An increasingly unprofessional, penny pinching company - Editor Static Media Employee Review

1.0
Jun 1, 2023
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

The benefits are quite good, there's almost always something to do, and your coworkers (and often your immediate supervisors) are great. The people there are passionate about their work and show up every single day, and you can make great friends with your coworkers. The backend/reworked Wordpress is a tech marvel made by a genuine tech genius. The CEO is a standup, straightforward guy who is just a normal dude who happens to run a company.

Cons

The parts of the C-suite that oversee actual day-to-day operations of the sites - a small group, maybe two to four people - are impulse, paranoid, and never tell anyone under them anything until they've already made a decision, leading a lot of editors to have to react to writers angry at decisions made about their paygrade without their knowledge. These two-to-four people are power hungry, resent giving anyone an ounce of autonomy, want to micromanage everything, and yet never coming to meetings remotely prepared for an ounce of pushback. (No joke, they'll have meetings about what will generate better traffic and not have any traffic data ready.) They're also penny pinchers of the highest order. They regularly make promises they refuse to keep -- promoting someone without pay with the promise that good performance will see a raise, only for the raise to never come due to corporate buzzword BS, or not give you an annual bonus because they only gives those to people who worked a full year (even if you worked 51 weeks) or moving people out of positions they're good at because they don't meet some never-agreed-upon mysterious metrics and just letting them rot despite promises to find somewhere for them. This is a company that will deny you a promised raise AND demand that you do even more work on literally the same day. And then after they cost you money or break promises or make your job harder, they expect you to just get over it and never address it directly. They frequently ask you to do large tasks, up to and including shifting hours and job titles, and offer literally no incentive besides "the company will like it." About 99% of requests will go up to those same two to four people, and almost all of them come back down "no." It can take months to get answers from the higher ups - not even straight answers, just any kind of answer, about anything. Every editor spent months banging the drum that the company was hiring too much, and the second ad rates got shaky, they found a way to blame the writers and fire a bunch of them. It's also nearly impossible to take them seriously when they say "we're over budget" or "we need to cut writer and editor hours" when every few months, they magically find the money to acquire another site. It's also clear that the company is weirdly defensive about the hiring team and the video team, because they mess up constantly and never face any consequences. And frankly, as long as the company is still functionally run by these same two to four people, I expect it to get worse and more paranoid, not better... but I don't see them being held accountable for their lies and manipulation any time soon.

Explore other reviews about Static Media

5.0
Jun 8, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

The Culture is Unmatched: From day one, the environment at Static has been incredibly welcoming and collaborative. There is a genuine lack of ego here; everyone from junior devs to upper management is accessible and willing to help you succeed. Autonomy and Trust: Management actually trusts you to do your job. There is very little micromanagement and unnecessary company bureaucracy . You are given ownership of your projects, which has allowed me to grow professionally at a much faster rate than at my previous companies. Smart, Driven Team: You are surrounded by brilliant people who are passionate about what they do. It’s an inspiring place to work because everyone is constantly pushing the envelope and looking for innovative solutions. Great Perks & Flexibility: The remote-first flexibility genuinely supports a healthy work-life balance. Burnout is actively discouraged, and work life balance is respected.

Cons

Fast-Paced Environment: Because Static is growing so quickly, things change fast. If you prefer a highly predictable, rigid corporate routine, the speed of adaptation here might be a adjustment. However, the teams handle these scaling shifts with great communication.

1.0
Jul 10, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Well, there aren't many writing jobs out there anymore, so I guess it's at least something.

Cons

I've been working here for years, but the industry I started in collapsed, so I'e been bounced around to different sites. The one I'm currently writing for (I don't want to give more information, because it's my only income right now) is awful. The rules change every five minutes, and every story and headline is exactly the same. After 20 years as a writer, several books under my belt, and a byline that was recognizable, I get nothing but critiques. They threaten our jobs constantly. Guest editors come in from other sites with different rules, and send things back for revision. That triggers an internal review every week or so. I've won awards for writing, and this job has made me lose confidence. The amount of money they pay is ridiculous. If AI wasn't getting everyone fired everywhere else, I'd leave in a second. The editors seem to be on a power trip and treat writers like children. After all the years of work and recognition, this is the most demoralizing place I've ever been.

3
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