Milwaukee

[the_second_man]

Job opening at WDJT. Anyone got any info???
The ratings are not that great, does that automatically mean low pay?

[s. curelo]

don't do it. i'd rather work at the wb.

[Raiderfan]

That's the CBS there. They have struggled mightily since they were brought back on for news in the late 90's.(See they had shut down the whole newsroom for a while). I am going to guess that pay is not great. I guess if you want to get to Wisconsin then maybe take a look. I just haven't heard great things about that shop. And that mic flag they have is just HUMUNGOUS! 58NEWS Ten at 10:00.

[2000lux]

I was there for only a few days, so take this with a grain of salt. I checked out the local broadcasts out of curiosity. There was one station that seemed to have a no tripods rule that really adversly affected their show. I'll try to contact my friend out there and see if that's the one. You might want to ask the chief out there when you apply.

[<bubbler>]

Pay at 58 is less than $24k/year. Have fun!

[Lense_Cap]

Wonder how Ira is doing... What station did you move to again Ira?? Let us know how it's going.

[<Worth a look...>]

Not a bad station. Some equip issues, like anywhere else, but it's a good news town and there's some great people at 58. (Tripods are okay there by the way)

[<Make more than 58>]

"Pay at 58 is less than $24k/year. Have fun!"

Hell I make more than that in a market in the 80's.

[JTFCM]

....I'll take the 5th....I work there.

[2000lux]

I heard back from my friend out there. As an average viewer, she says WDJT is okey-dokey (i.e. it's not the one that made me motion sick).

[ January 18, 2005, 10:37 PM: Message edited by: 2000lux ]

[JTFCM]

We are not that bad, we have and use tripods just like the other big cities.

[Tim78]

I think all of the Milwaukee stations are solid, photography wise.

One station that puzzles me though is the Fox. I've seen really great NPPA-style stories that were very well done and then right after it, I'll see super-shaky crap footage.

I hope to work in Milwaukee some day, but with only a little more than 3 years experience under my belt, I need to get some more experience where I'm at.

[JTFCM]

Don't be afraid to apply, worst they can do is tell you that you need experience.

[Madman]

WDJT is a great place to work! Although we have a lot of hurdles to overcome,(i.e. no chopper, one live truck)it is my belief we have the hardest working, most genuine people in this market. However, there is a pay freeze at the time due to a pending union contract. These are temporary, so don't let them lowball you on the pay. Average pay for a photog here that has 3 years or more of experience is about $30,000 a year. Not the $24,000 you might have seen in previous posts! A lot of talent has worked here and then moved on to bigger and better things.

[Madman]

Let me add another thing! Our ratings have jumped in the last year. We are the only ones in the market that are up when everyone else is down dramatically. The one station that you have to be afraid of is the station on the bottom that is coming up. We have developed a strong brand and image with the 'Ten at 10:00', the equipment is improving, (just got some new DVC cameras last week), and the viewers are noticing.

[<O.T.>]

Yeah, its 30K with OT, don't get suckered in.

[Bars and Tone]

They offered me a job 2 years ago I had a little over three years exp. and only offered 24k then. I just couldn't take a pay cut to move from a great small city with a low cost of living to a bigger city with a much higher cost if living. They kept talking about overtime but who want's to work a bunch of OT just to be able to pay the bills.

[Madman]

Well, have fun in Rhinelander or Eau Claire, when you're shooting and cutting a 2 and a half minute pack and a mandatory live shot on that one murder that happens once a year, or sitting through another school board meeting. In the meantime, we travel with the Packers, the Milwaukee Brewers, the Milwaukee Bucks, the PGA, tons of festivals, Summerfest, lots of breaking news to cover (my favorite), meeting all kinds of interesting people on a constant basis, and just having a general overall better quality of life. Like I've said, Milwaukee is a great place to work, live, and play, especially WDJT. It's a great place to come and put together a great demo tape and move on to bigger and better things... and maybe, just maybe you'll enjoy the time that you're here.

[Tim78]

Do you guys still have an opening at DJT??? I would love to work in the Milwaukee market. I'm a UWM grad and I have over three and a half years photog exp.

[<Photojunkie>]

WTMJ has an opening. I believe it's for a person who is due to retire in April

Originally posted by Tim78:
Do you guys still have an opening at DJT??? I would love to work in the Milwaukee market. I'm a UWM grad and I have over three and a half years photog exp.

[Madman]

No opening to my knowledge. We're staffed up after being understaffed for so long. However, I'm gonna predict some turnover in the photog department within the next few months. Our chief always gets tapes and keeps them handy.

[Tim78]

How many photogs do you guys have at 58?

[mattyboy]

i was offered a job there many years ago. it didnt seem like that bad of a place but the pay they offered just didnt jive with what i thought a photographer in milwaukee should be making. i know there were some equipment issues, but it sounds from the above posts that those are being resolved. i dont think you can go wrong working in milwaukee.

[Madman]

We have 13 or 14 photogs. That's a full staff for us I think. The chief always wants tapes though.

[Tim78]

Perhaps I'll send a tape.

One question though...I have limited AVID experience. We had an AVID at my current shop a couple years ago when it broke down and wasn't fixed. Then we got AVID Express a month ago, but I've only been working with it for a little time.

I know 58 is a non-linear shop. Would I be considered with even limited experience? Like I've said before, I've been shooting for several years now. But the shops I've worked at had only linear equipment. Is this something the chief would work with you on???

[Madman]

Absolutely. Most shooters that are here have had little to no Avid Experience when they started. I think we were one of the first completely non-linear shops in the country. These Avids here have are some of the very first made, and were custom designed for us. It's real easy once you learn the functions, the basic concepts of editing still apply.