Philadelphia Media Reviews

Current Employee – been working at Philadelphia Media

Pros – Multiple tasks and projects for those who are willing to step up
Open management style that listens to suggestions
Free Newspapers and discounted subscriptions
Friendly atmosphere
No clock punching for certain roles allows freedom of time

Cons – Newspapers are in trouble
Editorial content suffering from cutbacks
No Pulitzer Prizes
Smaller and smaller staff size increases workload on the good people
Unions support of weaker employees hurts those of us who actually care

Advice to Senior Management – Pay attention to suggestion more often
Offer credit on money saving initiatives
Push to deliver better content not just bigger names, people want to read the quality investigative material

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at Philadelphia Media full-time for less than a year

Pros – The people who work on the online side of the business know their stuff. They understand that the only way for a local newspaper to survive is to provide real-time, local coverage and monetize it via digital advertising.

Cons – Ownership changes have completely demoralized the workforce. Cost cutting and job eliminations have everyone on edge, and great work is impossible. The latest owners -- Interstate Media -- fired the CEO, CRO and CBO and re-installed a previous generation of leaders.

Advice to Senior Management – Get a clue. Bringing back Bob Hall and Bill Marrimow was a clear signal that the company intends to move backward, not forward.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at Philadelphia Media

Pros – One of the oldest newspapers in the country and interested in forward thinking digital products. Coming out of bankruptcy in late 2010, there is a large focus on doing business in new ways with new management. For employees not in the guild, the work hours are very flexible and the small company size means ideas turn into actions very quickly.

Cons – The leadership here is atrocious. Most of the C-level employees would be directors and managers at other companies. New management has yet to lay out a coherent strategy and communicate it to employees. The company is rebuilding from the top down, which has led to lots of 'friends' getting high-level positions and consultant gigs with no experience to back it up. The company is home to two newspapers and a website, each which thinks it is the flagship brand of the company. This leads to huge territory battles and tons of confusion among employees. Financial thinking is all short-term, with credence mainly given to ideas that will produce quick gains regardless of their relevancy for the company and potential for sustainability. Salaries are entirely arbitrary and benefits are almost laughable for the 21st century.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Philadelphia Media

Pros – More concerned with final results as opposed to clock punching.
Flexible if you need a few hours for a personal appointment or if you need to work from home on occasion.
Recognizable name locally as well as nationally.

Cons – This company is like watching a gifted child being taught by unqualified teachers. Lots of potential, but Sr. Management isn't smart or ballsy enough to make the changes or challenge horrible ideas set forth by a revolving door of "many" owners/leaders so we can live up to our potential. Very disorganized, poor communication tactics and too many meetings with very little forward progress, if any. Questionable as to how they picked the Sr. Management team as well as the whack-a-mole style they use to fire them. Poorly ran HR dept with no follow thru and outdated benefits.

Very little training and you can tell that a handful of people don't have the experience to back up the positions they're in. How they got there or why they were hired, is to be left up to the imagination. Questioning things only turns into another "meeting" with no plan of action or resolution in site. Lack of competent leadership makes it easy for those not pulling their weight to stay under the radar with no accountability. Nil in the raise dept unless you're a director (or above) or unless they have no other choice but to throw you a few bones because you've got them backed up against the wall and they need you in order to save themselves from looking even more inadequate. No action or plan B as to how they're going to keep good employees happy.

Advice to Senior Management – Please stop acting like the popular kids in high school who feel that we all should be happy just to be seen with you. You have a lot of good, talented and loyal people who have chosen to dedicate their careers to you...don't take advantage of that! It's no secret the transition this industry is going through, but completely focusing on the bottom line and putting very little into the ideas and happiness of your current staff is a mistake. A plan of action should be set up not only on the $ side, but the employee side as well.

Learn how to communicate to your staff and place employee relationships as high on the value chain as $ ones, or else you're going to continue to lose valuable employees to competitors and other avenues, while the quality of product continues to decrease and eventually ceases to exist.

It's time to stop thinking reactive and start thinking proactive on ALL levels, before this ship sinks completely!

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

Former Employee – worked at Philadelphia Media full-time for more than 10 years

Pros – Some good managers. and publishers over the 10 years I was there Enjoyed working with the employees and the independence I was given

Cons – disorganized Pooer decison makers lack of advertising knowledge and what would sell

Advice to Senior Management – Company sold due to poor decison making

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

Former Employee – worked at Philadelphia Media

Pros – Very professional, customer satisfaction of product is important.

Cons – Shift Work, long drive to facility from city.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend