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Rocky Mount (N.C.) Telegram Sports Writer/Page Designer

Discussion in 'Journalism Jobs' started by Jessie H. Nunery, Nov 11, 2009.

  1. Jessie H. Nunery

    Jessie H. Nunery New Member

    The Rocky Mount (N.C.) Telegram, an award-winning daily, seeks a talented journalist with strong writing, reporting, editing and design skills for its Sports department. This position is for an aggressive, hard-working individual who regularly meets lofty goals. The position requires someone who is versatile, able to handle an assortment of different duties. We cover all levels -- recreational to professional -- and have beat writers for North Carolina State, North Carolina and Duke who also cover 11 high schools, the local Division III college, Double-A Carolina Mudcats, and occasionally the Carolina Hurricanes and Carolina Panthers. The staff also shares page design duties. There are three full-time and three part-time members of the department. Must have strong grammar and fact-checking abilities, and must be familiar with AP style. InDesign experience is a plus. Must work well on deadline and be ready to work nights and weekends. Must have a college degree. Must have a good understanding of the digital movement and how to prioritize the Internet as a medium. Multimedia experience is a plus. Most alumni have moved on to larger, prominent newspapers/publications.

    Send resume, cover letter, references and four to six diverse clips to show a spectrum of writing skills. Two to three tear sheets, showing design skills, are preferred as well.
    All clips must come by regular mail.

    Feel free to e-mail with any questions.

    Jessie H. Nunery
    Sports Editor
    Rocky Mount Telegram
    1000 Hunter Hill Road
    P.O. Box 1080
    Rocky Mount, NC 27802
    jhnunery@rmtelegram.com
     
  2. TrooperBari

    TrooperBari Well-Known Member

    You've probably heard "Get thee to a" more than a few times, I'd imagine.
     
  3. Harry Doyle

    Harry Doyle Member

    Why is there an apparent lack of interest in this one? I seem to recall hearing good things about this shop, and you can do a whole lot worse than Cox these days.
     
  4. Mystery Meat II

    Mystery Meat II Well-Known Member

    Not Cox anymore. Rocky Mount, Greenville and Elizabeth City were sold to Cooke Communications earlier this year. Don't know much about Cooke, other than he owns Key West's daily and some area weeklies, and that he's the son of Jack Kent Cooke, I believe.
     
  5. Precious Roy

    Precious Roy Active Member

    This gig is one of those that is a perfect stepping stone for an up-and-coming journalists. They have a track record of getting a person to a bigger paper.
     
  6. Would the idea of going to a smaller circulation paper for higher profile opportunities, like the ones presented here, be an unwise move? This seems like a good get of a job, and I've always heard good things about the shop. So this has me really intrigued.
     
  7. Tarheel316

    Tarheel316 Well-Known Member

    True but the location is not the best in the world.
     
  8. Appgrad05

    Appgrad05 Active Member

    Jessie is as good of people as there is in this world.
    I have not been there in a while, but anyone with any questions can feel free to PM me.
     
  9. Orange Hat Bobcat

    Orange Hat Bobcat Active Member

    As one of the many Telegram alums who have covered thousands of miles in and around Rocky Mount, I am biased in my opinions of the newspaper and the town, of the folks who worked there, of the folks who work there now. A lot has changed during the year since my byline last appeared in the Sports section -- the number of pages has dropped, the company name on your paycheck is different, and the leadership is different, though no less efficient -- but the Telegram remains one of the better small papers in the nation. Period.

    You are allowed the opportunity to cover just about everything, to try just about everything, to do just about everything. Not everything will work. You will, from time to time, fail. And you will learn. Jessie worked as a writer for the Telegram for more than four years. He knows the department, the coverage area, the history. He knows what to do.

    If any of you have questions, to echo AppGrad05, feel free to send me a message.
     
  10. maumann

    maumann Well-Known Member

    Forbes Magazine recently listed Rocky Mount among the nation's most impoverished cities, although based on what my wife and I saw of the place when we moved there in September of 1993, I'd say they were at least 16 years too late.

    I can't add much to what Jessie and the others have said about the place, since the Telegram has moved twice and had two changes of ownership since I was hired to fill out a two-man staff for a section considered "hyperlocal" before the term even existed. Less than a year later, I got top billing and thankfully, was given the opportunity to grow the staff little by little, and in addition, expand coverage to include ACC beats, the NFL Panthers and some day trips to NASCAR venues.

    Along the way, we won a few awards -- I think my name's on four -- and sent some people off into the real world. People with whom I worked/worked for me wound up at the Washington Post/Indy Star-News/Charlotte Observer, Louisville Courier-Journal, Hartford Courant and Carroll County (Md.) Times.

    I know they've continued to do a great job of taking talented young writers and giving them the chance to polish their skills under real world conditions. The folks at Senior High will continually remind you that Phil Ford and Buck Williams came from there. And Julius Peppers was our All-Area Player of the Year as a freshman ... in basketball. So you may wind up covering some special athletes.

    It's a pretty good gig for someone who has the basic skill set in place to be successful at the next level, be that in print, new media or whatever may come our way down the road.

    -- Mark
     
  11. Appgrad05

    Appgrad05 Active Member

    No longer Rocky Mount Senior High. Just High. This is a point of contention for some.
    The poverty is real, but there are also fairly nice places to live. You have all the chains and the like you would want, but downtown is also home to Central Cafe, home of the best burgers in town, and A Taste of Paradise, a Jamaican joint that certainly lives up to the billing.
    The coaches, for the most part, are good people. They know what they are doing, and they work with the Telegram. And the high school coverage area is a good mix of big and small public schools, and a handful of private schools in-town.
     
  12. Tarheel316

    Tarheel316 Well-Known Member

    And we must not the nearby little town of Gold Rock which has one of the biggest clusters of motels on any I-95 interchange.
     
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