Pros
If you love TV news, you'll be working in TV news. The people working at similar pay grades seem to be nice to each other. If you stand in the right spot, you can see the newsroom, reporter desks, the assignment desk, the control room door, edit bays, management offices, the hall to the break room and the hall to the employee lockers. It's all gorgeous. I loved walking into the place.
Cons
Right after you walk in, the misery starts. You'll probably be told early on that everyone is helpful and approachable. Unfortunately, it's quite the opposite. Almost all your superiors, all the way up to the news director seem miserable and/or make you feel ashamed that you're asking questions. It's oppressive. The company is making improvements to the newsroom computer system, but some of the features you need don't work. Be aggressive and inquire about workarounds to anything that's broken or seems overly inefficient. Advancement is difficult and you might suddenly be scheduled overnights with little or no warning. I found out after I started that they hire a number of freelancers who get no benefits and are only allowed 1,000 hours. At least it's legal and an easy way to weed out the undesirables while keeping costs down.
