Working at Community Impact Newspaper

Community Impact has given me the opportunity to build relationships with professionals within CI and the community I serve. I love learning all of the behind the scenes intricacies of city/county government, locally owned businesses, education, real estate, transportation and local events.

It takes a while to learn the complexities of the job demands. It takes a highly organized person to meet the challenge.

My co-workers. We have an amazing team of reporters, editors, designers, account executives, managers and support staff who all work together beautifully.

John Garrett leads by example and is humble, intelligent and personable. He fosters the same qualities in his leadership team.

Culture is alive and well at Community Impact. The only suggestion I have to bring back Thrive!

I had not interviewed in a number of years, so preparing for the interveiwS was very different that my past experiences. I studied the website, but allowed my personality and experience to set the tone.

Community Impact is the BEST option! There's nothing better than the City surveys that continually show Community Impact is where most residents turn for local news.

I feel there is a wide range of ages, ethnicities, social/economical and educational demographics.

Connecting with and serving my community! ....and hitting sales goals.

Great people, supportive environment, strong journalistic morales, people first leadership

Salary can be lacking, especially at the lower end of the spectrum Leadership something has wild ideas that cause the rest of us to scramble

The time off!

Supportive and visionary

Rapid change

Get to know the company—do your research Come relaxed, willing to listen, ask great questions and show off your personality. We really value teachable, collaborative individuals who are ready to do the work and believe in our mission

I believe that it is a bit lower than our competition, however the benefits, work life balance and stability level the playing field in my opinion

The representation could be better, though I think that is something the company wants to change

The people. I love getting to know and support my coworkers

I think the pros of working for Community Impact Newspaper are because it is a family-owned company we have direct access to the owners. In addition to the owners, the leadership team is easily accessible which provides a personalized and attentive work environment. As an Impactor, we feel a sense of accomplishment and reward providing hyperlocal unbiased and trusted news across the communities we serve. Our readers, partners and advertisers all share in our success and passion for the mission we are trying to accomplish. Community Impact is an open book company and shares the financials of progress and opportunities. There is a strong company culture which centers around the values of Faith, Passion, Integrity, Innovation, and Quality.

In my experience, the cons of working at Community Impact Newspaper aren't necessarily cons for our company, it is more of working for a news organization in general. At times we may feel pressured from readers and advertisers about news and stories we should be covering. Working for a news organization, we have deadlines we have to meet and we rely on our sources and business owners to respond in a timely manner.

My favorite perk of working at Community Impact is the connections I've made within the community. Whether I'm engaging at a networking event or conversing with a local advertiser, I'm reminded of the positive impact of what we do everyday matters. When I wear my name badge and someone spots 'IMPACT' from across the room to say hello, it fills me with pride to be part of such an exceptional organization.

What I like best about the Leadership team is their passion, sincerity, empathy and transparency. Our Leadership team is genuine and they are committed to making CI the best place to work.

I would improve the company culture at Community Impact by continuing to have opportunities for each department to get to know everyone in our office. Since Covid the world has gotten away from building in person relationships and people isolate themselves. Video calls cannot replace the personal connection we build when seeing someone face to face. Our party planning committee has come up with fun ideas and ways to get our teams to connect and build upon our culture.

I prepared for an interview with Community Impact Newspaper by researching the company to see if their values aligned with mine. I received the paper and was familiar with the content and advertising options. I brought copies of my resume, had prepared questions regarding the position and shared how my experience was a match for the role they were looking to fill.

In my experience, the compensation at Community Impact Newspaper when compared to the industry average is above average. Our Leadership team does an excellent job making sure we are competitive in the market to acquire new talent and retain experienced talent.

The representation of diverse demographics at Community Impact Newspaper allows us as employees "Impacters" to celebrate what makes each of us unique. 

Personally, the most fulfilling aspect of my work at Community Impact Newspaper is knowing that we make a difference in people's lives. Whether it is informing the community about an upcoming election or seeing a local restaurant's business increase, we are here to be a light for our readers, customers, partners and each other.

We get ample PTO for balance and a hybrid telework schedule is very beneficial to overall mental health.

Teams are lean so workload is high.

Day in and day out we work as a collaborative team to live and breathe our mission. Management is also really understanding with personal/family needs and it's important to work for a place that allows you to put your family first -- and someone is always willing to have your back and help you when you need it.

