Sports Editor, Greenville, Ms

25K - $28K based on experience

The Delta Democrat Times has an immediate opening for Sports Editor. Our soon-to-be former SE will be taking the helm at another paper in the Emmerich Newspapers chain. We’re looking for a versatile sports editor who can write and has pagination skills, as well as a firm grasp of AP style. The DDT is an afternoon paper, so you need to be an early riser with the ability to meet daily deadlines at our six-day daily. Photography skills a plus. The beat includes high school and college teams, community sports as well as locally hosted tournaments and sports features. New graduates with sports writing experience, and/or journalists with undergraduate degrees in journalism looking to move up from weekly publications are encouraged to apply. Working knowledge of Quark and NewsEditPro are a plus, but we will train. Full-time benefits include: Paid vacation, paid holidays, sick days, health insurance and 401k. Send resume and clips to Sports Editor, Delta Democrat Times, 988 N. Broadway, Greenville, MS 38701; or email to dominickcross@ddtonline.com

 

This newspaper has an honorable history as one of the few Southern papers that spoke out forcefully against segregation in the early 1960s. But the sad fact is Greenville is a depressing little river city with abysmal public schools in one of the poorest regions in the country. And when Delta State and Mississippi Valley are your two biggest franchises, you know you've hit the small-time.

Might not be a terrible gig for a young, single person looking to get a couple of years of management experience before moving on, but anyone with a spouse and/or a family should stay far, far away from this one.

 

This shop has had five sports editors since 2005. One lasted six months, another about eight. Longest run was 18 months.

 

Delta State, despite being D-II, has some solid athletic programs. Women's basketball, football and baseball are all pretty damn good.
That said, I'll echo Albert's thoughts. Not a bad place to get some experience, but there's a million other places I'd rather be than Greenville. There's not a whole hell of a lot there and it's not really close to anything. Memphis (2 hours) and Jackson (2 hours) are probably the closest big cities.

 

A few things of note. The Executive Editor is a former sports guy and you will have a lot of freedom to do your thing. Greenville, like many places, isn't paradise. You are two hours from Jackson, Memphis and Little Rock and four and a half hours from New Orleans so you can get away at times. If you are a vet looking to stay in the game, it's not a bad place to be. If you are a rookie looking to gain experience, its an excellent place to cut your teeth. While it's not the best place to work, there are definitely worse places to earn a buck. And they are looking for someone.

 

The executive editor that previously was a longtime Mississippi sports editor-reporter left this paper more than a year ago.

No need to worry about proximity to New Orleans, even Memphis, for visits. You will be too busy slaving away on pages due to a large news hole and no staff.

 

The current executive editor has a background in sports.

 

Is it in hockey? Because news staffers this year have turned over like a team changes lines.

 

I don't know where you are getting your wrong information from. The EE who has worked covering LSU and the Green Bay Packers has been there for a couple of years. The SE who is moving on to run another paper in the chain, has been there for a couple of years. The news staff, with the exception of two people, has been together for a while.

 

Nope. The current editor and the sports editor leaving have been there a little over a year. The only full-time member of the newsroom left from October of 2008 is the staff photographer.

 

Yes the photog has been there for a very long time. And now that the City Editor has retired, he is easily the longest-tenured staffer. The EE and SE have been there since 08. The SE came in late 08.

 

So, too, did the EE. Neither have been there close to two years.