WJZ

Racial Discrimination, An Overall Toxic Work Environment

The toxic environment was driven by poor leadership practices including favoritism, inconsistent accountability, and communication that often felt punitive rather than supportive. This led to high stress, disengagement, and low trust across teams. Racial discrimination was reflected in unequal enforcement of standards, disproportionate scrutiny of Black employees, and limited responsiveness when concerns were raised. These behaviors contributed to a workplace culture where equity and inclusion were more performative than practiced. Also there was inequitable promotion of minority on-air talent. Let's also talk about Kathy Hostetter, the General Manager. I've never seen someone in a leadership role with a lack of empathy on her level. She is the true definition of "I could give zero "Fs". One of the most evil people I've ever known or worked with. In the span of 3 years, over 20 employees were either terminated or were forced to resign due to her leadership style. She and Tanya are the primary reasons the morale is what it is there...combined with clueless and terrible leadership at the corporate level.

Prospective employees should understand that this station struggles with favoritism, poor communication, and inconsistent leadership. Workload expectations are high while support is limited. Many staff feel burned out, undervalued, and hesitant to speak up due to fear of retaliation or being labeled “difficult.” The culture does not encourage transparency or psychological safety.

I've worked at some terrible stations in the past, but I can say without question this was the worst experience I've ever had working in tv news. Avoid this place like the plague.

The building itself is dark, old and depressing. There have been past rodent and air quality issues. When concerns were raised they were dismissed.

Sexual Harassment, An Overall Toxic Work Environment

Management tries best to save face at the detriment of actually being effective. {Ergo they SUCK} Poor scheduling, Zero to no protocol. News Director is a blithering idiot who doesn’t even have news production experience. She **specifically** targets employees under very specific critiques and offers little to no solution forward. Building is trash with roaches and holes in the wall with a terrible HVAC system. Hardworking staff but burnout happens often due to lack of resources. P.S. Management let a gay sexual predator float around newsroom for years…Do with that information as you will.

DO NOT COME HERE! The notoriety this station has isn’t worth it.

An Overall Toxic Work Environment

The news director is easy to approach and very nice, but I think she is out of the loop on how negative the environment is. She encourages new ideas but no one really efforts any because creativity gets shut down and the common argument from management is “this is how we’ve always done it.”

This station has a good reputation, but working under the management team is terribly toxic. This place will suck the creativity out of your soul and drain any passion you had for journalism. There is no communication. You are constantly told everything that is wrong and never given any direction on what is right. I have been in news for 6 years and have never experienced a more negative environment. The micromanaging will mentally destroy you. You produce to please management, not to deliver information to an audience. Things are done because it’s “the way we’ve always done it.” You are encouraged to run stories that have aired multiple times instead of efforting new content. I have often heard management openly berate other employees and complain about reporters behind their backs. The only time I heard the assistant news director say “good show” was after the newscast was preempted due to a special report from network. Sarcastic prick. Management makes it obvious who their favorites are, and while I certainly respect seniority, I respect hard work and compassion more. If you choose to work here, I hope you understand the disaster you’re embarking on. I would suggest setting your expectations ridiculously low, using the station for its reputation as a gold stamp on your resume, and know that there are better opportunities out there where you will be valued more. The only positives to this station are the employee benefits - you get 3 weeks vacation time, 8 days of sick time, 10 paid holidays/comp days, and 3 personal days.