Open door policy and honest feedback is always welcomed in order to make CI a better place to be and make sure our processes are where they need to be.

It's been a while but I read our website, learned about the mission and our stones and all that CI does for each community it's a part of.

Helping people while fulfilling our mission each day.

From minimal personal research, I believe my salary is a bit below average for my experience and tenure.

I think we do the best we can with available talent.

Flexibility

Lot's of changes

Great product; collaborative and positive work environment; constantly innovating to have the best processes and quality

Lots of opportunity for personal and professional growth

Humble and seeking input to always improve

This year the company is adding more community volunteering into our schedules

Researched the website and practiced industry questions/answers

Competitive

Community Impact keeps diversity top of mind in hiring and corporate communications

Every day at CI is unique with challenges and lots of fun

There is a lot of support, understanding and flexibility as the job of being in the news changes day to day. The culture of the newsroom is strong and it makes coming into the office a pleasure as we are all passionate about doing our jobs to the best of our ability.

Sometimes a changing story or taking the opportunity to train new people results in consequences, as procedures are valued over human understanding. For instance, taking the time to train a reporter how to do a page that an editor would normally do may result in that page not being filled out completely the first time (such as a map missing from the Impacts spread), which results in the page being sent to Editorial Edits Needed, which makes the page late, rather than a simple conversation happening. Or a last-minute pivot on a cover story requires pages of documents to be filled out outlining the story, even though that has been done verbally and it would probably be a better use of time to actually work on the story and get interviews done.

I appreciate the flexibility to come in later in the morning if I work later at night, and that I can work from the market if I have a busy day filled with interviews. I also value the holidays and weeks of time off we have available to us.

I like that the CEO has taken the time to get to know us on a personal level. This is the first time I've ever had the CEO of a company I've worked for know my name and what I do. I do feel like my supervisors care about me.

I think there needs to be more transparency when the winds of change are blowing, and let people know ahead of time that things are changing, even if we're not quite sure how yet. Most companies and CEOs have touted how full transparency has given their company culture a positive shift.

I researched the website and tried to learn more about the CEO and DFW publisher.

In my experience, the compensation at Community Impact is better than many other local newspapers, through direct compensation, flexible work hours and time off available to us. I truly appreciate that raises are not something we need to ask for as employees, but is something the company initiates on our behalf. Having said that, I do think that once you reach a certain level it becomes harder to get raises at this company, even if they are more than earned.

I feel like we could do a better job representing diverse demographics in our organization. Most people in our newsroom are white, and a good portion of our leaders are male. I appreciate when efforts are made to reach out and try to recruit diverse candidates to fill our open roles.

So many things. I love collaborating with my writers and fellow editors, I love when my opinion is asked from leadership about the direction of the newsroom, I love that we celebrate our wins. I love meeting our readers and hearing what they love about our paper, and I love that the work we do is driven by being useful and helpful to our readers, and that we do it at no cost to them.

The pros of working at Community Impact are: 1) PTO 2) Flexibility of schedules 3) Career growth opportunities 4) Company culture 5) The company's great reputation within each community we serve

The cons of working at Community Impact are: 1) turnover in some departments due to workload and compensation.

My favorite benefits at Community Impact are: 1) Being able to participate in fun chamber events 2) Having a flexible schedule to be out in the community as much as needed 3) The PTO is great!

The CEO and leadership team do a great job at listening to their employees and working to create the best atmosphere as possible in the workplace.

I do wish we had more company wide events like we used to such as Olympacts, BBQ lunches once a month during NIO week, happy hours, etc...

Without knowing the details of my specific title in the industry but the newspaper ad sales industry compensation, CI's compensation is pretty high.

I think we could all have a more diverse demographic but I also don't know what the demographic is of our applicants. I know we've been working on making improvements where we can as a company in this area.

What brings me the most joy at work is the people I work with. They are like family. We talk outside of work hours quite often because we are all friends. I love that!

The pros of working at Community Impact is the relationships you build in the company. My coworkers are a lot of fun. I also get great benefits like PTO and vacation time.

In my experience, the cons of working at Community Impact is definitely the sense of instability that seems to happen frequently. The company executive team and managers are frequently changing what we do and how we do it and I rarely feel secure in the work I do.

