LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — Blake Vickers and many of his co-workers at KET spent 10 months worrying about it. On Thursday, their fears were met with reality.
“And that was that. I was one of the 15 let go,” he said.
Vickers and 14 other KET employees were victims of circumstance, laid off by their employer in the wake of the Trump Administration’s cut to public broadcasting, which KET’s model relies upon heavily.
“The House (of Representatives) vote on the recissions package, I think, was really our deer in headlights moment,” Vickers said.
Vickers said he has several job interviews lined up in the coming weeks and feels confident that he’ll get through the disappointment of this, but it’s still a harsh reality for someone who spent most of his career working towards an opportunity like the one he was afforded as a Multimedia Journalist with KET.
“Best job I’ve ever had. I’m just thankful I got to have it,” he said.
Vickers said he’ll miss his co-workers and the format, which allowed more time to write and produce content.
“We didn’t have the deadlines you have every day. So many stories that meant a lot to me, representing my people back home. I was really proud of our legislative coverage and features that we would do,” he shared.
Vickers got the official word after walking into the building on Thursday but knew something wasn’t right the second he opened the door.
“Walked in and knew today is the day,” he recalled.
The news, he said was “weirdly liberating,” as he no longer has that cloud of uncertainty to contend with, and he said, this will be a blank canvas to potentially do something different with his professional live.
“I can stay in news, or go into non-profit work, or public relations. I would like to do something sort of in this realm,” he said, before joking about returning to his native eastern Kentucky to start a cult in the mountains.
It’s good that he can maintain his sense of humor less than 24 hours after receiving some of the worst news of his career.
“Saying goodbye to my producer yesterday took years off my life. That killed me. I’m going to miss it, it was my dream to work there,” he said, adding that he loves his now-former-co-workers and wants nothing but the best for them.
