Being Run Ragged in Boston
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When WHDH (Boston) lost their NBC affiliation, the station decided to add a lot more news to their lineup.
Of course, to fill the gaping news hole, meant that the staff was asked to produce more stories and work more hours.
Insiders are telling FTVLIve that many staffers are working double shifts and pulling 6 day weeks. News Director Linda Miele has admitted that the pace can't keep up.
While station is trying to hire more bodies, many top line talent has left and more are looking to leave.
11 on air people have left in a little over a year, four in the last month.
Here's a list of those that have walked from WHDH:
Anthony Miller, reporter
Janet Wu, anchor/reporter
Pete Bouchard, Chief Meteorologist
Elizabeth Noreika, anchor
Alex Corddry, sports reporter
Nick Emmons, anchor
Susan Tran, reporter
Kelli O’Hara, reporter
Andy Hiller, political reporter
Danielle Gersh, traffic/weather reporter
Cheryl Fiandaca, investigative reporter
Staffers still working at the station are being run into the ground with extra work.
The union met with Miele and emailed their members. FTVLive obtained the email and it appears that even the station is acknowledging they may have bit off a bit more than they can chew with the major news expansion.
NOTICE TO ALL WHDH SAG-AFTRA MEMBERS
Hello Fellow SAG-AFTRAns,
The three of us have started meeting monthly with Linda and Carol to discuss issues in the newsroom. Here's a brief summary of some of the things we talked about on Thursday.
Linda acknowledged she's running everyone ragged and promised to scale down the double shifts and six-day work weeks after the Super Bowl...major snowstorms notwithstanding of course. She said she knows the newsroom cannot continue to operate at this pace. What's interesting about this is that we were going to ask her about this, but she brought it up without any prompting from us.
Linda said she will be hiring three more reporters and is very close to hiring one of them. She said she will also replace Cheryl Fiandaca.
We brought up field anchoring issues and Linda seemed receptive to things like heaters and tents for anchor teams who are stuck outside for long periods of time. But she didn't seem to have any answers about getting food and bathroom breaks. We'll continue talking.
Linda would like all crews to learn how to use CNN Newssource in the field to download video.
Linda appreciates the good response from reporters using "storynotes" at the end of their shifts.
Linda says our ratings continue to be great.
Sincerely,
Your SAG-AFTRA Shop Stewards, Byron, Victoria and Tim