I love my vacation and PTO time that I get every year. I feel like I truly have a life/work balance and don't have to pick and choose how I spend my time.

I like how passionate my CEO is about the work we do. My publisher makes me feel heard and valued.

I would improve Community Impact by getting rid of all the red tape it gets to get anything done for the job. I feel there are too many hoops to get something on a page or to get approval to do my job, which I am trained to do. I also would make sure changes don't come every few months so the people who work for the company feel stable.

I prepared for my interview with Community Impact by reading some of the recent editions of the market I was applying for. I got to know the types of stories and how they were written.

In my experience, I am at the higher end of the industry average. A typical journalist makes $50,000-$65,000. In my previous position, I made $32,000 as a reporter.

I always think we can do a better job at diversity. I love seeing women in leadership roles in the company.

I love working with reporters to help them be better journalists. I also value our mission statement of bringing news to the people in a community for free.

Great team. Incredible and talented coworkers. Important mission. Values driven company

none

great time off

Good vision, have gotten really good at executing

More time together

research

very good

very good - represents the community

winning, growing and making profits

I get to work with great people doing important work in a caring and supportive environment.

Getting a paid holiday for my birthday.

There's a lot of work to be done and, at times, people can take on too much and work themselves to burnout.

Reading about the company on its website and looking through past issues of the paper.

John is very approachable and is someone we can be on a first name basis with, as are the rest of the leadership team.

I wish there were more opportunities to meet and get facetime with co-workers in other metros.

I'm paid much, much better than I have been anywhere else I've worked. I make more than double what I was making with my previous employer for a similar job.

I think there could be a better representation of diverse demographics in the company.

Winning awards and seeing the work we do celebrated both internally and externally.

Community Impact is really mission-driven and truly follows through on that mission. I love the environment I work in, I think the culture in the office is great and the people I work with have made a positive impact on my life. I feel like I am contributing part of the success of the company, even though my work only touches a small part of the company as a whole.

The management structure leaves a lot to be desired. There are semi-frequent communication breakdowns, often in relation to work flow. I also don't always feel as if the feedback I provide is taken well by my superiors, if I even feel comfortable enough to share feedback in the first place. I see the value in the company and I see myself staying here a long time, but I also envision in that time that the management structure will foster more positive and productive communication.

I appreciate all of the perks, from the snacks/drinks in the office to the great insurance, but the PTO has got to be the best benefit. There are very few companies that can compete with the PTO that CI offers.

I think the CEO and leadership do a great job offering earnest communication, given the nature of their roles in the company. I also appreciate the dedication to innovation at the executive level, although I would like to see the innovative measures created at the executive level be approached and tested with more caution. Overall, I appreciate the dedication to maintaining quality at all levels of the company, starting with the executive team as examples and role models.

I would love to see more transparent communication, specifically in large overhauls or umbrella changes to any given role or department. I would also love to see greater investment in department-specific culture activities, given the loss of the pod/team structure with CI Simple. While I understand as a growing company, change is inevitable, I would also like to see more stability. If people feel like they have their feet under them and can proceed ahead on stable ground, they have a better opportunity to buy-in to the company and participate in the company culture to the fullest extent.

When I prepared for my interview at CI, I read the most recent editions of every paper in the metro I was applying to work in. I also researched the company website, as well as associated social media pages, and took through notes of important facts about the company or anything that raised a question for me. Lastly, I searched for articles and reviews mentioning the company name. While I take most reviews with a grain of salt, it helped to see the feedback of former and current employees that took the time to share their experiences.

I have taken stock of the efforts both by my direct supervisors and the company at large to continue improving pay for all, and I truly appreciate that. I also know that there are opportunities for advancement that would come with an increase in compensation, and I feel those opportunities are attainable. That being said, I would like to see the company continue to work on improving wages. I currently make below the industry average for my role and I cannot afford to live in the market in work in. While I understand this is not a unique struggle or a problem confined solely to CI, I hope the company maintains its dedication to paying Impacters a living wage that gives them an opportunity to afford to live in the markets they are assigned to work in.

