producer

sales assistant

campaign manager

account executive

operations analyst

The E. W. Scripps Company

If you get a job here (WSYM), don’t stop applying to other places. Seriously. Take the job if you’re desperate, but keep shopping your resume around. You’ll want out after 3 months at most.

Let’s get the most important out of the way - the pay. It is abysmal. Don’t plan on even getting a sniff of 40K as a commercial producer. On the off chance you get a bump in salary, it’ll be literal nickels and dimes and then you’ll be told to be grateful by HR and to not ask for anything more for a few years.

The benefits are TERRIBLE. You practically don’t have health insurance because the deductible is so high. I should’ve known better, because they wouldn’t reveal what the benefits package included until AFTER I signed a contract. Dental isn’t the worst (it is expensive, but you get a lot), and vision is really reasonable. So I guess they have that going for them.

PTO is TERRIBLE though. Do you have a disability? Or an illness? Or a sick relative? Say goodbye to ever going on vacation (not that you’d be able to afford one with the pennies you make). All of your PTO - sick time, vacation time, etc is in one bank and it doesn’t roll over. So use it (but only if the company doesn’t need you - and they will, because the turnover is incessant, so they’re always understaffed), or lose it.

The environment is TOXIC with a capital T. People are constantly running to management trying to tattletale on one another. Most of the sales team thinks they’re the ace in the room and they’ll treat you as such. They’ll expect work done on impossible deadlines, they’ll call before/after working hours expecting you to work to save them from their errors (and will be offended if you set a boundary and don’t work on an unpaid day for them), they offer drone footage to clients, when we don’t have a drone and expect us to figure it out, it’s the worst. And the leadership in the building is weak. Instead of being straightforward and handling difficult situations they act intimidated and scared. They just ignore problems in hopes that they’ll go away. 

The leadership from corporate isn’t much better. During our RTO, they recorded videos from their homes welcoming us back into the office. That sums them up in a nutshell. 

Lastly, there is no such thing as advancement. Your role is the ceiling and the floor. The only way you can “move up,” is to go to another Scripps station, but even then you’re stuck with the same terrible PTO/Healthcare/etc.

I don’t like leaving bad reviews of places, but I want others out there to be prepared. I don’t want them coming in unaware like I did.

TL;DR: only work here if desperate. it’s toxic, low pay, no advancement, and has bad benefits.




My current role operates in cycles that correspond to Presidential & Mid-term political election years. My office is tasked with maximizing revenue within the political & advocacy space across 14 national broadcast television markets. Therefore within the office's peak years, I am charged with managing a considerable number of accounts and financial oversight of lofty budgets within very aggressive & condensed business cycles. I spend a great deal of time conferencing and giving direction to our business/finance managers at the TV property level. My acumen for multi tasking and prioritizing has significantly increased with my time at Scripps Media. My role requires that I consider my own internal budget along with fully considering the budgets and objectives of our agency partners. 

During off-peak years, my role primarily revolves around working with our agency partners to address account reconciliations and full internal account auditing of business managed in previous years, balancing accounts, and firming up relationships to ensure good shares of business in approaching peak business years.  

The work pace is accelerated and account volume is considerable, however I'm given great latitude and autonomy in my work, which has been pivotal in my excelling for the company within this role. My direct supervisor and I have a wonderful working relationship that centers around mutual respect and trust for each others work product and our respective roles within the office operations.     

I am thankful for my time with the E.W. Scripps company. I have certainly grown as a professional and congruently, the company has allowed my role to evolve and expand as I've evolved professionally. 

The most difficult part of my job is how intense the peak years can be operationally. It requires a great deal of focus, an eye for detail, good account management and monitoring skills, and the ability to make quick decisions as our business cycles are more condensed than traditional business cycles.

The most enjoyable part of my job is the working relationship with my direct supervisor. I've learned a great deal about managing teams by virtue of how he manages my role and the overall office; this dynamic relationship is the reason our office has been so successful since its inception & launch in 2010, and why we continue to surpass the market and overall company's expectations of our office.

What is the best part of working at the company?
They like to promote from within.  This is a
one media company you don’t necessarily need to be a shining star to excel.  

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Some stations are managed differently than others and outside of the stated pillars of the organization and corporate culture.  The station management can make it great or bad, all stems from the GM.  Disorganized product installation and support  that falls back on sales department.  Media constantly changing hard to reach large numbers of target customers unless you are at a Legacy station or client does long term contract.  Viewers options continue to grow making it hard to reach them as choices increase.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Mostly independent; allot of driving however there are options for online meetings although frowned upon by some management.  Goal driven, adjusting to change, overcoming obstacles and client objections.  On-line training and learning resources from small organic internal training department that were also promoted from within.

Expected to work until the job is done no matter what, finish at home…Monday-Friday usually no weekends. Laptop provided, small phone & car monthly stipend.  If you are not provided list of billing clients should receive base pay.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Meet clients, cold calls, follow up calls, client meetings, client drop-in’s, optimization of media services.  Make goods, proposals, putting together packages, chamber meetings, regularly responding to last minute management reports for roll up.  If a client cancels you will need to provide substantial documentation.  Ratings & point negotiations with agencies, reviewing market trends, data, industry specific research.

