Sports Editor, Greenwood, S.C.

This will hit a couple job boards tomorrow. Offering it to you fine folks first.

_______

The Index-Journal in Greenwood, S.C., is looking for a talented sports editor to lead our award-winning sports section.

The ideal candidate will be a gifted writer, who also has the ability to coach and mentor writers in an effort to produce an award-winning sports section that best serves our readers. With our newly created universal desk, the sports editor will have limited work in page design, allowing this person to focus on content.

Our publication covers 10 high schools, two Division II colleges and various other sporting events in our four-county coverage area. The person hired will also occasionally shoot photos and design pages.

We want somebody who has a solid knowledge of AP style. We want somebody who doesn't need hand-holding. We want an aggressive, talented self-starter. We want somebody who can help us toward our overall goal of producing the best small daily newspaper in America.

The Index-Journal is a 15,000-circulation, family-owned daily newspaper in a beautiful section of South Carolina. Yes, we're a small daily newspaper, but we want to think big. We want to challenge the regular parameters attached to small papers and eschew the new way of thinking — smaller staff, less local copy, lower quality. We firmly believe the best way for a newspaper to succeed in this economic climate is to put out the best product possible. Period.

If you believe that, we'd like to hear from you. Send a cover letter (describing why you'd be ideal for the job), resume and at least five work samples to Scott J. Bryan, c/o The Index-Journal, PO Box 1018, Greenwood, S.C. Or bypass the postage, and the time: sbryan@indexjournal.com.

_______

Here's the inside skinny:

1.) About three weeks ago, I was promoted to associate editor, and I now oversee the entire newsroom, including sports, features, news, special sections and photography. However, my promotion had been in the works since early December. During December we also had a sports writer opening (our guy left to work on his master's degree near his hometown) and during the process of that job being open, an incredibly talented journalist expressed interest in our sports writer position. Knowing he was far too qualified for the sports writer position, I floated the SE gig. As of today, that person has withdrawn his name for personal reasons (no hard feelings at all). Because that person is not available, we are now posting the job.
2.) Location: Greenwood is about an hour from Greenville, a little over an hour from Augusta and about an hour and a half from Columbia.
3.) The town: It's a reasonably-sized Southern town. We've got restaurants, a movie theater, a bowling alley, golf courses and more than enough bars and churches.
4.) The staff: In the past, the sports editor served as the primary copy editor/designer and also handled all the planning, as you would expect. Under our new plan that includes a universal desk, the sports editor will not have to handle the bulk of the design work, allowing the new hire to focus on content more. However, if there are vacations or staff shortages (let's hope not), the SE might have to pick up a desk shift or two. Under the SE’s supervision are two full-time (and incredibly talented) sports writers, who both primarily write. We do have a full-time photographer, so there isn't as much photo responsibility as there was when I first got here, although the hire will have some photo journalism responsibilities.
5.) The schedule: Afternoons, nights and weekends, of course.
6.) The paper: We've made significant strides since I became the sports editor 2 1/2 years ago. Before I got here, The Index-Journal won a South Carolina Press Association award once every few years. Last year, the sports department claimed four of The Index-Journal's six honors, and we hope that count grows. We redesigned the paper about a year ago and the Web site more than two years ago.
7.) Pay: About $30K. Maybe more. It depends on experience.
8.) Newspaper stability: Like any newspaper, we’ve had some cost-saving measures. We’ve reduced the size of our paper and folded the features section into the A section. The sports section, for the most part, has maintained its level of space – four to five pages during the week, eight-nine pages on Sunday. Occasionally, we’ll have a three-page sports section, but that’s generally on days where we don’t need as much space. We have not had any furloughs. We received Christmas bonuses in December. We had a Christmas party. Because we’re a family-owned publication, we don’t have the corporate hoops to jump through.
9.) Newsroom atmosphere: I love working here. I’ve been here 2 ½ years, and I’ve enjoyed every bit of it. We have a talented staff, and we’re going to do big things. It’s a good place to work. Honest.
10.) Hiring process: We intend to take applications for the next seven to 10 days and move quickly in hiring a sports editor. I’ve been in dual roles for about three weeks now, and I’d really like to move into one job for a little while.

If you have any more questions, feel free to PM me, post it here or send me an e-mail at sbryan@indexjournal.com. Please, please, please, no phone calls.

Thanks.

Scott J. Bryan
Associate Editor
The (Greenwood, S.C.) Index-Journal

 

thanks for the early heads up Scott...my application will be in your inbox by the morning

 

Sounds like a good gig.

 

I vouch for everything Scott said. ... And the town and sports scene each are terrific.

BTW, this town was recently in the news with the death of Gaines Adams.

 

The novvie pipeline -- which isn't nearly as reliable as the Moddy Pipeline, but this one sounds pretty sure -- is indicating there is white smoke on this hire ... congrats to Scott Chancey late of the Albany (Ga.) Herald.

 

Congrats to Scott Chancey. He's a HARD worker and worked for me for some time in Albany. And he's an even better guy.