University of Virginia beat writer -- Charlottesville Daily Progress

~~The Daily Progress in Charlottesville, Virginia, is seeking a University of Virginia sports reporter to join our award-winning staff. This reporter will cover the University of Virginia’s football, men’s basketball and baseball teams. This reporter will be expected
to be the go-to source for news and information on the Cavaliers, including breaking news. This reporter will develop content that takes advantage of all of our delivery mediums, including, online, print, video and social media. The reporter also will be expected to cover recruiting and develop relationships with the coaching staffs. The ability to file quick, error-free copy is essential. Knowledge of multimedia and video is a plus. In addition to the primary beats, the reporter will assist with coverage of other University of Virginia sports, as well as high school and other local events as assigned by the editor. The Daily Progress has an award-winning staff that won an Associated Press Sports Editors grand slam in the most recent contest. Interested applicants should apply as well as send a resume to sports editor John Shifflett at jshifflett2@dailyprogress.com. Please include five writing samples. No phone calls.

JournalismJobs.com - Job Listing - Univerisity of Va. Sports Reporter

 

"error-free copy is essential" but the title on Journalism Jobs has a spelling error. Rough.

 

Does anyone over the age of 30 ever get hired as a beat writer anymore?

 

This particular job doesn't pay enough for anyone over the age of 30 to consider it.

 

That kid is less than two years out of college. Unbelievable.

 

I'm far from the most experienced person on this board but I have a few years of experience working at a daily paper and I rarely get call backs, especially for positions with the visibility like this one. Not sure what it is.

 

And quite honestly, that's exactly the sort of person who should have been seeking THIS particular job. Yes, it's an ACC beat. But this position is not high paying (maybe low 30s at best, unless there's been a drastic change in the payscale at the DP in recent years), and the cost of living in Charlottesville is very high. Let's not use this position to make a larger point about only the young kids getting jobs these days.

 

I'll give them credit for still staffing their local college. #crossthread

 

Where was your outrage when the Charlotte Observer hired an NFL beat writer two years out of college? Happens all the time, particularly at smaller publications like this, where they can't pay anything.

 

Bingo. This kid may have been qualified for all we know, but anyone paying attention to the current job market knows that beat writers are paid a lot less these days, and often getting someone capable AND cheap outweighs paying more for a "better" candidate.

 

There's no point in trying to solve this question. There are so many applications for every job and you have no idea what the editors are looking for. I will say, in my experience, that the way these decisions are made rarely follows that of a typical company. Who is cheapest? Who can we get? Don't bother worrying about it and just keep applying to places.