Get in and get out.  This is a good job for those starting out or for those looking to use Baltimore to jump to an even bigger market other than that I do not recommend.  There is no room for growth unless you go where managers want you to go.  I was sold a bunch of lies at my interview and was told I would be able to work on all types of projects, I've been there almost two years and I've done nothing even though I've volunteered and asked to work on other projects. I also have not gotten a raise. Management will also force you to do work that is way above your pay grade without any type of thank you or incentive.  The place is also very clicky if management is your friend outside of work then you will have top pick over what you want and don't want (even if its your job) to do.  There are also some racist people here (not openly but they will say racist things and pretend they aren't).  The place is not a fun place to work you have to practically sneak to learn something new...they also overlook your ideas and bring them back up later as if they thought of it themselves.  The pay is terrible for the market size and the benefits suck as well.  Management is also very unorganized and they lack communication, if someone calls out or goes on vacation management will change your schedule without asking you and assume you can work it and notify you at the last minute.  The place is also very cheap...cheap equipment...short staff.
Bottom line you will be overworked, underpaid.
Learn what you can and leave!

Working at EW Scripps was generally positive and they seemed to appreciate and support employees. That changed suddenly after a large acquisition was abruptly green-lit by regulators. At this point there was virtually no transparency as to the security of everyone's job.  They had us on pins and needles for weeks and then abruptly fired people without allowing them to meaningfully state their case about skills/ contributions, etc to advocate for retaining their position. (The person making cuts was from a different company and hadn't even met many of the employees that were cut).  After being abruptly laid off the severance package was pretty minimal and there was no ability to negotiate. Communication was very poor at this point and it seemed like they were just trying to shove hundreds of laid off employees out the door as quickly as possible. As an employee at EW I had some differences with the company but always thought they really valued their employees. With the acquisition everything shifted like night and day and made me really sour on my four years with the company.  It's very disappointing. 

I was recruited to work in the Milwaukee radio division. The interview process was long and drawn out over about 5 weeks. In two cases scheduled interviews were postponed when I arrived at the office. No call ahead. That should have been my first clue that there was little respect for people's time. Another clue during the interview process were the vague answers when it came to compensation and advancement. While no promises were made, certain opportunities were implied. Despite the red flags I accepted a position. Within a month I realized it was NOT what I expected (or had been led to believe). Innovative or new ideas were shot down immediately. There was a small circle of "Good Ol' Boys" that managed the major accounts and leads. Management was locked behind closed doors 7 hours per day and unavailable. Sales goals were out of reach based on the horrible ratings performance of one of the stations. Roadblocks were placed in many areas that would make reaching goals all but impossible. Management was unwilling to listen. One manager was a master of re-directing failure on to his staff. Outright lies permeated the local radio division. Turnover became rampant, even among long-time account executives.  .

I have worked at this company for a couple of years. The company is what you make of it like any other job. Have had the chance to do many tasks. Work with print, online, inserts, billing, copy writing, ad design, events and more. No 2 days are the same. Management depends on your "team ", but most managers are solid and great to work with.
Others say no raises, but that is not true, hard work is rewarded. Bonus goals are hard to reach though.
They understand that you have personal lives and never give you a problem with flex schedules and personal time requests. They try hard at team building. But for a communication company, they do fall short on communicating across the department at times.
Things change rapidly here which can be a con, but news reporting business is rapidly changing across the board and this company tries to be proactive in new tech and processes, which can make you feel a little yoyoed.
Cuts in staffing have made for extremely heavy workloads, which are made worse when management allows some workers fight new processes instead of making them get with the program. Or when they allow some employees to do what they want instead of what they should do.

Scripps used to be an AMAZING company to work for. However, the past few years have seen massive layoffs, resulting in workloads being piled on to all remaining  employees with minimal wage increases. Instead of addressing the workloads, the company mandated "Time Management" webinars to assist employees in handling these impossible workloads. 

The culture and atmosphere at KGUN itself is toxic at best with multiple complaints about the senior manager going largely unheeded by the company. The senior manager is a micromanaging driver who cares about nothing but results.  Employee needs are ignored and replaced by a steady mantra of "the needs of the company", and employees are constantly driven to achieve ridiculous goals with ridiculous timelines, all with the purpose of nothing more than making the senior manager look good in the eyes of corporate. 

There are a lot of good people who work at KGUN, but they've been beaten down into compliance and it is no longer a good environment in which to work. 

This company touts their corporate pillars that they live by, posting them on posters throughout the stations.  In almost all cases, they don't follow these pillars on a daily basis.  

***"Model the Way" - often a "do as I say, not as I do" culture
***"Inspire a Shared Vision" - little inspiration is being shared or promoted
***"Challenge the Process" - often met with finding a way to push people out
***"Enable Others to Act" - collaboration is promoted in words, but leadership expects you to do as your told.  A quote from a senior leader, "it's more important that you follow the chain of command than it is to be successful"
***"Encourage the Heart" - very little recognition of accomplishments

The corporate involvement leads to a tremendous amount of politics that must be navigated and a lack of transparency at all levels.  The General Manager will convince you to trust him with no intention of reciprocating the trust.  

The work I did as a remote radio tech was extremely fun and rewarding. Be aware that as a remote tech, your scheduling will be inconsistent, as they can only schedule you when they have events. As a result, it wasn't uncommon to go weeks without work during the slower times, such as winter. But when I did work, it paid well and was a ton of fun.

Most of the job involves loading equipment into the company van, driving to the site, unloading and setting up the booth, then manning the booth - interacting with guests, running giveaways, and generally promoting the station. Then, after the event, pack it up and drive it back.

All of the staff at E.W. Scripps were a joy to work with. They foster an environment where you are free to learn without fear. The radio hosts were great at teaching me how to interact with fans, the technical staff helped me quickly learn how to set up the equipment, and overall it was a wonderful work environment.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Producer 5 salaries reported	$111,400 per year
Sales assistant 11 salaries reported	$16.00 per hour
Campaign manager 7 salaries reported	$53,178 per year
Account executive 3 salaries reported	$57,000 per year
Operations analyst 4 salaries reported	$51,750 per year

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