Pros
If you're in management and fairly competent and hard working, you have a set job for as long as you want. Easy commute and reasonable hours, unless you have to scramble with projects and then you find yourself working late. It's easy work. You can do this in your sleep if you come from any other hi-tech, especially B2B industry related fields. Great culture and atmosphere in the sales groups. Many people have been here for 5, 10, 20, even 30 years! New CEO and Publisher is a really nice guy, decent, caring, and passionate about the product and the news paper business, the community, our readers/subscribers, advertisers, and wants to be the industries change-agent. A great legacy and reputation, and a respected media outlet with great products. Santa Ana office has a cafeteria, with reasonable prices. If you've been there a while you have some perks from show and sporting event tickets, to discounts to movies, theme parks, etc. Decent health benefits. Good people working there for the most part, so easy to get along with people and be liked.
Cons
Too many to list, but here are a few... First off the reputation of the Register has simply fallen to its lowest low. To try and come back from that is like GM bringing back Saturn and making it a brand on its own. It's possible. Look at the US auto industry. It's better now than its been in a very long time. The newspaper industry is seeing a slow and tedious death, but we're hanging in there in the fight to turn things around. Desperate and risky business moves that could cause catastrophic blows to the business. Old and outdated technology, and office deco that is depressing. Some of the offices look like abandoned hotel lobbies in foreign countries that have been war torn. You feel like you are drowning and just can't catch up with the amount of busy work, meetings, and unnecessary reports you have to do. The number of products, rates, special projects that all come out at the same time makes me wonder if they are just making the stuff up as they go along, or what? It's crazy and confusing. If you can't understand your own product and rates, how the heck do expect your advertisers to? Lots and lots of PO'd customers who simply won't do business with us because of our screw-up's. Complete disorganization at all levels. No accountability of people not doing their jobs. New ownership is hiring folks they know, which can lead to problems if these people don't have the qualifications to do the jobs they're being hired for. It is a risk they can't afford to take - or should be taking. From a sales standpoint, goals are constantly changing and there is no scientific way they come up with the numbers you're supposed to achieve. As a results, people are leaving. Lack of expertise in the online space. Totally abandoned third-party online products and focusing exclusively on building out the print products to increase circulation, subscriptions, and ultimately advertising. It's a big cluster bomb of a mess over here, and not for the faint at heart. Stressful, being left thinking how insignificant some days can be and why you're working here? In some ways it reminds me of the TV sitcom The Office. The technology support team is based in India. One wonders who made some of these decisions? It's as if you've been transported back to 1985. Everything is very vintage, and no big thinkers accept the new owners and some of their inner circle. Doesn't seem like a place where you can have career growth. In the end, it's mediocre, and can be a depressing job. It's a frozen TV dinner feeling.