Station's Ratings
News Dirctors
Reporter Job details
Yearly salary50,000
Contract2-3 years
Paired with a photogOnly When Necessary
Station market rank#2
WWSB is a poorly run organization under Jeff Schlesser's leadership, despite the efforts of some dedicated employees. I had a fairly long residency at ABC7 and unfortunately, like other reviewers I see on this page, cannot recommend it to anyone searching for their next station. The management here is among the least competent I've come across as they somehow allow the least skilled team members to get away with making the same mistakes daily, while berating the hard workers for not doing enough. For that reason, the good ones leave in droves and viewers will often point out how often faces come and go and how often obvious mistakes make it onscreen (one viewer let me know their family has a drinking game for on-air typos and mispronunciations). Most of the stations problems are fixable, but the culture has baked in for a long time and Jeff has lost motivation to salvage the station's reputation.
Compounding burnout is the increasing cost of living in Sarasota. If you are considering moving here, you'll absolutely love the city. The beaches are beautiful and you'll have no trouble making friends with the sweet people who live here. However, it is very expensive and most people at ABC7 are not paid enough to afford housing on their own.
That all being said, there are some positive qualities to be found at the station. If you are an ambitious person with news experience, you can take advantage of the lax management to take creative control of your work and shape your reporting/producing/photography/anchoring/web style as you see fit. The staff can also be a lot of fun. There are really great people working there who will make you feel welcome and are happy to give you advice if you reach out. If you're interested in learning how to cover severe weather, you'll certainly get plenty of that. Overall, use your best judgement to see what works best for you during your job search.
Primary negatives at WWSB include:
- Low pay and consistent long hours.
- Poor training, which leads to frequent embarrassing mistakes on air and online.
- A management culture that rewards mediocre employees and pushes hard workers to a breaking point.
- A news director who is friendly and a talented writer, but has been caught many times doubling back on promises to employees and getting ugly when they seek new opportunities.
- A rotating staff as many quit because of unmet promises, low pay and an ever-increasing workload.
Primary positives at WWSB include:
- A beautiful city to call home and viewers who are appreciative of the news team.
- A handful of veteran producers and anchors, still there at the time of writing, who make the newsroom fun and will gladly give support and career advice.
- Creative control for producers and reporters to pursue stories that are of interest to them.
- Opportunities to handle severe weather coverage like hurricanes and tropical storms.
Anchor Job details
Yearly salary
Contract1.5 years
Paired with a photogN/A
Station market rankLast
Jeff Schlesser
Poor news director. Jeff is very friendly but terribly disorganized and unwilling to listen to suggestions for improvement despite consistent embarrassing mistakes in newscasts. Many who have worked for him have been unfortunately burned as he makes promises and then reversed course. His outward positive attitude does not reflect the way he treats his employees, leading most to quit in frustration with the low pay and increasing workload.
An Overall Toxic Work Environment
I have never seen so many people quit a workplace in a short time period. More than a dozen walked out within a year. Do NOT work here. There are a lot of kind, talented and positive people on staff but management is incredibly unorganized and blames reporters/producers when their half-baked plans go wrong. People often quit because the pay is far below what’s needed to live in the expensive area and the growth opportunities at the station are limited. The talented employees are given absurd workloads with false promise for growth while the weakest employees are allowed to do the minimum without much pressure to contribute or improve. Eventually, the good ones quit with a bad taste in their mouth. This could be a great newsroom but management here seems determined to keep the product quality low and drive the talented employees into apathy because support from management never comes. Viewers frequently mock the station because of the shoddy work, so it’s not a brand you’d be proud to associate yourself with.
On the positive end, it’s worth noting that many of the reporters, producers and meteorologists are great people. The newsroom has fun moments but unfortunately it’s not enough to justify the frustrations. If you’re good at your job, this is not a place to grow your career.
Jeff Schlesser
Certainly approachable. The most understanding ND!
This station is in the process of organization and staffing. I want to use this platform to try and make some good out of previous negative posts about it, and negative experiences. I can only speak for myself, but I honestly do feel like Jeff isn't as bad as some claim. Just be yourself, and be honest. Honesty feedback is everything in this business. If something upsets you, YOU have the power to make change. This is a station where you manifest your own destiny. I have grown as a journalist here. Because the station lacks resources, it encourages creativity and forces you to think outside the box. Sarasota is great place to start or continue your TV news career. Yes, it is a little disorganized but, YOU WILL GROW here. Besides, the best journalists do not need a manager or producer or news director to create their career paths for them. As Kim Kardashian once said, "Get your (blank) a** up and work!" You got this!
Producer Job details
Yearly salary
Contract1 year
Paired with a photogN/A
Station market rankLast
Jeffrey Schlessler
Absolutely terrible. Manipulative person and will claim you will be “living in paradise,” but it isn’t paradise if you can’t afford rent.
Racial Discrimination, An Overall Toxic Work Environment
An employee was allowed to say whatever he wanted to his coworkers, including calling them racist, with no repercussions.
Avoid this station at all costs if you want to keep your love for TV news. The ND has no idea how to run a newsroom, the reporters NEVER have photogs and are expected to work long hours, being live in three to four shows a day. Completely unorganized mess and the people that are still stuck there are completely miserable. You get paid nothing when rent is skyrocketing, most people can’t afford to work here. If you’re a good worker, you get punished. If you’re a bad worker, you get rewarded. It is a completely toxic environment and not somewhere you can grow. And don’t listen to any “promises” that are made to you, they will never happen. So many people have left the business completely after working at this station. You’d be better off trying out Tampa or Fort Myers.
Jeff Schlesser
First and foremost, I want to say I don't regret working at WWSB; only because I gained a wealth of knowledge from being there for two years. Overall, the station has a rough and tumble attitude. Not positive, but not negative either. The majority of people there are hard workers and a joy to be around. If I learned anything, it was thanks to all the great producers and reporters. I can't say the same about management. An employee should not be scolded for not being able to fill in on weekends, when an on call schedule does not exist. Producers were often overworked and given more responsibility than one person can handle. Although I believe it's important that station employees work together and form strong bonds, I resent the use of the word "family." During my time at WWSB I was often told to "do it for the family!" or "consider the family." A news station is not a family. It is a business. As for WWSB's news director, Jeff Schlesser, he was always very nice until you did something he didn’t like. To Jeff, I have one thing to say: I know you are dealing with a lot of red tape and managing a station can not be easy. But when the going gets tough, don't take it out on your employees. It's confusing and it won't make them stay. To anyone thinking about working at WWSB: don’t stay there too long. You’ll forget why you wanted to work in journalism in the first place.
MMJ (OMB) Job details
Yearly salary
Contract2 years
Paired with a photogN/A
Station market rankLast
Jeff Schlesser
Toxic, unorganized, work oriented
Sexual Discrimination, An Overall Toxic Work Environment
This station will run you dry and squeeze everything out of you they can, and still tell you it’s not enough. They’ll gas light you, blame you, and act like you’re bottom of the barrel if you’re not part of the management team. AND is the worst of the bunch, and very aggressive. ND doesn’t care to help or address any problems, only to add more to your plate and blame you when you push back. Will talk about you behind your back to coworkers. No one is happy at this station. More than a dozen have left in 6 months. There are no photogs, the pay is horrible for the area, and everyone is miserable there. RUN!!
