WKTV

An Overall Toxic Work Environment

At the start of my term, WKTV had a news director who soon quit due to the hostility of a seasoned anchor and a general manager who was more reactive than proactive. The newsroom is dangerously short-staffed and although the pandemic did shift the way a newsroom functions, WKTV had always been running on fumes even before the pandemic according to staff that had been there for 10+ years. I doubled as a weekend anchor/reporter/ producer but my job entailed more. There were times when I was writing and posting digital content, turning packages while producing and anchoring, and handling breaking news (buffalo shooting) without the assistance or help of any other staff. Weekends in any newsroom are usually short-staffed, but for the evening news, I only had a photographer for 8 hours, leaving me to pick and choose what events I could cover without missing out on breaking news. As a reporter, you will always have to choose between quality and content. Due to there not being a news director, and a bare-bones newsroom; there is always a lack of planning and a lot of micromanaging. Jason Powles is not a great person to work with and is known for having the most critiques but doing the least amount of work. Overall, he contributes to the toxicity of the newsroom. I ultimately broke my contract to get out of there because this is a station that will not provide you the resources to succeed, operates in chaos, and shows no leadership in management so no solutions to your problem regarding other staff or your career will be provided, If you're new to this industry-- stay away from this newsroom!

New reporters should really stay away from this station.

An Overall Toxic Work Environment

If you aren’t out for yourself and cut throat, good luck going anywhere. People will step on you to make themselves look better.