Pros
Pretty relaxed and quiet environment. There doesn’t seem to be much stress in the office which is nice. Perhaps some have found it a little too quiet at times but that’s how Chris likes it. The free snacks are a nice touch but I always felt it was overall a beautiful building and great place to hang your hat. Chris can be a visionary and many people think it’s great that he’s taking the risk of starting a TV network. Chris is also a very kind person; I have never heard him raise his voice. He sticks to his principles, including only focusing on Baby Boomer conservatives as a niche market alternative to Fox. Chris does get himself heavily involved in certain aspects but those involve mainly the look and feel of the product and issues from a journalistic standpoint (a reflection of his own career). Chris is fiercely loyal: if you’re a “FOC” (Friend of Chris) you’re golden. The COO is great to bounce ideas off of and always available for a very honest chat. Finally, there doesn’t seem to be a lot of office politics going on which is pleasant to see. This is a multi-faceted company with many different product lines and has had a ton of success.
Cons
It’s Chris’ company and it’s made well-known so. He certainly has the right to do whatever he wants, so you can’t blame him for his dream of having a successful TV network. Unfortunately from a financial perspective the payoff doesn’t seem to be there and I’m not sure it will ever be. Distribution of the network is one thing, but when faced with the current viewership numbers despite being in upwards of 70 million homes, the network will continue to be a haven solely for clients such as MyPillow, failing to draw enough revenue for the payoff. There is a catch-22 of sorts at Newsmax: Chris takes every penny earned in other departments and puts it towards building up TV, let alone other expenses some would consider unnecessary given the cash flow concern. Unfortunately as he continues to cut back in helping products generate revenue in every other department, it gives him less revenue therefore to work with in the first place to put towards TV, so there’s no perfect or “right” answer that solves both needs- this is important for people to understand. Potential investors do come around from time-to-time but with that offer comes a demand of some modicum of say/control and that has always been a non-starter. Typical daily challenges include billing delays/issues with vendors, tech breakdowns with the website and emails, low morale, a lack of confidence in the direction of the company, and a cavernous office with not that many desks filled. There is also the flip side of the aforementioned loyalty by Chris, with some employees put in positions due to their personal relationship(s) with Chris that they seemingly don’t understand what it is they are doing in their role(s). Managers of those departments become stuck with those ‘untouchables’ to handle important tasks. While there doesn’t seem to be that many HR issues, there is a current significant (SH) complaint recently made that it will be interesting to see how (or even if) it’s handled. If the issue is in-essence covered up, it only helps speak to the perceived preference existing in the workplace already. It doesn’t matter what my - or anyone’s - opinion on how Chris should spend his money is because he’s earned that right by building up an incredibly successful company for the last 20 years. He’s quite intelligent so I hope his moves pay off in the long run. Unfortunately most people feel it’s a race against the clock whether TV (and therefore the company) can continue to survive with diminishing investment capital from Medix, Humanix, Magazine, Digital, etc. While I mentioned that the COO is a person you should feel great comfort in going to, unfortunately he has not been empowered to make decisions. Overall, it’s not a bad company at all to work for so long as you understand the direction. Very friendly people and I always feel a supportive environment by coworkers. With all of that said, because it’s a small company, change comes quickly. There are no 90-day performance initiatives to improve performance; Chris can not like what you have to offer in one meeting and you’re out the door in literally two minutes flat.