional, H.R. girl Katie Ford who did nothing contacts me about my issues from days before and was clueless I left. I called or emailed sick using my 3 company sick days I had I accrued to get paid for the week. Gave written two week notice and never had to go back.

Any new hire do not take a job if you don't have what you need in writing like your shift and if you go work there, be smart like me and record your conversations.