This organization is a joke.
The business model is one where this news "organization" collects donation for its work but 99% of its staff is not compensated and the “CEO’ makes 6 figures and whines about not making much money. If you look up the IRS Form 990 for the organization you can clearly see the compensation of the "CEO", which is at least $100k, but he complained to his FREE LABOR that he doesn’t make “that much” money, or “not as much money as other CEOs in NYC." Excuse me sir, you can afford an apartment in manhattan, no one feels bad for you. You also aren’t generating millions (as clear by the form 990) like other CEOs in the city, so no you don’t deserve a CEO salary.
The "CEO" claims that it is a "new" business model, as if not for profit news organizations have never existed before. Mr. baker, have you heard of propublica, the center for investigative reporting, or NPR? Each of those organizations has paid staff and still does investigative reporting. This “new and innovative” business model is his excuse for not paying employees. “People on the outside don’t understand the great work we’re doing here.” You’re right, which you should be thankful for because if not people might be investigating your organization.
This company is a retired journalist's retirement project. He got tired of working for big news organizations, decided to try something on his own, but with no business acumen or ability to make it into a real business. So he gets to hire free labor and in return get’s a 6 figure salary. Honestly not a bad retirement plan, a great way to make 6 figures after you’ve retired by opening a company and passing it as a non-profit.
The lack of leadership is capability astounding. He doesn’t have a business strategy, though he wants this to be the premier news organization. And he’s unwilling to invest in necessary resources for the teams and is pinching pennies probably because there’s no great funding plan.
Overall, there's no great leadership accument, no business accumen to make this organization success outside of depending on high attrition free labor, and working here was not worthwhile in the least.'
Also, this "CEO" will blame this review on being an anomaly. These things are no secret to the staff across all organizations. He's just unwilling to listen to any feedback that opposes his narrative that this is a "great" organization.
