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Minnesota Wild/NHL Reporter | Star Tribune

Discussion in 'Journalism Jobs' started by ss90, Sep 8, 2017.

  1. ss90

    ss90 Member

    Star Tribune is seeking a talented writer and aggressive reporter to cover the Minnesota Wild. This reporter must be knowledgeable about hockey and the National Hockey League as he or she will be writing and reporting for a passionate and sophisticated audience.

    This reporter will be responsible for fulltime coverage of all aspects of the Wild, both in print and digital.

    Topics on the beat will include training camp, regular-season and postseason games, daily breaking news, business and contractual matters, features and provocative enterprise, profiles, notes, analysis, off-field news, blogs, videos and podcasts.

    More specifically, this reporter must have:

    • A minimum of four years experience as a reporter at a daily news organization.

    • The skill to provide timely and competitive coverage from a beat that regularly produces breaking news.
    • Experience covering professional or major college hockey.
    • A history of breaking news and a proven ability to develop sources.
    • Broad knowledge of and interest in professional sports in the Twin Cities and the National Hockey League.
    • A demonstrated ability to quickly assess spot news and adapt to fast-breaking news situations.
    • Extensive experience in digital reporting and social media promotion.
    • The talent to create digital content distinctly different from the print pages.


    Please upload a resume and cover letter explaining why you are the best person for the position, along with a portfolio of your work and references. 

    EOE
     
  2. valpo87

    valpo87 Member

    I'm sorry, but I always get frustrated when I see a requirement for daily experience. My resume may show weekly publications, but I turn my stories around just as quick. I've written articles in the parking lots of small hockey arenas and even wrote an article using the memo app on my smart phone (computer wasn't working).

    That's not to say I'm the only one who has done these things. There are a lot of great, talented writers who are more than good enough in their craft to be great beat writers. But they get discouraged by this daily paper requirement. And with newspapers dying here and there, it's becoming tougher for some of us to break through.
     
    Adam94 likes this.
  3. ss90

    ss90 Member

    I would agree with you for the most part. But, the Minnesota Wild is a very important beat in the area and the Star Trib is one of the most liquid metro newspapers in the region, they have the resources to be a little picky about who they want. To be perfectly honest, they have probably already identified who they want and are simply posting the job publicly as a formality.
     
  4. Marisa Ingemi

    Marisa Ingemi New Member

    Where is the link to apply?
     
  5. valpo87

    valpo87 Member

    It isn't just this beat. It is all of them. For example, I have still sent my samples and resume to other open NHL beats. I make the case why I am justified in applying despite where I have worked.

    But there are plenty of quality writers deserving of the same opportunity.
     
  6. ss90

    ss90 Member

  7. ss90

    ss90 Member

    If you are referring specifically to the Star Tribune, I read a very negative review on Glassdoor that sugessted exactly this.
     
  8. SoloFlyer

    SoloFlyer Well-Known Member

    Sorry, but it's perfectly reasonable for a newspaper to want someone with daily publication experience for a higher profile job.

    No matter what you're covering now, you'd probably be better off applying for preps or college beats rather than the NHL beat if you're trying to make the jump from a weekly.
     
  9. ss90

    ss90 Member

    I would agree. Any daily publication worth its salt will want someone with previous daily experience. That doesn't mean it is inaccessible, just that you need the experience they require. There are plenty of ways to get daily experience as a novice reporter. I don't see the issue here, either.

    I would also add that "despite where I have worked" is not a good argument to make in a cover letter. You want to play on their terms and explain how you fit into their scheme, not beg them to look past certain flaws or weaknesses.
     
    Liut likes this.
  10. Sports Barf

    Sports Barf Well-Known Member

    I once had an applicant who put his arrest record on his resume along with reasons he was fired from previous jobs. Transparency I guess? In any case guy was a train wreck.
     
    cjericho likes this.
  11. Adam94

    Adam94 Member

    That's not really fair to valpo87. He's not "begging" and he's not necessarily writing "despite where I have worked" in a cover letter just because he phrased it that way here. More to the point, if he wants to apply, he has to make the case for why he'd fit the job despite not meeting the rather arbitrary four-years-at-a-daily requirement. So you can't have it both ways - telling him that he has to "play on their terms," but also that for him to expound on his experience at weeklies is wrong and somehow akin to begging. And sure, the Star Trib can very well say thanks but you don't have the experience we're looking for - as you put it, they're allowed to "be picky." But valpo's is a totally fair gripe. You gotta have experience to get experience in this world, and that's why we're all on a jobs board in the end.
     
    nubyjas_wilborn likes this.
  12. avtkrmn

    avtkrmn Member

    my suggestion to GET experience is to find a way to cover some of those pro sports or major college sports at your current paper. I remember when i was working at a small daily in missouri, i used my paper to get credentials to cover the St. Louis Cardinals and Rams, despite it being a two hour, one way drive. i did a lot of the coverage on my own/off time, but it got my foot in the door. i covered as much of it as i could, so long as it didnt interfere with my regular local coverage. just by being there i got to know some of and learn from/with some of the regular beat writers. now, when we cross paths here and there, we take a few minutes to catch up.
     
    ss90 likes this.
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