Employee Development

Communication

Integrity

Employee Empowerment

Knowledge

Authenticity

Comment

I feel sorry for anyone who is unfortunate enough to work for Mike Friedrich. He demands a lot out of employees without knowing what it is the employees do. He doesn't take time to understand why things don't work the way he wants to work, and is totally unwilling to listen to employees. I have tried numerous times to explain to him how long the process is to get something done that he wanted done immediately, and every time he says "I don't want to hear excuses." So literally nothing gets resolved because the process is still long, and he thinks it's the employee being lazy or something. He also makes requests that are downright impossible, never gives credit where credit is due, and totally misinterprets data. He is not knowledgeable about any contemporary technology used in the news industry but is more than happy to tell those of us who work with that tech every day why we're not doing our jobs correctly. When he sees one story do well, he automatically thinks that's what the audience wants for time and all eternity, and ends up devoting much-needed resources to one topic over multiple days, even as other news is happening. I've never seen this tactic pay off. He also lies about stories being successful when they aren't, predicts that stories will "go viral" that end up getting very few engagements, and is constantly making decisions that are, at best, questionable in regards to copyright. He's totally inconsistent with his own rules, as well. One day he'll demand the entire newsroom focus on weather and only weather, despite its short shelf-life overall, and the next day throw a fit because we devoted too much time to weather. Brace yourself if you are in his next newsroom. This newsroom saw what I can only assume is a historic turnover during his time. Dedicated reporters, photographers, producers, and assignment desk editors who have worked here for years were all part of a max exodus over three short years because you simply can't be efficient under his management, you can't report news unless HE finds it interesting, and you can't get problems solved because he literally tells you to be quiet, so he never understands what's actually going on so that problems can be fixed. I've never worked for a poorer leader who was more disingenuous, unrespected and unlikeable.