Sports Editor, Clarksdale, Ms.

Clarksdale Mississippi, the most "SouthernPlaceon Earth" according to Oxford American Magazine, and home to the infamous Crossroads where Blues musician Robert Johnson sold his soul to be the greatest guitar player ever, is looking for a sports editor who's just as comfortable laying out newspaper and magazines as covering the local high school teams. We also like covering outdoors activities, like hunting and fishing.

The Clarksdale Press Register is a twice-weekly newspaper focused on local news that publishes its print product on Wednesday and Friday, and uploads its breaking news stories to its website daily. We also produce quarterly magazines and dozens of special sections that allow its writers to pen stories on a myriad of topics.

Our ideal candidate will have a strong grasp of AP style, be familiar with QuarkXPress, be able to shoot photos and write sports and occasional news pieces.

Clarksdale is known for its local live music and Blues festivals that attract hundreds of thousands of tourists each year, and its Southern hospitality and laid back style of life. Employment benefits include: low-cost, partially-funded individual health insurance and 401K. Relocation expenses also negotiable for the right candidate.

If you possess a positive attitude, can work well within our team atmosphere and are interested please send a cover letter and resume to Publisher, Jesse Wright at publisher@pressregister.com with "Sports Editor" in the subject line.

 

Another place I'd go if things weren't as they are.

 

Clarksdale's legendary blues history may be a draw, but making $25K a year to live there would make anyone sell his soul to get out.

 

You wouldn't need much more than that to live on.

 

I've heard it's a great town to get your ass kicked....

 

Clarksdale is like many places in Mississippi and the Deep South --- the schools are 100 percent segregated. The blacks kids all go to public school, the white kids to private school.

I find that terribly depressing, but it also adds a degree of difficulty to the job. Many of your more well-heeled readers are going to be those whose kids go to the private schools, which means there will be pressure to cover those games even though the quality of competition and talent level at times just flat out sucks (you haven't lived until you've covered Single A girls private school basketball. It makes the WNBA look like Phi Slamma Jamma).

And Coahoma Community College is easily the worst junior college athletic department in the state. Their football team regularly loses games by 40 points.

That area has produced some great players over the years, several of which went just down Hwy 6 to Ole Miss (including Chuckin' Charley Conerly). You're about an hour from Oxford and 90 minutes from Memphis, but I've never seen the point of selling a place based on how close it is to better places.

But hey, it's Wright Thompson's hometown!

 

One of the artists here in the gallery married a world-class sculptor from Clarksdale.

 

Some of what Snake is true. It is a great opportunity to practice your craft. The athletic picture isn't totally bleak. There are three public high schools and one private high school. The white private school boasts sending offensive lineman Anthony Steen to Alabama and he has three NCAA championship rings. Coahoma County Community has its moments and has been known to feed players to Division I programs. There are opportunities to cover events in Oxford and Memphis. There are worst places one can land at.

 

Take a job like this with that in mind and you'll be on the wrong track from the start.
You take a job like that to own your own backyard. That's got to be the prime directive.
(And to not lose yourself in what is probably a staggering workload.)

 

Henry, I'm not going to argue with you but you're not there. I will stand on what I've said. I will agree with you that the workload is staggering but again, there are worst places one can land.