WBTW

Racial Discrimination, An Overall Toxic Work Environment

Ryan Webb has been in charge during a time of gross turnover and is unwilling to hire new talent. The station needs reporters, photographers, and producers. It’s hard to hire when $25k is the yearly rate. Morale has seen a steep decline with some employees even telling Ryan Webb they are depressed and may even be suicidal because of his lack of compassion. Instead, those employees are pushed aside and encouraged to leave.

Racial Discrimination, An Overall Toxic Work Environment

I laughed out loud while reading the review from June 23. It was CLEARLY written by a manager or an anchor trying to save face for this toxic and failing news station. Ignore this “positive” review. WBTW is DESPERATE and pathetic. This is how low they’ve stooped to get people on their team. Trust your gut and more importantly, trust the negative reviews because they were written by people who actually worked as MMJs under Eric Walters’s leadership, unlike the person who wrote that “positive” review.

Listen to every single one of the negative reviews. Every single one. Work somewhere else. There are plenty of stations to choose from.

Sexual Discrimination, An Overall Toxic Work Environment

Eric Walters is one of the “good Ol’ boys.” He treats women as objects, despises younger guys because he sees them as “threats,” and was a total nightmare to work for.

The review from June 23rd is an obvious paid shill, and I think it’s pretty pathetic that the current GM has to pay people to try to cover for the fact that he runs a toxic station full of gossip, sneering managers who can’t deal with “difficult” personalities, and who do not play fair—what is OK for the favorites is not OK for everyone else. There is also a senior producer there who is notorious for causing trouble, tattling on people for using the restroom like this is some kind of grade school class, and pushing people to their breaking points while trying to play victim when they stand up for themselves. Standing up for yourself here is Frowned up and will get you labeled “difficult” in a hurry. They’ll make sure to stack the deck against you so that you will either fail or quit. I really feel sorry for anyone else who has to work under Eric Walters (and I understand he left the station months ago). I Would not wish this place on my worst enemy.

Choosing to work for WBTW was the best decision I could've made for my young career as a reporter. It's important to note most of these reviews are from people who worked/work in the bureau (Florence) and the majority never finished their full two year contract OR literally just arrived at the station. Your first six months as an MMJ will be difficult no matter where you go. It's an adjustment. I think it's unfair to judge a station based off your first few months/first year. Also, you need to be tough and extremely disciplined to work in a bureau in any market. No station is perfect, and WBTW is no exception, but this station is #1 in the market for a reason. Ryan, the new ND just arrived a few months ago and is already making great changes and giving much more feedback than the previous ND. Steve, the EP is fantastic at giving feedback and will take the time to sit down with you and explain what you could've done better/what you did well. It's rare to find that in a smaller market IMO. Some people are sensitive to constructive feedback, but that is the only way you will grow. And trust me, you will GROW at WBTW. I can say confidently almost everyone at the station is willing to listen to new ideas and concepts, as long as you've earned their respect. If you're a hard worker and truly love reporting through the good and the bad, you will excel at WBTW and your hard work will pay off. Also, a couple corrections to the previous reviewer- Steve previously worked in Charlotte and Ryan just came from Nashville, so maybe the most recent reviewer was unaware when they stated that this is most people's first market. A lot of people at WBTW have experience you can learn from. In addition, there are TWO photogs based in Myrtle Beach and one based in Florence. You will often be paired with a photog for live shots, but occasionally will have to run live shots yourself. There have been plenty of times I've told the assignment manager, Matt that I didn't feel comfortable going live alone and he's let me shoot look lives. Of course, this station has had it's bad days, but PLEASE don't let these negative reviews ruin this for you. I promise if you work hard and have a positive attitude you'll be happy at WBTW.

Racial Discrimination, An Overall Toxic Work Environment

WBTW is NOT the station you want to be! Do not disregard the negative reviews from this station because you will find yourself in misery during the length of your contract. The management failed its employees several times, but was too prideful to admit it. You do not get paid enough to deal with the unorganized, toxic environment that calls itself News 13, and management does not put your safety first. You will be unnecessarily overworked and you won't have a voice to speak up about the way things are being done. Don't dare have new ideas or suggestions on how to improve the way news is covered, because you will be seen as a problem and management will make sure to make your job a living nightmare. This station does a terrible job of covering news fairly, so if you have any sort of ethics, this is also not the place you want to be. There are too many people who have never worked in other markets or who only worked in small markets, so they have a "that's how it's always been done" attitude. You will not be treated with respect at WBTW - especially if you are a person of color; We've all witnessed the unfair treatment far too many times. This station only has ONE photographer at the main location in Myrtle Beach, and ONE in the Florence bureau. They are not pushed to work hard, so they get away with making excuses to be lazy. In other words, don't think you will ever work with them on a story or live shot. Honestly, there aren't enough words to describe just how terrible this station is, but please trust the negative reviews and save yourself the trouble.

You may love the area, but you will be miserable getting out of bed every day going to such a terrible workplace. DO NOT come to WBTW! Everyone else in the market knows how terribly the staff is treated and it's quite sad.
If you want to come to Myrtle Beach, apply to one of the other stations.

Racial Discrimination, An Overall Toxic Work Environment

I wouldn't suggest the station to my worst enemy. If you are considering a job here, prepare for the worst. It's very chaotic, and management doesn't know how to communicate and treat their employees. Prepare to work on days when you aren't scheduled, prepare to have your stories changed just to accommodate management's favorite employees.. If you ask for a day off, the assistant news director (Donald) will try his best to ruin your plans.. Their agenda is way more important to them than your health.. There's also no constructive feedback. The news director is supposed to talk to you every six months about your progress, but that never happened.. If you don't get a story before the competing station (who has employees that have been there over +20 years) they will talk down on you..You will also sent to dangerous areas where shootings/murders have occurred in the middle of the night even if police are no longer there. Your safety is not a concern to this station... The only positive thing I have to say is the community they cover is great. I built wonderful relationships with people who were very welcoming.

Please don't make the same mistake I did. Before taking the job, I read the negative reviews on RateMyStation, but I still made the decision to move anyway.. Worst mistake I could've made in my life. Everything that previous reporters wrote was true, and I found out the hard way.. You don't want to take a job and find yourself paying a buyout fee months later.. They will also try their hardest to make your next job search difficult. If you do take the job, make sure you keep your reel updated often for when you too decide to leave.. Good luck