Sports Editor - Huntington (Ind.) Herald-Press

From jjobs ... http://www.journalismjobs.com/Job_Listing.cfm?JobID=1363219

Company: Huntington Herald-Press
Position: Seeking Sports Editor
Location: Huntington, Indiana
Job Status: Full-time
Salary: $20,000 to $25,000
Ad Expires: June 29, 2012
Job ID: 1363219
Website: http://www.h-ponline.com

Description:

We’re looking for someone who wants to roll their sleeves up and get knee-deep in Huntington County’s wide variety of sports. The sports editor is responsible for the sports coverage of a six-day community newspaper in Huntington, Ind. This position requires a hands-on editor who has the writing, editing and photography skills to cover local sports, including high school and college levels. Requirements include other duties as assigned. A personable writer with commitment and passion for community journalism and coverage of all types of sports is a must. A positive attitude and love of learning are crucial to success in this position. Also must locate and live within Huntington County.

Minimum Requirements: Bachelor’s degree in journalism or equivalent. Experience with Photoshop and social networking necessary. Must be able to use a digital camera.

 

$20K for a sports editor's position?
Anyone with a college degree dumb enough to sign up for 60-hour weeks at 20K should be shot on sight. McDonald's pays better.

 

Wide variety of sports?

Basketball, junior high basketball and peewee basketball.

 

Yipes. Asking quite a bit for a maximum of $25K. And, as always, beware of being the only sports person at a six-day daily. You'll spend those six days planning everything you're gonna do on your one day off -- then be too exhausted to get off the couch.

 

I was sports editor here from '91-'08 when the Quayle family sold to Paxton. In the span of about six months, all of our longtime newsroom staff was gone. Circulation has fallen from 5,500 to around 2,500.

Deadlines are ridiculous at 5 p.m. Most stories are two days old by the time they run. Some stories from Saturday events don't run on Sunday, but are held over to Monday or Tuesday to help keep local content stretched out through the week. Big national and state coverage is stuffed inside. In my last days there, we were told that if people wanted national news, they could "watch CNN."

There is no page designing with this position. Everything is sent to Marion, where a designer decides on story placement and writes headlines, which are often incorrect. There is also no copy editing by anyone. The paper is also printed in Marion, where it is slotted with the other Paxton papers in the Central Indiana Newspaper Group - Marion, Wabash, Peru and Frankfort.

Be prepared to cover elementary school sports and write the occasional "Know Your Neighbor" Q&A for 1A.

Very few preview, feature or enterprise writing. Paper relies a lot on new releases run verbatim. Online presence is minimal, and no social media content.

The "old-school cool" newspaper building is pretty much empty. Only four people in the newsroom and a couple others in the building to answer the phone. Everything runs out of Marion. There's no training for entry-level staffers.

I was able to walk away on my own, and any hard feelings are long gone after four years. I still live in the town and see the paper daily.

Email me for more info.

-Paul Siegfried
dpsiegfried@gmail.com

 

who is leaving?