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"Major" college beat, Birmingham News

Discussion in 'Journalism Jobs' started by Larry Holder, Jul 10, 2009.

  1. slappy4428

    slappy4428 Active Member

    Am sure that will mean a lot to him.
     
  2. longtimecomin

    longtimecomin Member

    I'm happy for the guy. . .It has been years since I've talked to him and he may not even remember me, but was a super nice guy and helped me get my first job out of college. He was very complimentary of my work. Was a very good reporter himself. I had not heard his name in quite some time. . .Hope he kicks ass.

    FYI: I interviewed for a job at the Tuscaloosa News in 1989 and was a finalist, but didn't get it. Always wondered how my life would have turned out if I had. . .
     
  3. gutenberg

    gutenberg Guest

    What newspaper was Kausler working at before getting this job and what beat was he on?
     
  4. Peytons place

    Peytons place Member

    Congrats to Don. He was always a stand-up guy as far as I was concerned, and his passion for sports and Alabama (the state, that is) is unquestionable. I think it will be a great fit for him, and for the paper as well.
     
  5. WriteThinking

    WriteThinking Well-Known Member

    I am happy to see a real veteran journalist -- somebody over the age of 35, and yet, somebody who isn't necessarily known to everyone just on the basis of sheer name recognition, to boot -- get a recognizably good gig, one that really is appropriate to the person and his background, and will, indeed, be a good fit.

    This is a good hire in every sense, and no doubt will mean a lot not only to him, but also to a lot of others, too.
     
  6. MU_was_not_so_hard

    MU_was_not_so_hard Active Member

    To my knowledge, he was not at a paper full-time, although I've been known to be wrong. His last full-time paper job was at the Anderson Independent-Mail, where he was the Executive Editor. I believe his last days in Anderson were some time in 2008.
    I know he was in the running for an SID gig at a small college, and I'd heard his name thrown around with some other management jobs, although I'm not sure how serious those were.
     
  7. Drip

    Drip Active Member

    MU I believe you are correct.
     
  8. SCEditor

    SCEditor Active Member

    He left Anderson right around election day in 2008 if I remember correctly.
     
  9. Don was a workaholic in Anderson, especially as Executive Editor. I remember a meeting we had discussing going to a four-day, 10-hour a day work schedule for some of the newsroom, and he joked that he'd have to cut down to six days before he got to four.
    I've heard that he was SE when Arenberg used to be Metro Editor, but not sure if he was with P-H at the time, and Arenberg at the News. So obviously that relationship went a ways toward this hire.
    As for the web, MU is right, one season he instituted an all-hands-on-deck Friday night football sked where the entire newsroom came in to update the site scoreboard for the 15 football games in our area after each scoring play. He also supported getting as many blogs on the site as possible, including at least dozen from community folks like a first-year college kid blog, a mommy blog etc.
    Definitely a unique hire. I don't believe he's been a beat writer since covering the Brewers in the 80s.
     
  10. Tim Stephens

    Tim Stephens Member

    Don hired me at the old Birmingham Post-Herald, first as a freelancer, then an intern, then a copy editor/reporter and finally the sports editor when he'd moved up to managing editor. He was a fantastic mentor every step of the way.

    Don is also a legendary workaholic. Back when the Post-Herald switched to the PM cycle, it became a personal mission of mine to beat Don to work. I'd come in at 5 a.m., he'd already be there. He'd beat you there at 4 a.m. He'd beat you there at 3 a.m. I'd come rolling at 2:30 a.m., and there Don would be in his white shirt and black tie, already working on the front page. Finally, I just started staying up all night and rolling in when the Birmingham News folks across the hall were leaving at 1. Maybe, some days, I beat Don in to the office that way.

    Interesting career move, but knowing Don, he is going to shake things up on the 'Bama beat b/c no one is going to outwork him.
     
  11. podunk press

    podunk press Active Member

    It's not how hard you work, it's how smart you work.

    At least that is what my publisher says.

    In all seriousness, I don't know him personally, but I know a half-dozen folks ousted in layoffs that have popped up elsewhere when I didn't think they had a snowball's chance in hell of finding another print or online position.
     
  12. Steak Snabler

    Steak Snabler Well-Known Member

    Arenberg officially announced it today in his blog:

    http://blog.al.com/tide-source/2009/08/don_kausler_jr_will_take_over.html

    Alabama fan message boards are already in meltdown mode, so this must have been a good hire.
     
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