Pittsburgh Steelers beat reporter

From JournalismJobs.com. Make sure you read the third paragraph ...

The PA Media Group (PennLive.com/The Patriot-News) is seeking a Pittsburgh Steelers beat reporter. We have a unique opportunity and we’re looking for a unique person.

Like other beat writers, you’ll be based in Pittsburgh and will attend home games, training camp, press conferences, etc. But while everyone is zigging, you’ll be zagging. You won’t be writing gamers and features. Your emphasis will be on our website, and you will tell stories in different ways. Stories fans want to read. Stories fans won’t find anywhere else. We have lots of ideas, and we want to hear yours.

This is a new position, and we’re not sure it’s permanent. For now it’s a full- time, temporary position. You’ll work hard for one year, from now until next year's Super Bowl. Then we’ll evaluate how things worked out. Best case: Things go really well and we decide to make this a permanent job. Worst case: You have great clips covering an NFL team.

Send us your resume and links to your best work. Don’t bother linking to routine gamers or features. Send something that will make you stand out. Newspaper experience isn't required, but you should be able to demonstrate writing ability and web-style storytelling, especially in a unique way. And don’t waste time with a traditional cover letter. Just tell us in the email why you’d be a good candidate.

We’re moving quickly, so email Sports Manager Michael Sedor (msedor@pennlive.com) within seven days at the latest. No phone calls, please.

 

This would be the perfect job for oops or 93

 

Reads like they are trying the same thing Syracuse did with the Bills beat. Anybody know how that's gone? I'm guess decently if Harrisburg is trying it.

 

I know any job in this business isn't exactly written in stone, and it's good that they're being up front about it possibly lasting only a year. But it doesn't exactly inspire a lot of confidence.

Especially when you consider it's an Advance publication, where every paper has had significant upheaval in recent years. Think about it - you're already limiting your pool of candidates, because there is less of a chance that someone is going to move from outside of the tri-state area to take a job that may not be around in a year. It'd be one thing if it was at the Post-Gazette or the Tribune-Review, which are actually in Pittsburgh. But Harrisburg is 180 miles away, so it's not like you can comfort yourself by saying, "Well, if the beat falls through maybe we can at least work something else out at the paper" without having to move again.

Always nice to see someone hiring, but man, there's bound to some trepidation with this one.

 

You're spot on, Jake. The email sent out to content this morning said that we are trying it since Syracuse.com has had a lot of success with the Bills. I can't give specific numbers, but apparently the Bills coverage is leading the site in traffic.

 

Anybody in newspapers that thinks their job is safe for more than a year, anyway ...

 

Reads like they copied and pasted the job description, in fact:
Buffalo Bills Beat Reporter- Syracuse, NY | SportsJournalists.com

How did it go? Pretty much what I expected, similar to the ESPN bloggers. Not much news breaking, but plenty of short updates, aggregation, good social media interaction, etc. And the fans ate it right up. I know how Bills traffic dominates the other local sites, so I can imagine it does the same there. An important note about that: fans don't care that the site says Syracuse instead of Buffalo. The guy's in the building, and they think they're getting good info from him.

It helped that (IMO) they made a good choice on the hire, a guy fresh out of Mizzou willing to put in the work.
(Disclaimer: I'm not him, although we have been known to frequent the same post-deadline establishment.)

As far as we'll-revisit-after-the-Super-Bowl, Fairburn is at the combine. I haven't confirmed it with him, but I suspect the "temporary" tag no longer applies.

Here's a link to his work, for anyone interested in how the job turned out:
Posts - Matthew Fairburn | syracuse.com

 

Anyone heard back about this one yet?

 

I asked on Saturday and was told they had a ton of applicants and Sedor was still sorting through them. I know Sedor has interviewed people, though I don't know how many and if he's going to interview any more.

 

Any news on this position?

 

Well, they're moving fast.

 

No need to move quick. Don't really need someone in position until the draft at the earliest, training camp at the latest, no?