WMTV

An Overall Toxic Work Environment

The assignment editor has a very short fuse and can be combative and dismissive. Frequently talks down to women in the newsroom, particularly young women. Outright mean to reporters and is casually racist. He sets a sour tone, coupled with micro-managing news director with respect for other peoples' time.. can be very tense/chaotic/toxic on the dayside and nightside shift. But it's not all bad all the time.. morning shift especially has lots of fun and a very positive vibe, since they don't work directly with problematic managers.

At this station, you will get out what you put in. It is not for the faint of heart -- the training is very bad, planning is very last-minute, and many of the managers are miserable to work with. BUT if you are passionate about news and determined to "make it work," this station provides ample opportunity for really strong, advanced experiences that in larger markets are typically reserved for more senior staff. Lots of opportunity for growth within the station. ND puts a high priority on helping you advance your career. We also do a lot of great work fundraising for our community, which is really fun to be a part of. The staff is a good mix of young and fun/older and experienced. ND is open to trying new ideas and wants to be an industry innovator. That energy is fun to be around, when she's not nit-picking you to death or re-stacking your rundown 15 minutes to show...

Sexual Discrimination, An Overall Toxic Work Environment

Male managers often make jokes to young female MMJ's that are inappropriate. Masochistic attitudes from the stiff male managers bring down the female empowerment vibe given by the news director. It's a newsroom filled with ONLY female MMJ's. There are two male anchors on the whole news team.

A beautiful state of the art station filled with toxic managers that are petty, unprofessional, and discouraging to new reporters. An overall blatant lack of organization from management. Any outsider can see that they do not know how to make decisions quickly, or decisions that best benefit the newsroom and individual staff. Often times flying by the seat of their pants and have no plan. This alone leaves the newsroom constantly trying to catch up to competition.

Only anchors with experience get to work with photographers. They are the only ones that get to do hold pieces. There are only 4 photographers. 1 for mornings, 2 during the day 4 days a week, and one for nights but he often shoots sports. Thankfully, the ND doesn't support solo liveshots. But you saw the numbers, you will hardly get a live shot.

ND is nice and has a vision. Not a bad ND, but has managers that are disrespectful to a lot of the young MMJ's and producers. It is really frustrating to see sometimes, and have happen to you. I just wonder how the ND doesn't notice or take action. If you speak up about something, you run the risk of managers treating you worse like they have to people in the past. Those people went on to better jobs in the long run.

A lot of new staff hired on fresh out of college. Would recommend this as a second job unless you genuinely care about news, urgency, and taking criticism to get better. Otherwise, you will flop like some have.

The station and set are pretty, but be ready to deal with a lot of ugliness from managers. They kill the aura in the newsroom. Too bad because there is a lot of hard working talented journalist at WMTV.

An Overall Toxic Work Environment

This station is constantly trying to do more with less and it is hurting the quality of news they create. Promises and expectations are made for reporters when they start and nothing is followed through on. People will leave positions and management just decides not to fill them. Everyone is constantly stressed and there is no leadership. Jess has good intentions but has no vision and is inconsistent. Sometimes you'll get an email back about some obscure, while you may never get a reply for something actually important. She thinks communication solves everything, but no amount of constant and thorough communication can compensate for NO RESOURCES. Expectations are high, but unclear- and no solutions are offered for how to achieve them. Gray is running yet another station further into the ground. It is embarassing to work here- especially when you go to stories and leaders feel bad for you and look down on you and your station when the other stations are consistently kicking butt and never miss a beat because they have resources.

Sexual Discrimination

There are managers who make comments assuming young women/reporters are incompetent or naive.

Jess took over a news room in crisis and she is doing the best she can. She is a strong woman with high expectations but is willing to listen and make a plan if you need help or want to change something. She has vision and is trying to make it an innovative station on all platforms, but is quite unorganized. Employees were once signed to 1 year contracts under the old ND. Jess requires a 3 year.

Other managers are horrible and often negative. They will roll eyes if you ask questions and do not understand what working in the field is like. AM, Chief PJ, and EP have clear biases and are often discouraging.

Anchors are experienced, knowledgable, helpful, and give awesome feedback to producers and reporters.

Pay is low, especially compared to competing stations. A great starting market for someone out of college who has strong experience from internships or college work (dayturns, liveshots, policy & court knowledge). The pay is far too low for a second market job. Many people like the city, station, and coworkers but leave because they just won't fork over the cash to keep them.

Madison is a fantastic city and market. Overall, if you have a good attitude and work hard and can deal with some BS, you will love the city, the station, and your coworkers (except managers).