I don't have a good picture of the company at large, but speaking just for the metro I work in, I think there is a lack in diversity specifically in regards to race/ethnicity. In terms of gender, I have always appreciated the support for women this company has shown. I have never worked somewhere where they were just as many women as men, and that is really powerful and important. I haven't never felt as if the company is exclusionary. I think CI is a very welcoming place, and while there could always be something to work towards in terms of diversity, I don't think the company is doing a poor job by any means.

I love the people I work with. Contributing to the mission is incredibly fulfilling, but it would feel really empty if I didn't have the people around me to celebrate the wins with. I take every opportunity to lift up those around me, and I acknowledge when those around me lift me up. Seeing those people and getting to work alongside them truly motivates me.

Well known and respected source of news in the communities we serve. I have been at Community Impact for almost seven years and have earned a GM of the year award out of 30 markets and have since been promoted to Publisher. I feel very appreciated, recognized for my hard work and surrounded by amazing team members that truly want everyone to succeed.

I can't think of any cons. I hope to retire with Community Impact.

Being with a highly respected, trusted company that allows us to attend many important events.

The CEO is a visionary thinker, forward thinking, up with the times and has a sincere care for his employees.

I think we have a great culture. The state of the economy effects how much fun and reward they can extend for exceptional work and meeting goals. I would imagine this is true for any business.

I was a happy reader of Community Impact and had just taken a temporary job wiaintg to find just the right fit. A friend told me Community Impact was starting another paper in New Braunfels and I decided to walk into the local San Marcos office to learn more. I handed over my resume and was asked to an interview the very next day.

I have not compared my comp to industry averages, so I can honestly say I don't know. However I live comfortably on my comp now and feel like I ma paid fairly.

Community Impact has made diversity a priority and I love that.

Producing a high quality product that people talk about.

The work environment is very friendly. Immediate managers are accessible and ready to help. There is a good network of people in place when taking time off to take care of things. A good amount of time off.

Starting pay is too low for reporters and designers. As salaried employees, designers do not get paid overtime even when working long hours on final days; this is different from editors due to the pay disparity between the positions. Despite claims of slowing down to weigh decisions, upper management continues to make rushed judgement calls that are implemented poorly and without regard to employees who are affected. The copy desk is slowly being eliminated, raising quality concerns across the board. There is a disconnect between what the CEO wants from reporters and what reporters are actually able to deliver on a consistent basis without facing burnout. Many people making decisions about the editorial department have not been a reporter or editor in a long time, which results in outdated or unhelpful structural changes. The disjointed training model that has replaced the traditional NEO week is disorganized, showing an unprofessional face to newcomers. Having a newsroom divided into beats was sold to us as a way to be flexible when people take time off, but has proved to be the opposite as certain reporters (especially government) are already facing their own high workloads. The dissolution of market teams has created a rift in the newsroom through fostering a lack of connection with peers and superiors, which weakens the culture that makes CI a place people want to work.

Time off.

I like that there are opportunities for open dialogue at times, and I appreciate the attempt at transparency.

Stop trying to "create efficiencies" which are actually opportunities for your employees to connect with one another and the organization, such as happy hours, providing lunch on final days, team outings, etc.

I reviewed the job expectations and qualifications and highlighted those aspects about myself in response to practice questions.

The pay is average, if not a bit below for reporters and designers.

Our organization is overwhelmingly white, but there is good LGBT representation among the staff.

The people I work with.

People, culture, product, being treated as a celebrity when out in the community.

Time off is super gratious.

Lack of raises, challenging industry.

Experience, they care about the employees, open book mentality.

I think it's good now - we do a ton of in/out of office events.

I think it's in line with the industry.

We have some, but it could be a tad greater, but not do to a lack of trying.

The people I get to work alongside.

Just some of the pros working for Community Impact is we have a unique and diverse work culture that supports creativity, innovation and employee engagement.

I have not experienced any cons working for Community Impact.

One of my favorite perks at Community Impact is a strong benefits package with generous time off and great insurance.

What I love best about our executive team is they foster a positive and productive work environment that inspires and motivates me to do my best every day. I feel like we are all in this together!

I wouldn't improve anything. I trust the CEO and entire executive as open communication and transparency is encouraged.

Personally what brings me the most joy is out reader engagement and advertiser satisfaction. I know we make a difference. I love it when readers tell me their favorite stories and our clients are impacted with new business and increased brand awareness.

