Tin Pot Dictatorship – Anonymous Employee GoLocalProv.com Employee Review on Glassdoor.com
Sketchiest job experience ever! Do your research before you apply, especially on CEO Josh Fenton.
During the interview the Mr. Fenton, went out of his way to tell me “don’t worry, you won’t be a slave or anything”, which is… a pretty major red flag. He also was very illusive about paperwork. He even changed my job description AFTER I had accepted the job, and the salary of the original job posting was not what I was offered.
Mr. Fenton has no real background in journalism. He has set himself up as the dictator of this news site and cycles through interns and young reporters because nobody else would tolerate such a job. This means he also has no idea about the appropriate role of an editor, and if he catches anything he needs to edit, he will use it as an opportunity to demean you (the exact opposite of what an editor is supposed to do). The journalist/editor relationship is poisoned from day one, the work environment gets completely silent and even hostile the second he enters the room. Eventually all his employees walk out.
He also doesn’t remember the things he says, so he may get upset at you for following the very instructions he gives you!
I once saw him bring an employee outside and yell at him because he turned around in his chair to participate in a conversation.
Worst of all, he didn’t pay me for months after I left, and every time I emailed him he’d invent some new excuse, grovelling and weaseling in an attempt to make me wait a few weeks longer. Eventually I threatened to go to the labor bureau and (surprise!) the check arrived in a matter of days.
Do yourself a favor and look up the reputation of GoLocal and Mr. Fenton before you apply. Look up the failures of “GoLocalPDX” and how he didn’t pay several employees. Look up “GoLocalProv Turtleboy” and see how he threatens to sue former employees.
