Mount Airy (N.C.) News seeks sports reporter

The Mount Airy News, an award-winning daily newspaper in Northwest North Carolina, is seeking to fill the following positions: Two full-time general assignment reporters in the news department, a full-time sports reporter and a full-time design and layout expert.
We are looking for hard-working, dedicated, enthusiastic and enterprising individuals who can help take our newspaper to the next level. Successful applicants will have the ability to juggle multiple tasks, covering hard news and features, with experience in digital photography, a good nose for news, and some previous layout and design experience. Mount Airy is nestled in the foothills of the picturesque Blue Ridge Mountains. Best known as the hometown of Andy Griffith and popular television show, "Mayberry" enjoys the charm of a small town with easy access to nearby metropolitan areas. We pride ourselves on the quality of life in our community and the work environment in the newsroom. If interested, please contact Editor Andy Matthews by email at Amatthews@heartlandpublications.com. Please provide samples of your work and references.

The situation is Mount Airy is very heated. Heartland took over the Mount Airy News and the Elkin Tribune as part of its purchase of the Mid-South chain. The former publishers of those papers have joined forces to launch a new M-F paper called the Messenger in Mount Airy. They took some people with them, hence the multiple openings. So now there are two daily newspapers in a city with a population of 8,000.

 

Back away slowly kids, back away slowly.

 

The cops beat will be easy. Otis got drunk again.

 

Aunt Bee says if you take this job, you can go to hell!

 

To say nothing of the police brutality scandal that's been widely ignored. What Barney Fife lacks in bullets, he makes up for with a short temper and a vivid imagination.

 

Two daily papers in a town of 8,000. Both can't last. This town will be down to one paper soon. You're taking your chances joining either one.

 

I wouldn't want the chicken-thieves beat there.

You definitely didn't want to be the sportswriter covering the youth-league game when Andy Taylor was the umpire and made that terrible call against our Mayberry boys. The Mayberry bloggers were going crazy.

 

I don't see how both papers can last either. It's a really tough situation. Mount Airy was a sweatshop before Heartland took over. As chintzy as they are, that isn't likely to change. But the odds are really stacked against startups. I worked for one the lasted seven months and it was a weekly. Fortunately, I got another job six weeks before they went under.

 

If you cover courts, be advised that the trials are in Aunt Ginny's barn. She sews the costumes, and Uncle Goober is the judge.