Journal Register Reviews

Pros

Co-workers were awesome and really felt appreciated and treated with respect. Many opportunities to make additional money with promotions and management was always very open to new ideas to develop different pages and generate new business.

Cons

Very busy - some days felt like I was running around with my head cut off! But the busier I was, the more money I made.

Pros

The junior employees help each other out as much as possible because we all understand the near impossibility it is to complete our work with the technology we have by the deadlines set.

Cons

We have regular tech problems to the point that we have to take the possibility of of a system meltdown as a known variable to the day's workflow. There is next to no communication from management to the junior workers. Orders from management tend to conflict with their previous orders, creating no-win situations. The emphasis on finally undertaking the multimedia end of journalism has been without adding new employees, so that the already underpaid staff is now undertaking even more responsibilities.

Advice to Senior Management

Improve communication within the newsroom so that the different sections are doing the same things. Make an effort to explain changes so that the employees better understand why the changes are necessary, thus improving morale.

Pros

Good place to get your feet wet. To be successful, one needs to be independently invaluable at people skills.

Cons

Poor communication from management, lack of foresight, dealing with a short-sighted budgeting and investment in infrastructure mindset.

Pros

- One of very few opportunities still left in print journalism
- Seems to be interested in (finally) becoming a true multimedia company
- High turnover provides an opportunity to get experience

Cons

- Poor pay and benefits
- Years of mismanagement has destroyed all employee morale
- Disgraceful internal communication
- Literally years behind in terms of IT and industry trends
- Despite new corporate leadership and one bankruptcy, still a company that refuses to make any significant investment in people or product

Advice to Senior Management

Understand that after emerging from bankruptcy purse strings are tight, but continuing to practice the cheapskate journalism perfected by Robert Jelenic (which resulted in bankruptcy) and calling it "The Ben Franklin Project" is not the way to re-build a company.

Pros

It was close to my house and my co-workers were wonderful people. The pay was not great, but it was ok.

Cons

A bunch of clucking hens running the place. It was so cliquish and completely disorganized. The woman who hired me was fired by the time I came on board and the self-satisfied loser who took over didn't like me from the minute I walked in because the person she'd just fired had hired me. It pretty much went downhill from there. Constant spying on employees by tattletale suck-ups. If you were liked, you were left alone. If you were not liked, it didn't matter that you were hitting your numbers and making money for the company, you were gone. Add all of that to the fact that the company had to file bankruptcy and you get a pretty ugly work environment.

Advice to Senior Management

Get professionals to start running the place professionally and stop cutting the news staff.

Pros

They are very flexiable with work scheadules. Most of the employees are great people. You do learn the basic in money handling, customer service, and computer knowledge.

Cons

They don't promote from within. Management is very vague with company goals, as well as personal goals. Reviews are not regular, nor are meetings. There is no set way for employees to provide input to assist the company. Many promotions and daily tasks are not standard, they don't have a set way for every employee to complete them. This leads to many different methods and a confusing routine.

Advice to Senior Management

Find a way to gather input from your employees, they do care about the company. Do promote from within, use your talent.

Pros

Great experience in newspaper industry. It is definitely a good place to get "your feet wet". But I would not reccomend staying. Use Journal Regsiter for the experience and move on.

Cons

Poor management. Poor decision-making. Poor communication.

Advice to Senior Management

Be more open with employees. Also, show respect and approval to employees who are deserving. Help motivate employees better.

Pros

You learn so much about everything. You interview mayors, teachers politicians, lawyers township managers and so many other professionals that explain ambiguous topics to you to assist you in writing your articles. You learn almost everything there is to know and the job is really fun too. The company itself blows, but the communities you serve are where all the pleasure is in working for this company which mainly provides you with an outlet to do your job and that's it.

Cons

Really low pay ($580 every two weeks with no health insurance unless you deduct $100 from that every two weeks and the coverage is really crappy), upper management is really stupid, but some of the editors, mine in particular are brilliant and others are flakes.

Advice to Senior Management

Invest in your bloody products! The service these papers should provide is so valuable, but the weekly papers are just thrown together and sloppy b/c the wages are so low and the talent and passion is not there for the most part. I could only afford to do this job for so long and I have a debt to pay now that I'm making a normal salary this year.

Pros

One will certainly get to test one's mettle. You will be thrown into the fire, but support will be available from good people if you are able to earn respect and establish the right relationships.

Cons

Low pay, but this is an industry-wide issue. Long hours due to continual downsizing.

Advice to Senior Management

Be nice. Although I am told that the corporate culture has improved due to changes in top management, it is important to appreciate that the job is where we mostly live our lives. And life is short and getting shorter. Let's help one another enjoy it, if we can.

Pros

Good people around you, in spite of bad management.

Cons

Poor pay, terrible benefits, inept management, no future. I could go on.

Advice to Senior Management

Realize that your employees are working hard in spite of you, and take better care of them.