The mission and culture of the company are incredible; you can tell there is a deep commitment at all levels to providing news in a readable and enjoyable format. There is a strong commitment to employee satisfaction and great flexibility on how we get our jobs done. The benefits, including time off, are good, and communication from management is frequent and transparent. Everyone has a strong sense that they are contributing to a product that matters to people that they care about.

Some of the drawbacks at the company include at times a very demanding environment that can cause employee burnout, and sometimes there are rapid changes in structure or process—sometimes several sets of these changes in a year. At times, there have been poorly communicated decisions when layoffs or other role changes have taken place. There are times when employees feel their jobs are not secure as a result.

The overall camaraderie of the workplace is a great perk, as we have frequent gatherings, celebration and team-building that keep people engaged. The amount of PTO that we have as well as a good benefits package and competitive salary for this field are also benefits.

The transparency and openness of the CEO and leadership team is a tremendous asset. Monthly meetings break down all decisions and financials and help people feel looped in and rewarded for their efforts. The leadership feels personable and approachable.

At the moment it feels that many roles are split among many people, and every time someone leaves a position unexpectedly it seems like there is an equal chance of the role being filled or the role being split among other employees. I think many employees have a sense of impermanence in their current roles and the culture overall would benefit from a period of greater stability in our roles. Aside from that, though, I think companywide events like Thrive were enjoyed by everyone and helped to create a companywide camaraderie that we have not had a chance to enjoy since 2020.

I made sure to read over editions of the paper I was interviewing for, read over the job description and prepare some clips relating to the topics that the paper covered.

I think it's comparable to many other community newspapers, but given the experience needed for these roles it may be hard to attract people who would otherwise be applying at a daily or for other types of media roles. The type of experience required here is hard to come by these days, and our entry-level hires are not always prepared. We have had a lot of new reporter hires not work out as a result.

I feel that this is an area the company needs to improve in. We have had many conversations about diversity and inclusion in the past, particularly in 2020, and all of the efforts that were rolled out in the past seem to have stalled. We had ERGs for a while, and when we had a recruiter it seemed we had a better tool in place for those recruitment efforts. Among the department I am in, there is very little diversity. Looking across the company I see that pattern reflected as well. Putting the burden on current employees to reach out among their networks is not effective, as people tend to be siloed within their profession and their own demographics. Having a dedicated recruiter would be a good step in this direction. This is an area in which the company must improve, and efforts must happen at a high level to reach an applicant pool with diverse representation.

The feeling of a job well done each month as an issue is completed, everyone has given feedback on the product and we are ready to move on to the next challenge. Also, just talking to and interacting with fellow employees.

My favorite benefits were the 401K match.

I wish we had more diversity in the newsroom.

I feel like Community Impact Newspaper is a very collaborative work environment and I really like that!

I would improve the company culture by being positive and encouraging.

I prepared for my interview by doing a mock interview with one of my friends.

I like how involved our CEO is!

The most fulfilling aspect of working at Community Impact is being able to work with such amazing people every day and also getting to talk to so many new people and learning new things daily!

I feel like it's okay, but could always be better!

The compensation at Community Impact compared to the industry average is fair.

Community Impact feels like you are part of a family. We all work hard, but have a great balance of our personal lives and families.

The industry is not as forward thinking and there is concern over longevity of the industry

Flexibility and Benefits

He has always had a vision of where we need to go, and has grown the company from infancy to adulthood.

More get togethers and culture events

Researching the website and linkedin. Asking people who have worked at Community Impact about their experience

I am above industry average

I feel like our demographics well represent the diversity of the communities we serve.

Our mission

Editorial development Culture of belonging

There have been times were change happened too frequently. This has improved

Vacation policy. The best I've seen

The leadership team listens to their employees. I've seen noticeable changes based on feedback the leadership team has received.

I would improve the culture by continuing to do the same thing. More events at the regional and corporate level would be good.

I prepared by learning about the company. I received the product, so I was familiar with how great the brand was.

In the industry it is comparable. With the high cost of living in the areas we serve, it can be challenging.

It is representative of the industry. The company has improved in getting diverse candidates to apply and we have focused on increasing our diverse demographic

The most fulfilling is getting to work with my co-workers

It's just a bunch of people claiming to care about