Seattle P.I. Night Sports Editor

The Seattle P-I has an opening for a creative, enthusiastic night sports editor to help lead our award-winning sports section, consistently ranked as one of the nation’s 10 best. The successful candidate will be calm and accurate under deadline pressure, be able to manage reporters and columnists who often work remotely, and work well with editors, photographers and artists from other departments. We’re also looking for someone with an interest in broadening the audience for sports coverage and the interest and skills to make a difference online.
Applicants should possess a bachelor’s degree in journalism or related field; a minimum of five years of journalism experience at a daily newspaper; three years management experience; or equivalent combination of education and experience.

Benefits include health and life insurance, 401(k) and a daily waterfront view of the sun setting over the Puget Sound.

To apply, send your submission to Mark Matassa, Assistant Managing Editor, Seattle P-I, 101 Elliott Ave. West, Seattle, WA, 98119 or e-mail to markmastassa@seattlepi.com.

 

Nice job, but will the job exist in one, two or three years?

 

This is sadly becoming more of a necessity in general in the business, but make sure you get all of your job responsibilities, rights and perks in writing, signed, before you take the job.

 

What do you mean, exactly?

 

Nice idea, but I'd bet the editor of the P-I has no more idea on how long the paper will survive than we do, and I seriously doubt they're going to give an ASE a multiyear guarantee in writing.

I took a glass-office job at a shaky daily once, and at the interview I told the publisher I wasn't asking him to predict the future, but were there any signs that a folding was imminent? He shrugged and said, "Right now the company needs our (small) revenue. Three years from now, who knows?" I believe that was an honest answer (the paper's still alive), but those kinds of decisions aren't made by the people at the paper, they are made at corporate HQ.

 

I don't think any paper at this point can guarantee economic health in the future, and it would be unreasonable to ask them to do so. What I'm saying is to get the job responsibilities in writing, since those can have a tendency to shift once a person's on board. Again, this isn't specific to the P-I; I'm hearing more stories of people finding that desk positions have been vastly oversold during the interview process. On any position such as this one, I would just make sure the job isn't an overglorified copy editor with no real power and four levels of managers hawking your every move. Then you're stuck in a new city in servitude for moving expenses and already bitter at work.

 

Any movement here?

 

Lest we forget, newspapers still have nice profit margins.

 

Bump.
Anyone? Anyone at all?

 

Saw they now also have two openings for copy editors, one for sports on journalismjobs.com

 

Seattle P-I
Position: Seeking Copy Editors (two positions)
Location: Seattle, Washington St.
Job Status: Full-time
Salary: Not Specified
Ad Expires: August 14, 2006
Job ID: 657937

Description:
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer is looking for two top-notch copy editors to join our outstanding unified copy desk. One position's focus will be on local, national, international and business news. The other's emphasis will be sports. On occasion each will need to switch seamlessly from features to online to news to sports stories or shifts.
If you are all about the essence of words, especially in headlines; all about fact-checking what others see as trivial; all about AP and local style; and all about layering information to draw readers in, then read on. We're interested in the exceptional person who can react quickly and efficiently to evolving news. We're seeking editors with command of the language -- and with an ear for its nuances. We need editors with rock-solid news judgment across a wide range of topics and a dedication to the art of copy editing. We demand compelling, conversational and accurate headlines of the highest level. You must be able to work easily and effectively with reporters, editors and colleagues. Speed in gauging and handling your workload is essential. If you can slap plugger wire into a file when a deadline story falls through, polish it and produce a functional headline in five minutes, you'll fit fine. If you can take an extensive enterprise piece, and efficiently enhance its strengths, we're interested.

If you are a self-starter with five years experience, addicted to tight deadline pressure, technically adept, dedicated to making your copy, your headlines and yourself the best, you should consider joining us. We work hard, we laugh hard, and we have views from our building of Elliott Bay and Safeco Field backed by Mount Rainier.

Send your cover letter, résumé and examples of your work to Assistant Managing Editor Lee Rozen, Seattle P-I, 101 Elliott Ave. W., Seattle, WA 98119 or LeeRozen@seattlepi.com by July 28.