Newsweek reviews

Where to begin... I left Newsweek back in the summer, and I can honestly say it's taken me a really long time to recover from the toxicity of this company. The management is truly atrocious - there is 0 support offered in the role, yet reporters are criticised relentlessly for not meeting imaginary targets that they are not told about. Workload is unmanageable. They expect reporters to write 4 articles a day each reaching an average of 600 words. All of these must be well researched, with interviews and comment, yet you are only given a max of two hours to write them. The targets change constantly. And if reporters do not adapt immediately you are pennalised. Feedback system is abysmal - borderline bullying more than anything else. Given in a rude, unconstructive way, that really does negatively impact mental health when given as frequently as it is. Reporters are not told about small errors until months later, when it is already too late and they've black marked your name. I was not given a 1:1 with my manager for a good year and then when I finally had one, it was a slew of criticisms that I had not been made aware of until that very moment... My manager was a highly unpleasant individual who's presence made meetings anxiety inducing. HR department might as well not exist, it is entirely useless People have either worked there for ten years, or two, there is no in between. This means there is a culture of favouritism among the higher ups, where everyone covers each others backs even though there are some terrible people in senior roles. There is a fast turnover rate, not just because people quit because of how toxic it is, but people are also fired frequently.

This is by far the worst company I've worked for in a decade of newsroom and editorial jobs. There were red flags from the start, like multiple editors being fired in my first two months, being tasked to do a job I wasn't hired to do and being treated worse by management than in any company I've worked for. The only metric they care about is pageviews, even though when pressed about it, managers say clickbait is not being produced. If you share concerns or feedback on editorial decisions, you are met with slaps on the wrist. Leadership is extremely secretive, with little to no communication about long-term strategy and vision. In 2023, it's unconscionable for a newsroom that claims to be unbiased to secretly (and sometimes not so secretly) favor and even push right-wing narratives. Save yourself the headache and don't work here.