Sports designer, Butte, Montana

The Montana Standard (14,000 AM daily) is seeking a sports copy editor/page designer. The right person must be able to multi-task and make good decisions on the fly and on deadline. Duties include creating eye-catching layouts, clever headlines and choosing a diet of relevant sports and feature stories. They use QuarkXPress and send pages directly to plate to an off-site pressroom. Online updating is also part of the job.

Job shift is 2-11 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday. Job includes full benefit package.

Requirements: a degree in journalism or related discipline or equivalent experience. Knowledge and expertise in the use of QuarkXPress, Word, Quark Copy Desk and Adobe Photoshop. An ability to write creative, accurate headlines. A desire for quality content, eye-catching layouts and meeting deadlines is a must.
Application deadline Feb. 11, 2011.

Apply online at www.montanastandard.com/special_editions/workhere

 

Butte is a dirty, dirty hole. And it's awesome.

 

Butte is one of those places the inner 13-year old in me has always wanted to live. Just for the postal address.

That, and Monkey's Eyebrow, K.Y.

 

Most kids starting out don't want to live in Butte, Minot, Dickinson, Sheridan, Buffalo, or any place like that.

Of course, they'd probably learn more about the business and acquire more skills in one year working at a place where you report, edit, paginate, do re-write, etc., than in several years at the larger papers we all probably aspired to work at.

Again, if you're just starting out and looking for work and experience, no job anywhere sucks.

 

Right now, there are few jobs that actually suck. It's just what people are willing to pay us that sucks.

 

I can't tell whether that's a heiny joke or an actual review of Butte, Mont.

Either way it is accurate.

 

If people don't think the one year will lead to something mildly better, they're probably not going to do it. An out of region writer might prefer to try to freelance their way into a larger shop or think they'd like some level of guidance/editing at a first job.

It also seems a bit silly to drop all these jobs in the same category. It ranges from Minot's four-person department, to a one-man shop. Buffalo is a three-person newsroom. Some people have no interest in desk work so this job will get passed over.

 

Agreed. I don't have the attention span to do most regular jobs, so I can't complain about the hours or the job duties. The pay, however, makes it hard to keep a roof over my head and still put food in my belly.

 

I should follow that up by saying I know nothing about Butte, Montana, or the paper there, so I have no idea if the job itself is something worth complaining about.

 

Mountain town. Lot of preps, small colleges, youth sports. They're more intensely local than some other dailies in the region.

Could be an entry-level gig for someone who is really sharp, really organized. More likely a second, third stop for someone with a few years under their belt.

As for salary, I'd say its comparable to others posted on this board. Most of us realized a long time ago that if one is trying to raise a family or get wealthy, a different line of work is probably in order.

 

Wow, they still use Quark XPress ... lucky bastards. [/indesign and DTI hater]

And I agree with several others' comments: Despite the town's name (think "Beaut" when you pronounce it), there's far, far worse places to work as a young journalist.

 

I have a buddy that is from Butte. He confirms that there is no long-legged Hannah from Butte, Montana.