Pros
Across the board, Carroll County Times employees tend to be positive, hard-working, resourceful, and eager team players (which is saying a lot since journalists tend to have big egos). As a rule, most all of the reporters working here are just cutting their teeth here at this small paper. And as such, the editors are supportive men and women who will invest in young people. Editors here always have an ear for you, and the potential for conceiving your own ideas for a project/article and running with them is high.
There's a pretty high turnover, but the occasional person stays for years at a time, some even for decades.
Full benefits packages for everyone.
It's important to understand the distinction between Carroll County Times and the Baltimore Sun Media Group, which bought the paper from Landmark this past year. BSMG didn't treat CCT very well during the buyout and the many subsequent transformations it put CCT through. But CCT employees behaved admirably, stuck together, and never missed a deadline. I think this speaks well of the type of people you'll encounter here.
Cons
Very little work-life balance. Don't make yourself the type who will always stay late - trust me, they WILL let you. Not that they won't be staying late too, naturally.
As is common for newsrooms, the work-life balance is very poor. It's difficult for employees at every level, from editors to reporters. And especially so since the company was bought out by the Baltimore Sun Media Group, which was absolute hell for anyone who was working there. BSMG handled the entire situation miserably, and it showed. Time off became impossible and BSMG refused to hire new people as many quit as the situation grew worse. This is not CCT's fault, but BSMG's. I'm not sure how much, if at all, that has improved, but I would hope it's mellowed out.