1. Welcome to SportsJournalists.com, a friendly forum for discussing all things sports and journalism.

    Your voice is missing! You will need to register for a free account to get access to the following site features:
    • Reply to discussions and create your own threads.
    • Access to private conversations with other members.
    • Fewer ads.

    We hope to see you as a part of our community soon!

Sports Writer, The Messenger, Madisonville, KY

Discussion in 'Journalism Jobs' started by Don Perryman, Jun 4, 2014.

  1. Don Perryman

    Don Perryman Member

    Well, here I am again (seems like it was only yesterday). We have a sports reporter opening. Our newly hired guy has been hired away from us by a larger paper. We wish him the best of luck. Honestly this place doesn't suck. It's a nice county that cares a lot about local sports. We operate in a good working atmosphere with a great staff. Here are the particulars.

    The Messenger, an award-winning daily newspaper located in Madisonville, KY, has an opening for a sports writer.

    The successful candidate will have the ability to quickly turn around gamers while also writing interesting advances and feature stories. The coverage area includes two counties with four high schools that compete in a number of sports, including football, basketball, baseball, softball, soccer, volleyball, track and field, cross country, swimming and archery.

    The ability to produce outdoors material is a plus.

    Proficiency in the use of Apple computers, Photoshop and social media such as Facebook and Twitter is required. Our sports reporters are sometime called on to take photos of events and process them for publication.

    The two-person sports staff has no layout responsibilities.

    The Messenger is a six-day daily Paxton Media newspaper. The paper won the 2012 and 2013 Kentucky Press Association's General Excellence Awards and is routinely ranked among the top publications in its division.

    The sports writers work five-day, 40-hour weeks with an alternating Saturday schedule.

    Madisonville is centrally located in western Kentucky near the beautiful lakes region. It is one hour and a half northwest of Nashville and is an excellent jumping off point to a number of larger midwestern and southern cities such as Louisville, Lexington, Indianapolis, Cincinnati and St. Louis.

    The Messenger offers a competitive salary with health benefits and a 401(k) plan.

    Send cover letter, resume and clips to Don Perryman, managing editor, at dperryman@the-messenger.com — or to The Messenger, attn: Don Perryman, P.O. Box 529, Madisonville, KY 42431. Please, no phone calls.
     
  2. patmhickey

    patmhickey New Member

    Based on my whopping three months at The Messenger and living in Madisonville, here are 10 reasons why this place doesn’t suck (in no particular order):

    1. The Messenger is not tied to the small newspaper stigma of print-only, which I found refreshing. They’re active on the Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Facebook. You can be as creative as your little heart desires.
    2. You’re a local “celebrity” the moment you cover your first game. The community is passionate about their teams and are extremely friendly.
    3. I never once dreaded going into the office. Don is a character and the news reporters are pretty chill.
    4. The area produces some fine athletes, or at least way better than I expected. They currently have a football player at the University of Michigan, (soon-to-be) two softball players at the University of Louisville as well as several small college players in other sports. Not to mention there are probably four girls on one of the softball teams who are legitimate D-I talents. That team is currently at the state finals and only has one girl who can legally drive, so that’s something to look forward to every spring.
    5. There is no writing to fit. If you want to write a 750-word gamer, knock yourself out. Among other things, there’s freedom here that isn’t necessarily available elsewhere.
    6. The remote access client is extremely simple to use. It won’t take you but a day or two to figure out how everything works.
    7. There is a fine pub (Blackwell’s) and BBQ joint (Sticky Pig). Honestly, what more do you need?
    8. The pay was more than enough to outweigh the cost of living, for me at least.
    9. You can sleep in until noon (or later…) if you want.
    10. Last but not least, you’ll be joining forces with the hardest working, young sports writer I’ve been around. He’s knowledgeable about all sports, incredibly easy to get along with and runs Twitter like no other. Along with the simplicity of the system, your transition here will be cake with him.

    Needless to say, I loved my stay in Madisonville. If you have any questions, feel free to shoot me a message.
     
  3. slc10

    slc10 Member

    Mr. Perryman, I was recently in Princeton on a church mission trip and was working with HR Ministries during the week. I vaguely recall passing the town of Madisonville. How far from Princeton? I must say this part of the state was pretty to drive through. I will have to consider sending something.
     
  4. lely

    lely New Member

    Just curious if there are any relocation benefits available and what the starting salary is ?
     
  5. Don Perryman

    Don Perryman Member

    sic10, Princeton is less than 1/2 an hour from Madisonville.

    lely, no relocation funds are available. I will only discuss salary during the interview process.

    Thanks to both of your for your interest. Good luck.
     
  6. Don Perryman

    Don Perryman Member

    We filled the position today. Thanks to all who showed an interest. I'll keep resumes on hand in the event of a future opening.
     
Draft saved Draft deleted

Share This Page