KWTX

An Overall Toxic Work Environment

The only good thing that has happen to this station is that, the the little micro managing Qtip Napoleonanic G.M. Mike Wright quit the station without notice. Otherwise, still a under staff working at slave wages cannot do more with less with crap equipment with enormous responsibilities setting yourself to fail being overworked. If you come to work here, don't sign a contract. Don't sign a lease. Take it as a paycheck having a job looking for another.

An Overall Toxic Work Environment

ND simply does not care about if you're overworked. You better be able to cover five different things in a day AND turn one of them into a PKG if possible. If you're a weekend producer, you better also be able to photog because the ND will NOT hire more reporters for you and set you up to fail. Digital at this station fell to one person, who also had to revert back to photogging and not getting to follow his real strengths in news. He finally left just after over two years, which just pissed off the ND because this poor man did four jobs (digital, weekend associate producer, photog, weekend assignment manage) and of course was still getting paid his starting pay. Photogs, reporters, and sports personnel have left under him, so we all knew the bosses up at Gray TV aren't happy he can't hold a crew. On top of that, gossip pervades the newsroom and managers simply do not check in with field crews on status for breaking stories unless they want lots of live hits for anything. Sister station KBTX has less staff, but appears to have better culture. Some of us envied for them despite our nicer set and larger facilities. Management also refuses to buy things like generators and newer laptops for field crews, whereas station #3 in the market has all of those PLUS a better editing software.

KWTX may be #1 in newscasts, but in a digital age they suffer and morale is rock-bottom. Newsroom management is at best shoddy, at worst dysfunctional. The current ND may be a seasoned veteran, but he's catty and prissy. He demands respect but never offers it back. You can bust your butt all day in the field and rarely hear a compliment from him. He will screw over staff with less experience by forcing them to work terrible hours and juggle more responsibilities. Simply put, the top station in DMA 87 is behaving like its sister KXII in Sherman, a mere 3 hours north. This is supposedly the crown jewel in Hilton Howell Jr.'s crown. It could use some shine and something else to fix the cracks.

An Overall Toxic Work Environment

Is it the #1 station in Waco? Yes. Is it easIer to get interviews and have exposure/perks because you are the community leader? Yes. Does the station win awards and special recognitions? Also yes. But trust me, this place can be toxic. Newsroom gossip is bad here. Some of the employees are genuinely mean spirited, and difficult to work with. Management has overwhelming expectations compared to the short staff and resources. There is a very high turnover rate. If you're an MMJ, they will overwork you and get mad at you if you work overtime. I don't have an axe to grind. I genuinely don't want anyone to go through what I did. I needed therapy after I left that place. None of the friends I made there work for them anymore either. In fact, this job made some of them quit the news industry all together.

It may be market 87, but it's really like a 133+ in disguise. There is NO NEWS. You will go crazy trying to find a story here, and often sell your soul covering garbage vosots and chasing accidents just to fill content. You will learn and get better at this station...not because you get feedback or mentorship, but just because you do it alone repeatedly everyday.

Racial Discrimination, An Overall Toxic Work Environment

Majority of the newsroom was white and being a POC was in this newsroom was difficult for several reasons. Firstly, staff, including talent, was not afraid of making derogatory comments about minorities. Management gave preference to white reporters rather than minority anchors when it came to filling in on evening shows. In addition, workload for producers was not realistic.

Run for the hills.

Low pay, conservative city, legacy anchors have been there and will be there for years so low chance of moving up to anchor. The General Manager claims to be about family, but doesn’t actually care about your personal life. The station is in Waco/Killeen and has a sister station KBTX in College Station. Although, best part is it’s the #1 station out of 4 in the market and by a lot.