Carrolton, Ga.

Back again for its regularly scheduled checkup is ....

Company: Times-Georgian
Position:
seeking sports reporter
Location:
Carrollton, Georgia
Job Status: Full-time
Salary: $20,000 to $25,000
Ad Expires:
June 22, 2007
Job ID: 778417
Website: http://www.times-georgian.com


Description:
The Times-Georgian, a small daily in West Georgia, is seeking a full-time sports reporter. Our paper covers eight local high schools and the Division II University of West Georgia. Candidates should have a journalism background, with a degree in journalism or a related field, and must demonstrate good writing and reporting skills. Applicants should be able to write a variety of sports articles including game stories and sports feature stories. All candidates must have experience paginating using Quark. Carrollton is located in the West Georgia region, 45 minutes west of Atlanta, in a progressive and self-sustaining county. The Times-Georgian offers medical and dental insurance plans, paid mileage, paid vacation and a competitive 401(k) plan. The Times-Georgian is a member of Paxton Media Group, LLC. Send resume and writing samples to Corey Cusick, P.O. Box 460, Carrollton, GA 30117, or e-mail corey@times-georgian.com. No phone calls.

 

Re: Carrollton, Ga.

You can contact me with any questions about the job. I'm leaving the Times-Georgian because I've accepted a job with the Athens Banner-Herald.

 

One more observation: Carrollton is spelled with two L's. Even small papers want someone who can spell correctly;especially their name and from copy to boot! Is every paper the best to work at?...no ,but something as simple as misspelling from copy is an example of the caliber of candidates out there that apply. They are eventually weeded out which gives rise to having to reopen a position. Without this knowledge,sarcastic comments get generated from those that "think" they know and hence a paper gets red flag.

 

Both excellent comments. But here's a question for you. Why, in your opinion, are smaller papers reluctant to hire experienced journalists.

 

Because they want more money.

 

That is not always the case.

 

Are you talking about reporters or editors? Small papers aren't going to hire someone with 10 years experience to be a reporter because the salary requirements are much too high. Editors? Yes. I'm sure when I'm ready to be an editor I'll jump to a smaller paper.

 

I know expectations that they would insist on a higher salary is a concern, but to that point if an experienced journalist applies they should know the ballpark figure and not proceed unless willing to accept that salary. I think some editors question why an experienced journalist would want to work at a small place and instinctively question what's wrong and what baggage are they carrying. Without investigating,they pass over them. Also some might be intimidated by their experience and feel threatened that they could try to take over their job. And some experienced journalists have a much higher opinion of themselves than they should and can't see their own inadequacies. If only the hiring process was completely objective,but unfortunately it's chosen by humans and it's not always fair.

 

I'll throw in my two cents as a graduate of this paper .. and to defend my hometown (Atlanta) for the second time in the last few weeks on this board

A.) Carrollton is roughly an hour from Atlanta, one of of America's great cities, if albeit not one of its greatest sports towns! Carrollton's also not much farther than an hour from Birmingham, if that does anything for you. And you're 30 minutes from the Atlanta suburbs/a legit mall, tons of restaurants etc. (With Carrollton, think more Wal-Mart and a few other strip malls ... they did get an O'Charley's and an IHOP within the last year or so ... next to their new Wal-Mart!). Rent in Carrollton is cheap, which is always a good thing on a newspaper salary.

B.) Several people from Carrollton have moved on to bigger papers ... the second poster to this thread is just the latest. This says to me that there are obviously lots of opportunities to do good quality work that would get you noticed by places like Athens (which is a nice and well deserved move by fnerry). There is a lot of good high school sports tradition in the area, the coaches you deal with are great and covering UWG or any Div. II college is a nice added perk a lot of sub 10k circ. papers don't offer.

C.) Paxton is cheap, but what paper isn't these days? When I left, their benefits package was pretty darn decent for a small paper. Vacation starts right away, insurance kicks in at 30 days etc. There is company matching in the 401k plan.

D.) Don't plan on spending more than a year here, two max (that should be common knowledge for any small paper). More than that and you'll burn out, and of course with a small staff, advancing very far and making a decent living for the long haul aren't options here.

E.) Finally, as someone pointed out, don't read anything into the openings here in the last year. It's not my place to elaborate, but let's just say the openings weren't the paper's fault (i.e. shouldn't reflect badly on the paper) and obviously the current opening is because someone is moving on to bigger and better things after two years in Carrollton.