Bleacher Report Employee Reviews about "b r"

Pros

You essentially get paid to watch and write about sports. What's better than that? I've also been able to interview superstar athletes, cover professional sporting events and even once played basketball with some former pros. There used to be a stigma abut writing for B/R--I've been around long enough to know how suspect some of the content was--but at this point, it's an established, mostly respected journalism brand.

Cons

The goalposts are rarely stationary. I don't think B/R has figured out what it wants to be. Sometimes, hard-hitting reporting seems to be the focus. The next minute, they're trying to be comedians. And you're never really coached on whatever they want, even though it's constantly changing. You also work on annual contracts--at least, everyone in my position did--and it's hard to get a good sense on where you stand. Even if yours is renewed every year, there are still some tense moments every 12 months.

Pros

The pros of this job are obvious. It's a young environment and everyone is into sports. Your news is to cover big sports news, and that's inherently fun. Generally as long as young handle your work, there doesn't seem to be much micromanaging. The job is in a good part of SF, and is Bart-accessible.

Cons

The cons are quite severe. Bleacher Report pays considerably below market value in the Bay Area, and in order to get away with this, management treats you like you are subhuman. They make you feel worthless, and thus not worth decent wages. Whenever questions about the low pay are brought up, management says that there are 200 people lined up for your job, so they don't need to pay you. This is why so few people who work at B/R live outside SF. They simply cannot afford to live in the city they work in. Additionally, upper management is a boy's club, and they parade around like gods while the hundreds of lower level employees sacrifice their lives and their families to miserable hours and wages. Occasionally they'll throw in a "free" t-shirt or something to keep morale up. The next African American male they hire outside of broadcast will be the first.

Pros

Bleacher Report is a great place to work. The environment is fun and the people that are their care about putting together great content for sports fans. Turner is a great parent company leaving B/R alone but also providing cash to grow. After the acquisition by Turner their was some churn and many people, especially on the tech side, were just riding out retention bonuses. The new management team has brought in talented people to drive the company forward and got rid of the dead weight.

Cons

With so many ambitious people trying to work in sports there are not advancement opportunities for everyone.

Pros

-You get the chance to interact with the B/R community and to give writers feedback on their pieces. -Copy editing mentors are extremely responsive and definitely make sure you are learning and improving. -By the end of the internship, you will have, without a doubt, honed your editing, fact-checking, and proofreading skills overall. -Scheduling is flexible. -Well-structured program.

Cons

Since the nature of the internship is virtual, face-to-face communication is obviously out of the question. Communicating via e-mail can be inconvenient and frustrating at times, but this should be expected from the onset of the internship.

Pros

I really enjoyed my time at Bleacher Report. Great people, great company, great atmosphere. I left to pursue a new career because I wanted to try something new, but it was very difficult to leave BR. I felt like I was treated well, and learned a lot from some really smart people. And as a sports fan, I was able to enjoy sports during the day, which was a definite plus. I also personally enjoyed having the support of a big company Turner - opened up the possibilities for what we could do and how we could grow. The office itself is also great. I realize it will be difficult to find a work environment like B/R again.

Cons

I think the only thing for me would be that a lot of the people who I had gotten to know over my time there had gone on to pursue new things, so a lot of fresh faces in the office. I think that's just a natural part of any company, especially a relatively young but growing one, to have people come and go. And often those people leaving were doing so for good opportunities within the company, like some people moved from SF to NY or London but remained at BR. For others, they had just reached a limit of what they could do at BR - which again I don't think is a strike against BR, but just that the kind of people they hire are go-getters. So it was natural for those people to move on. And i definitely liked the people who were still there, as I mentioned the people are one of the best parts of the company. But as someone who had been there a while, the office was maybe a little less familiar than when I had first started, when the company was a smaller startup.

Pros

The people who work at B/R are awesome. It is a fun atmosphere with like-minded co-workers who are always willing to lend a hand. There are TVs everywhere which is amazing.

Cons

Bleacher Report could improve their professional development. They would be better off finding distinct structure or pathways for their employees to move up.

Pros

The location is very good, located in downtown San Francisco. The bad part about that who people who work at B/R can afford to live in the city.

Cons

Employees make staggeringly low wages, and never get raises. There's the yearly 2-5% bump, but that puts average incomes way, way below what comparably employed workers in SF make. Management almost never promotes, and it's a boys club that "innocently" bullies lower staff, knowing that they're keeping the staff captive. When a negative glassdoor review goes up, there have been known to be witch-hunts. The CEO is completely disconnected, and once or twice a year will make some ridiculous video of himself in a football helmet or something to try to show Turner that he's "one of the guys." Not one employee doesn't see right through it.

Pros

One of the best things about B/R is that it allows aspiring writers to get their names out there and start writing right away, regardless of skill level or experience. Copy editing is provided for free, so writers do no need to be perfect. Massive audience due to partnerships with CNN, etc.

Cons

Anybody can write anything at any time, leading to irrelevant or downright incorrect information being shared across the internet. Stigma of being a B/R writer leads to lack of respect for writer's work, thanks to the transgressions of other writers