Station's Ratings
News Dirctors
Geoff Weller
He seemed very nice, but quickly turned toxic
Sexual Discrimination, Sexual Harassment, An Overall Toxic Work Environment
When the ND became aware of a reporter harassing both people at our station, and from other stations and around town, he did not care. He showed constant preferential treatment to male coworkers, even giving them promotions when they didn’t do much work. He would laugh at you for struggling when living paycheck to paycheck and if you needed a second job.
Geoff Weller
Geoff Weller recently became the News Director in March 2022. Geoff is a tremendous leader. He takes pride in all of the employees at the station and cares about the news we report on. There is always positive and optimistic energy in the newsroom when Geoff is around!
Jerry Giesler
Giesler is a lazy uncaring individual who is just there to collect a paycheck. Giesler is an "ego-feeder" meaning when he will say the right stuff to make you feel better after the conversation knly to find out later 5 minutes or 5 months that he was lying. There is no training with him, making us feel very confused if we are actually doing a good job. With this being our first job in tv for most of us we feel very confused on how we can do better. He has lied to me on a constant basis and toyed with me. Myself and many others at the station are still wondering why he is still here. He has gone as far as throwing other managers and workers under the bus to make himself look good.
Living in the area is really nice. The peoplebare friendly and there is stuff to do of you are an outdoorsy person.
WJFW may be a number 3 in the market which is frusterating because most of us know the station is being held back by a poor news director. While hard news does exist in the area, most reporters spend time doing features because no one guides them on how to "follow the story." It's a free for all in the station with only a few people that know what they're doing. Sadly though those people leave before their contract is up with no repercussions.
When you do leave, early or not, be careful who you tell. Giesler will call that station or business and tarnish your reputation. This has caused one to lose his job at a new place.
Jerry Giesler
News director is only there to collect a paycheck.
Sexual Discrimination, Sexual Harassment, An Overall Toxic Work Environment
Inappropriate employee behavior and comments were common here.
There’s holes in the walls made from employee fists and a head in multiple employee altercations. Management and supervisors regularly lie with no shame. No COVID policy. Station stopped “caring” about COVID after the election. Not uncommon to short employees on paychecks. Good luck!
Jerry Giesler
Casual, Light-hearted, Fun
WJFW feels small town (or in this case Northwoods), even for its market size. But that’s not all bad.
Nearly no breaking news means reporters are free to pitch fun or thoughtful enterprise stories.
The ND is the most laid back and friendly manager you’ll ever have. He will give feedback and help if you seek it out, but he’s fairly hands off (which most NDs are) on hour-by-hour work.
The Chief Met, Geoff, is genuinely the nicest person ever and helps lift the mood of the whole station.
This is a low stress place to learn. But if you’re looking for fast-paced breaking news and bigger city lifestyle, look elsewhere.
They pay MMJs slightly better than market size would indicate (though it’s still a small market), and are willing to splurge for leaders, if they think they’ll make a difference.
Jerry Giesler
Not productive, ND is an instigator
An Overall Toxic Work Environment
The management system here very clearly has one agenda: to get good ratings. If they get that, they have very little concern for employee well-being and personal success. The News Director has very little leadership/management and employees have to constantly doubt what he says to them in close-doored meetings because he will go back on his word many times. If you want 'creative freedom', that is very easy to access because, again, the ND takes no initiative. But that being said, it will be frustrating because you will feel like you're not growing or learning with the lack of constructive criticism, accountability for producing a good product and resources to match the skillsets that prepare you for job #2.
Being #3 in the market, this station certainly has less resources and staff than the other stations in this market. It's very easy to feel frustrated, especially since the station is an hour away from the other two stations. The hiring process is very slow here too, so the newsroom constantly feels understaffed and inefficient.
If you do come here, you'll have cheap living expenses and friendly people in the community. Be prepared to find mentors on your own time and challenge yourself, because relying on any form of management in the building for help won't get you anywhere.
