Time to see what you guys are saying…..

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Hi Scott,

Thank you for your post showing the pay gap at KMGH. The salary for digital producers becomes even more embarrassing when you find out they also turn stories for TV occasionally that are disguised as digital originals. Essentially being used as MMJs at half the cost.

I was a digital producer at a TV station in a top 30 market for years and left the business because of the terrible pay and a lack of respect by my managers. I miss journalism and I miss telling the stories that mattered to people. I actually miss the exciting day-to-day work in a newsroom. I took pride in my work and the station. When I left, they replaced me with someone with no experience.

You hit the nail on the head, these station groups preach "digital-first" and "digital is the future" but they won't invest in quality people to produce quality content. They preach how important it is but then treat you like second-class citizens in the newsroom, don't give you the tools to do your job, and discourage innovation if it doesn't fit the cookie-cutter corporate ownership strategy (because they think what works in one city will work in another). I would love to work in journalism again, but I won't do it for subpar pay or at the cost of my mental health. It's become clear that as the industry shrinks, it's about quantity over quality. It's all about whatever will make someone click the link and view the video (more importantly watch the ad that comes before the video).

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I was trying to email News Nation tonight to suggest to create an app like Hearst, but there is no way to email them directly! No wonder they have no viewers!

In my market, it was almost impossible to view the live feeds of News Nation accept via internet. Yes ,you could subscribe to the local cable TV company. But I do not! The News Nation site was very difficult to navigate to get a live feed. Nexstar needs to understand that streaming TV, like Fire TV, Apple TV, Roku is the wave of the future in TV News! A company that is not investing in this future in not a company to invest in and will be trampled by the future!

Just a thought on News Nation experiment!

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Scott:

Why is it that people in “our business” seem more likely than others in other professions to spill their guts, whine, gripe, bitch, burn bridges, etc, after leaving a job?

Yes, the business is demanding, the pay is rarely great, and there are many unqualified managers, but couldn’t the same thing be said of other industries?

IMHO, posting an anger-filled message on social media is counterproductive. It may feel momentarily good to flame the station you just left, but prospective employers see these posts, too. It does not enhance a job seeker’s chances of finding a better job. It only makes it worse.