WMBB

WMBB is a good starter market for reporters straight out of college. The beaches are beautiful. The other reporters are like family. You will learn a lot working at this station. It is challenging, though. The management style is tough to work with; they act like bosses and not like leaders. You have to learn to grow thick skin working here. Pay is terrible ($15/hr); it's hard to afford living off of that in PCB. Many reporters complain fairly often about being unhappy working at this station, but they stick together and lean on each other to get through the multi-year contracts. Overall... there are worse places to start out in the industry, but get ready to work closely with narcissists and learn how to stick up for yourself. You are your only advocate at WMBB.

An Overall Toxic Work Environment

This station will make you a worse journalist and you will struggle to survive. News Director Tom Lewis was voted 2nd worst person in TV news on FTV live in 2019 and has the nickname "Tom Lucifer" for a reason. He told me he didn't understand social media so he didn't believe in it. He hired his friend's kid to be the evening producer and gave her special treatment. He also won't hire you if you are a man or if you aren't white. There was literally no oversight, feedback or training and if I made a tiny mistake Tom Lewis would scream at me. Market 156 (or whatever it is) is where you go to learn and make mistakes. You should be helped and taught the entire time. Lewis doesn't watch a single newscast. Panama City is also a terrible place to live, and after the hurricane rent doubled while the salary stayed the same. It's almost impossible to work for WMBB and afford rent. I also never knew how we were doing in ratings, I felt I was lied to. All the equipment is super old and constantly breaking down. The computers could barely run ENPS. The turnover rate here is literally worse than a fast food restaurant. Luckily Tom Lewis has no clue about contracts and would easily let you out of yours if you are a female or read it and realize all the errors and loopholes. As a producer I found I was signed to a contract for a reporter, making it invalid. When I quit Tom Lewis threatened me, and then bad mouthed me to every single person in the newsroom. They believed him and it created a very toxic work environment for my last two weeks. He also told me he would put me on a blacklist so that I could never work at Nexstar again. THIS IS ILLEGAL and also let's be real, If I'm good enough and applying for a job at a Nexstar station in a top 20 market they will not care what Tom Lewis thinks.

Will not hire male reporters, very little diversity. There are literally no positions for anyone to get promoted into. Walmart pays a much higher salary. Reporters make 23 or less.

WMBB is a fantastic starter market with surprisingly, a decent amount of breaking news to cover. You learn a lot at this station and with the remodel post-hurricane Michael, the environment of the newsroom has improved. The staff are friendly and only want you to succeed. This station destroys the competition in breaking news and follow-ups on major stories. It's a clear number 1. Tom Lewis is a great boss to work for. While some have negative comments about his leadership, I had a positive experience and learned so much from him. I highly recommend working at this station, especially if you're just starting out.

An Overall Toxic Work Environment

News director pits reporters against each other. Thrives off drama. You won’t hear from him unless you make a mistake and you definitely won’t get feedback. But you will get made fun of to other reporters.

Everyone else at the station is mostly great to work with, people will have your back when it comes down to it. A small market and good to start your career in.

The station is a great starter station. Lots of the people I used to work with are working in top 50 markets. The anchors are great teachers that have a lot of knowledge to spread.

Overall, it's ok for a starter market. Good place to make mistakes, but it is definitely a starter market. Bad/limited equipment... and if you're good they won't reward you, just take advantage of you.