In an industry ravaged by the likes of Gatehouse/Gannett, what companies are still good to work for?

We all know how challenging it is to work for outlets owned by the likes of Gatehouse, Gannett, Tronc, Advance, and others. Budget cuts. Layoffs. Ridiculous quotas. Sweeping changes that add busy work and take away from actual newsgathering.

As the industry trends toward more and more corporate ownership, which companies are still good to work for? There may be some issues with all of them - we're all underpaid and overworked, after all. But which corporate entities or regional networks still try to pair a reasonable wage, offer decent benefits, and have tried to cultivate solid work environments?

 

Solo, three of the four you mentioned are the three I'm most closely familiar with. You could say my experience with newspapers over the past decade hasn't been real positive.

 

You're not alone, believe me. Hence the question.

I actually liked the broader concept that Advance had of prioritizing digital. Then I saw what they were favoring (SLIDESHOWS!) and their other points of emphasis.

 

We had a reporter leave our staff to go work at Aldi. Worst part is I couldn't argue with the logic. The benefits were way better.

 

In journalism? Any newsroom that is not owned by a venture fund nor part of a chain.

 

In management?

 

We could sit here and argue Gannett complaints and what’s justified for days. Maybe it’s the shop I worked for or the others I’ve considered working for, but having been on the inside, I’ve talked to a lot of former colleagues who’ve left for other publications/ownerships. Majority make Gannett seem like Disneyland.

Everyone has their own experience, but I’ll say Gannett isn’t half as bad as everyone makes it out to be. Biggest complaint was poor healthcare coverage.

 

Hearst seems OK, relatively speaking.

 

Cox made cuts over the years like everyone else, but I would've called it a pretty good place to work until about 2015 or so. Pay was good, benefits were better than average and there was some degree of stability. Then Austin outsourced its printing (meaning ridiculously early deadlines), Cox outsourced some of its design and copy-editing functions to GateHouse, and it was the beginning of a downward spiral that led to GateHouse's purchases of Austin and Palm Beach.

Had I not been able to continue my newspaper career, I might have wound up working at the Publix around the corner. Many of the employees have been there for years -- more than can be said for most newspapers anymore.

 

I worked at Publix for four years when I was a teenager. More than a decade later, I see the some of the same people still working at that store. What does that say?

 

Gannett, on some level, it depends. Gannett properties have continued to do, in some pockets, elite work.

But what Gannett has done some papers - such as the Des Moines Register - is borderline unforgivable. And the Web sites are, by and large, not fun to use.