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High School Sports Reporter - Fort Collins (Colo.) Coloradoan

Discussion in 'Journalism Jobs' started by Matt Stephens, Jan 2, 2013.

  1. Mark2010

    Mark2010 Active Member

    Bottom line: if you see an opening you like, APPLY! Doesn't matter if it's Burger King or the New York Times. You have nothing to lose and who knows what to gain.

    If you're previous employer was a college paper or freelance gig, then that's what you use. (I wouldn't use Burger King when applying for a newspaper job, but find whatever media or PR-related stuff you have.)

    I must admit I am surprised to hear what people are saying about the cost of living. Others have told me it was quite expensive relative to other places.
     
  2. The go-getters don't need to impress us to get the job. Save your energy.
     
  3. Tom Petty

    Tom Petty New Member

    matt - what's up with the revolving door? can't you folks keep good people under your roof?
     
  4. Matt Stephens

    Matt Stephens Well-Known Member

    When I took the preps job, the paper added two new positions: a second CSU beat (lead men's basketball and volleyball/backup football). They moved the old preps guy up because of seniority, but after a few months, it's what I was doing and still am. There were some issues our editors had to address last month and decided it was time for a change, so we're looking for a new preps guy or gal. Honestly, this is the first bit of turnover I've witnessed in seven months here, aside from retirements and someone switching career fields.

    I'm not being sarcastic when I say there isn't one person in our newsroom who doesn't like working at The Coloradoan. I was hesitant when first taking the job because, quite frankly, it didn't have the greatest reputation when I was in college and was half the circulation of where I was at before. But at the beginning of last year, corporate made a change with a new publisher and ME and they are truly awesome people. Lively with extremely qualified backgrounds and have a passion for journalism. Their enthusiasm around the office rubs off on all of us. Each time I walk into the office, I am so thankful for the people I get to work with.

    There are a few vets around the reporting staff (excluding editors), but we're mainly a young group. I'd venture to say the average age of our reporters is 28. Six of us worked together at The Rocky Mountain Collegian and two on our sports staff were on my team when I was SE there. We all love what we do at 1300 Riverside and we're always looking for new ways to tell stories. I know I'm biased, but this paper isn't what it was three years ago. This is a fun place to be with editors helping to create positive morale, whether that's simply calling someone out for their hard work or a holiday party.
     
  5. Mark2010

    Mark2010 Active Member

    Sean Duff is no longer there?
     
  6. Matt Stephens

    Matt Stephens Well-Known Member

    No, Miles Blumhardt is now the SE.
     
  7. Mark2010

    Mark2010 Active Member

    Duff was nice to me personally when we interacted, but I heard some interesting things from others about the guy. Not familiar with Mr. Blumhardt.

    How many high schools do you cover intensely? And how many in the secondary (outlying) area?
     
  8. Matt Stephens

    Matt Stephens Well-Known Member

    We have five main high schools we cover. Four are 5A (Colorado's largest) schools in the city of Fort Collins, the fifth is Windsor, a 4A school/town just outside the city. We own a twice-weekly tab that runs in Windsor, but we circulate there daily, also, so there's a beat writer specifically for Windsor.

    The other smaller schools are Resurrection Christian (which our Windsor writer also covers), Heritage Christian and Liberty Common. With nearby Highland HS out in Ault, we always run its results, but don't do too much else with those guys.

    So nine total, but five are the focal.
     
  9. Mark2010

    Mark2010 Active Member

    Wow. That's manageable.

    One place I worked we had like 45 schools. Most were very small and on the fringes of our circulation area. Some were even outside our circulation area, but their districts overlapped some of "our" schools, so we had to keep up with standings, all-district teams, etc. for something like 10 different leagues, which became a bit much on a consistent basis.
     
  10. dingo10886

    dingo10886 New Member

    Matt, do you mind sharing what kind of experience you had when you were offered the High School Reporter job? I am very interested in the position and I have applied, but I'm not sure what type of credentials the Coloradoan is looking for. Thanks.
     
  11. FWIW: The 2010 census has Fort Collins at 144k. The latest circ numbers are around 20k. The paper just unveiled a redesign last fall, too.

    Anyone with five minutes and a Google machine could find that info, but helpful for the lazy folks among us.
     
  12. Sluf

    Sluf New Member

    I didn't attach clips in my application. Will they be asking for them if they like my resume?
     
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