WVLT

Racial Discrimination, An Overall Toxic Work Environment

Not a diverse newsroom at all. Your feelings are not valid. No matter what you do you will feel beaten down and worthless. There is no communication or organization. They will change your schedule and your position without warning or reasoning. Very draining and toxic work environment with a very high turnover rate.

A lot of gossip and toxic working environment. Equipment and news cars
are not organized.

Like any job its what you make it. I enjoyed my two years at WVLT. The people who work there are amazing. There is a high turn over rate in producers and reporters. There are plenty of people who will help guide you if you are willing to seek out their help. Managers are not all on the same page which makes things difficult, but forces you to get better independently. If you are looking to be with a photographer often, that won't happen here. If you're willing to bust it everyday, come with ideas you will succeed, just be prepared for anything. You can leave here a better reporter if you find the right people to mentor you and push you in the building.

Overall, this station helped shape me into the reporter I am today and prepared me for my next job. There’s a lot of talent and you just have to find the right mentors to help guide you. However, management is very disorganized and does not always have a solution-based mindset. Instead they would rather focus on the negative, which can hinder your progress. While a negative, this did force me to become more independent in my work.

An Overall Toxic Work Environment

WVLT went about 4 months without a ND after the last one got fired because they wanted to make sure the next one was perfect. Well, they picked the worst ND and person to fill this role by choosing Marybeth Jacoby. I’ve never felt more beaten down working for someone. You could give your all to this job or be lazy, and you’ll still be treated the same. It’s really sad because this station has some great reporters and anchors, and the market is great, but management is so terrible. Too many people have left their contracts early while I was there and management didn’t/ doesn’t care. They don’t see the problem, which is part of the problem. Management is all about egos too. When it comes to scheduling, it’s doesn’t make sense. It seems like they say “how can we make everyone’s life worse including our own” and they choose that. This place is a sinking ship that you should do everything to avoid. I promise you, your happiness means more than this job.

Sexual Discrimination, An Overall Toxic Work Environment

Suggestions to management fall on deaf ears. The news director and general manager are either oblivious to a lot of the problems there or unwilling to fix them. The ND's news judgement and allocation of resources don't make sense, and about 17 people left in the span of a year since she took over. The GM had a real chance to get someone good after the previous ND was fired for sexual harassment (a whole other can of worms I won't get into since it's in the past at this point), but she went with the one that seemed like an ill fit from the get go. The assistant ND has zero business managing a newsroom and micromanaging is really bad. Nobody takes responsibility when things fall through the cracks. In fact, they're more accusatory toward the people it fell on and gaslight them into thinking it was their fault. I often felt like I was being put in my place while working there and was stifled creatively every single day. Work is shoveled on competent employees, making their lives miserable while incompetent people just coast through. I was lied to and very misled when I signed my contract. The newsroom is perpetually short-staffed, so I often had to do two or three jobs at the same time, making the quality of all of them suffer. The station cars are death traps and it's incredible the stuff that happened in 2018 involving them didn't lead to lawsuits. Everyone is severely underpaid and overworked. Scheduling is an ABSOLUTE NIGHTMARE, I once requested a single day off about four months in advance and was told I couldn't have it two weeks beforehand. So I called out sick for two days instead because I didn't care about my job anymore at that point. You don't get much time off and it's a combined PTO/sick bank, so everyone comes into work sick and gets everyone else sick. The health/dental insurance was expensive and not very good. The positives: If you have zero experience, you can go there and learn because literally anybody can get a job there. The 401K is actually pretty good, it's a 3 percent match. You could probably get management experience there fairly quickly if you want it, because turnover is very high.

Every newsroom has its issues, but this was hands down the worst job I've ever had in my life. I'd go back to any of the previous newsrooms I've worked in, or even go back to serving tables before staying at this place. If you're reading reviews about this station like I was before I was hired and are thinking "surely it's not that bad," I promise you it is, RUN THE OTHER DIRECTION. Management needs to at least make an effort to listen to complaints and try to fix them. Really the GM should just remove the entire newsroom management team and start fresh.

Sexual Harassment, An Overall Toxic Work Environment

A horrible work environment. Toxic and downright miserable. There is a high turnover in the newsroom. Management is inexperienced and will sell you on promises of OT or whatever will get you to sign the contract. They are consistently under staffed. They pay is very low. Management does not value the employees. This list could go on and on, but I felt compelled to write this review to warn any young out of college kids looking for their first or second gig. Stay away from here and apply for the NBC affiliate in town.

I worked multiple jobs at this station for several years including producing and reporting. There are good people here, but management and the pay makes everyone miserable. It's a bully type of environment. You'll get run right through the mud and will not be given proper resources to do your work. They don't care about quality, you're just filling time between the commercials. The previous news director was extremely inappropriate with the girls and if they chose to speak out they could work up a big lawsuit. This note is not from a "disgruntled" employee, but as someone who got away from a sinking ship and wants to warn others before they sign the dotted line. I gave my all to this place. It was my dream job, they ruined it. You could give 110% or 50% and you would be treated the same exact way, day in and day out, like dirt. Management is only looking out for themselves and the entire newsroom is extremely ego driven. The egos think they are in New York when they are in mid market Tennessee where most the viewers don't even know their names. Sad situation for young people looking to get into the business, it doesn't have to be that way and it's not at other stations in this market. I would suggest applying to the NBC affiliate.