what to do?

[westernproducer]

what can you od when it seems the station is getting short staffed and the ND just isn't hiring people. I'm not going to go into specifics but almost every job from news to production is dangerously short. oh and for note this isn't an all of a sudden thing it's been a few months since we've been full staffed. just curious if you have to trust the ND to get it, or does the newsroom have to say something?

[thenewsleader12345]

actually... you keep your mouth shut. Its not up to you who they hire and when. Its their station, and they can run it the way they want to. If you dont like the staffing or working conditions..you find another job.
Raising your voice about something like this is a good way to get fired.

[Jane Craig]

Say nothing, keep doing your job the best you can, and decide whether you should start looking for something else.

It is entirely possible that the ND totally gets it but is under pressure from above not to fill jobs (either for an extended period or for good). For you to mention the situation would likely be stating the obvious and would serve as a tacit accusation of cluelessness.

Sorry about your situation, but saying something almost certainly won't help and could hurt how you are perceived.

[TVMattNYC]

Organize into a union.

[Produce man]

Sounds like your station is about to get sold.

[westernproducer]

the sale rumor has been going on since i got here, i don't buy into it. but thanks, i guess the answer is to suck it up and do my job.

[McCovey Cove Returns]

Well, from the sounds of things your options are few and far between. If you don't like the situation, then do what you can to get the heck out of there. If there's some sort of hiring freeze going on, that's often the prelude to a sale or the unthinkable-the closing of the newsroom. Of course, it could be neither and your owners plain and simply suck.

I wouldn't go banging on the ND's door to complain, that could bite you in the ass in two ways. One, you could get canned. Two, you don't get canned but try to find a new job and end up with a lousy reference from your now disgruntled boss.

[Spike]

Originally posted by westernproducer:
the sale rumor has been going on since i got here, i don't buy into it. Another possibility is the budget bonus. Some companies give their managers a bonus for coming in under budget. So what the managers will do is budget for a full staff, then leave positions open for several months when someone leaves. That way, that person's full salary was included in the budget, but a third or more of it is never paid. The manager comes out looking like a genius.

It catches up with them eventually, but news directors often only stick around through one contract cycle and move on, telling the next employer how much money he was able to save the last one.

What you can do is get the hell out. It's only television. It isn't worth being miserable over.

[Produce man]

Well, depending on what shape your shop is in, a sale can take a LONG time. The sale rumor floated around for almost two years at a shop I worked at. We even knew the name of the alleged buyer. It eventually happened, and the rumored buyer was the real one. This happened over a span of about 2 1/2 years, so it could be happening to you.

Then again, I could be wrong.

[Ranger Bob]

My old station used to do that and still does. Right now they have several positions which have been open and have remained so for 3 to 6 months. They've been woefully understaffed for most of this year. When they did hire, they hired college kids and they got rid of the "old timers." The result: The quality of reporting went way down, the viewers noticed and either quit watching, or watched the competition, and they went from #1/strong #2 to WAY behind in the ratings. I'm sure they saved a lot of money, but many of their most talented and most experienced folks left, to save.....their sanity. In the end, it will be interesting to see if the dive in ratings leads to a dive in revenue. Right before I left, I actually heard the GM tell someone, "We don't concern ourselves with being #1."

[adam & doctor drew]

Originally posted by westernproducer:
i guess the answer is to suck it up and do my job.that's option A.
option B is to get out of there.

[Pro]

Originally posted by adam & doctor drew:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by westernproducer:
i guess the answer is to suck it up and do my job.that's option A.
option B is to get out of there.</font>[/QUOTE]Yup. That's exactly right. Nothing you can do will change the situation there.

[newhouse]

Welcome to the wonderful world of news.

[The Mockingbird]

Lol, sounds like you're at KOAT.