My paralegal let me know I had a call waiting from a woman who teaches broadcast journalism. She wanted to discuss serious issues facing university students who find themselves caught in a trap because of the employment contract they signed when they were hired as a television journalist.
I took the call from ‘Rachel’ who first wanted assurance that our conversation would be confidential. After I assured her it would be, she told me that she was calling about employees on the news teams of local TV stations owned by giant corporations “being forced to continue working when they want to quit.”
“Viewers have no idea of this abuse, and depending on where you live and which local television stations you watch, often the nice young people — typically in their first job in TV news right after graduation — realize it isn’t for them and don’t want to be there, but they are, practically speaking, forced to continue working or suffer thousands of dollars in penalties.
“One of my former students is going through a serious depression as we speak, mugged financially by management at a television station she wants to leave. Mr. Beaver, your column is popular in university mass communication departments, and you can do so many young people a great service by writing about this abuse.”
So, how can this happen in today’s America? Two things: supply and demand, and corporate management philosophy with some broadcasters that view employees as disposable.
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