Station's Ratings
News Dirctors
Chris Yost
Chris Yost is the worst boss I’ve ever had. He is disrespectful, misogynistic, full of crap, a liar, psycho and an overall terrible human being. I hate him.
Sexual Discrimination, Racial Discrimination, Sexual Harassment, An Overall Toxic Work Environment
Chris Yost hates woman. He talks down to them and constantly gaslights them. He once sent one of the few black reporters to a CONFEDERACY EVENT. He has told people to go die. That he hates Italians. He calls people slurs. He has made inappropriate comments about girls he wants to have sex with/has sexed with. He has told us inappropriate stories about his wife and peeing on her. He had no background in journalism. He doesn’t even have a HS diploma. He doesn’t address the problems in the newsroom. And he lets people threaten other people with no repercussions. He plays favorites and is a terrible boss.!
There is nothing good about this station. Tim DeFazio is an idiot who hires morons to run his newsroom. He is out of touch with what is going on and the evening shows have basically become a sales ad and a laugh stock to all of the community. The news director, Chris Yost, is a sexist/bad human being. He hires people who are not qualified and has created the most toxic work environment I’ve ever had to deal. He has no business being in news. He’s never worked at a station before this one. He doesn’t even have a degree in journalism. He is inappropriate to women. He constantly belittles everyone and is a bad man. DO NOT WORK HERE. I have literal nightmares about this place.
Chris Yost
Chris is brand new to television. He's 25 and does not have any prior experience in production other than the handful of months he has under his belt as a producer. He's mostly in the lap of the General Manager and doesn't own any ideas. Chris is perhaps the worst communicator on Planet Earth. He could forget extremely important information walking from one room to the next. Chris also likes to play with the authority that was bestowed to him when he became the news director. He often will try to threaten employees with expulsion if they seem to even slightly suggest a different approach to situations.
An Overall Toxic Work Environment
WDTV fosters negativity and jealously at every turn. Management shows copious amounts of favoritism. Very rarely are people held accountable for negative work habits that bring down the product, and often times that leads to resentment amongst the staff.
At the time of this review (November 2023), WDTV feels like it is just seconds away from a total collapse. For forever this station's problems have stemmed from the top down. Management refuses to invest in technology that works or their best employees. Timothy DeFazio, the GM, has been refusing to take meetings with his employees unless there is a representative from HR in the room. The news director is simply not cut out for the job and is only in the position because he's cost-controllable and is not leaving the area. Many of the employees in the news department are not up to the challenge of making quality newscasts every day. That being said, there is also a severe lack of accountability. Behavior that damages the station and the product is routinely swept under the rug so no one's feelings are hurt. All the while, the quality of the broadcast continues to slip into a laughable state.
Oh, and by the way, don't expect to be paid a fair wage. Don't even expect to get your overtime approved.
John
John is new to the area and has big-market expectations as far as the quality of work is concerned, but realized the challenges of working in a small market. His criticisms are tough but largely fair and well-intended, even if they come off in the wrong way occasionally. He cares about video and how the product looks more than anything, along with good writing.
An Overall Toxic Work Environment
Management excuse in appropriate behavior and doesn’t know how to identify good talent. Fireable actions are brushed aside and employees’ concerns aren’t take seriously. There has been a mass exodus of good employees because of the toxic work environment created by management’s favorites. Nothing has changed or ever will change.
The good employees are genuinely nice people. It’s a young newsroom. But management doesn’t know how to squash toxic attitudes and allows the best employees to walk out the door. Nothing will change until management stops ignoring their largest problems that are making people dread coming to work and driving good people away from the industry.
MMJ (OMB) Job details
Yearly salary
ContractOne year
Paired with a photogN/A
Station market rank2
News director has no sense of management or people skills. He never stands up for his employees, is passive aggressive, and has unrealistic expectations of how news cycles in NCWV work.
An Overall Toxic Work Environment
Good employees are beaten down and taken advantage of while others are praised for doing something completely wrong and toxic to the work environment. Disheartening and not a good place to be. Mental health is not a priority here. Apply elsewhere if you want a successful place to learn and grow.
Adam Plyler
Extremely beneficial and rewarding
WDTV recently underwent new leadership in the newsroom. So far, Adam has helped reporters, anchors, and producers learn strategies that have contributed to our overall success. Adam treats his staff like he's a coach versus a manager, which has made people more willing to learn. There are still some of the challenges that naturally come with a small market station, such as being in a rural area, occasional technical problems, down to the second deadlines, and difficulty finding stories on some days, but everyone works together to help one another. This is a great market for a recent college graduate, especially as a reporter. You will be in a community that treats you like you've been there for years. Some of those challenges that come with being in a small market actually help you in the long run and you'll learn how to navigate through different obstacles that come your way. You will also learn crucial techniques that will likely be expected of you at the next job you take.
Nate Smail
Terrible. Awful.
An Overall Toxic Work Environment
Smail is a totalitarian. He has absolute zero news judgement when it comes to local news. One time, he sent a reporter out to “a situation” coming in via phone call at the local Food Lion. He posted a story on the website that said no police were there and police wouldn’t confirm whether or not something happened. How is that news? The dude gets WIRED for any sort of weather that’s not sunny, and even when it’s sunny for too long he makes a big deal about it. He acts like he defends his staff, but as soon as sales reps get mad about a story, he blames the reporter. Spineless. Doesn’t guide his staff. Comes to meetings late. Tries to avoid confrontation with individuals by sending mass emails instead of sitting the individual down. Is the worst hiring manager in all of news.
The people you work with outside of Smail are the best. Everyone’s dealing with his garbage so everyone is really close. I’d never trade my time there because I did grow; but no thanks to him. If you’re fresh out of college, it’s not the worst gig. Get your year in and get out.
