Station's Ratings
News Dirctors
Kendra Martinez
It was fine. She seemed out of touch when it came to choosing coverage each day.
An Overall Toxic Work Environment
The station really creates a sink or swim environment for new hires. It demands a lot of skill and flexibility without rewarding it with pay raises, thanks or growth opportunities. Pay is bad, hours are regularly changed, even at the last minute. There is no discussion about scheduling changes. The best hours of the day are mornings or evenings, before managers come in and after they leave. The station has made a habit of hiring new producers straight out of college who don’t realize how bad the practices are at the station, and that they are not normal compared to most other workplaces. Don’t be fooled by the $5k signing bonus for producers—it’s just a way they can trap you by making it hard to leave, while still paying fast food wages. The contract is written to make it almost impossible to leave the company, unless you transfer to another Scripps TV station after a year.
Coworkers are cool and there are still many people who have worked at the station for a decade or much longer. Lots of people are really skilled at what they do. There seems to be a real disconnect with what management (and the general manager) expects from employees and what is feasible/sustainable.
Kendra Martinez
toxic, awful
An Overall Toxic Work Environment
The newsroom employees are dedicated, driven, and hardworking people but management creates a toxic environment. Reporters and photographers are often sent on wild goose chases and rarely get the opportunity to pursue a story that matters to them. Producers are left in the dark and constantly lose stories without any heads up from the news director. The only time employees receive feedback from the news director is when they are told they did a poor job.
Communication is lacking. Some employees are favored and others are made miserable. Time off requests go unanswered for weeks/months and schedules are always changing without notice or communication. Pay is barely a living wage for long-time reporters/producers and those starting out here make less than a grocery bagger. High turnover here.
