So it seems even in my home town, the uproar over cost cutting, low moral, and low pay has hit the local ABC affiliate here in Eugene, Oregon.

According to Oregon Media Insider, KEZI is going through a pretty intensive shake up and the old guard are letting it be known that once again, the new VJ paradigm is to blame.

Accusations of lousy working conditions, incompetent management, low pay, lack of respect, etc are also being blamed and the number of staff quitting due to said management is pretty depressing.

My response of course put into perspective the realities that traditional Reporters/ENG crews are going the way of the dinosaur. But I’m also concerned that there may be some validity to what is being reported that management has lost touch with the essence of good journalism and replacing it with a lot of glitz and glamour.

The new VJ paradigm can’t make up for incompetent management, which seems to be a major gripe by the “Anonymous” posters in the thread, so there needs to be a balance in my opinion. Get someone in there who is willing to make changes for the better, bring in professional VJ training, let them take risks without fear of retrobution by losing ones job and let us VJ’s show our stuff.

Although I’d like the opportunity to work as a VJ for the local affiliate, I’m not willing to deal with incompetent owners hiring family members as management who aren’t trained news people.