Sports editor in Ketchikan, Alaska

From JournalismJobs.com:

Sports writer/editor. A minimum of two years experience on a newspaper is required. Journalism/communication degree necessary. Position involves covering high school and community sports — basketball, baseball, football, soccer, volleyball, wrestling, cross country, track as well as other sports. Lay out sports pages, too. Great job and place to live if you like temperatures between 40 and 60 most of the time. Located on island in Tongass National Forest of Southeast Alaska, where in addition to sports, locals enjoy an outdoors lifestyle. Hiring immediately. Benefits include, but aren't limited to, paid holidays and vacation. Must provide copy of resume and clips. Please include cover letter. Send to: Tena Williams, Publisher, Ketchikan Daily News, P.O. Box 7900, Ketchikan, Alaska, 99901. tenaw@ketchikandailynews.com. Mailed packets preferred, but not necessary.


Trust me ... when they say "Great place to live if you like temperatures between 40 and 60 most of the time," they mean it! And remember, the town is literally in a rain forest.

That being said, it's a beautiful area if you like hiking, kayaking, fishing and other outdoor adventure. And southeast Alaska is big-time hoops country.

 

Isn't this where the bridge to nowhere was actually headed?

This is supposed to be a very pretty part of the world, not that I've been there

 

Yes, the "Bridge to Nowhere" would have connected the city of Ketchikan with the smaller island across from it. The airport is on the smaller island, meaning visitors who fly there must wait for ferry boats (not a big deal in my opinion).

Other than sitting on an Alaska Airlines plane in said airport for a half-hour, on my way to Juneau, I haven't been in Ketchikan either. But the entire SE Alaska "inside passage" is a beautiful area.

Of course, most of the tourists who visit Ketchikan come via cruise ship. In the summer, there will be plenty of second job opportunities for anyone who applies for this gig!

 

Under 8,000 people. Really, really remote. No roads in or out — you'll take the ferry or Alaska Airlines and like it. Over 150 inches of rain a year. Per Wikipedia: "For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 102.0 males."

Would have connected Ketchikan with its one-runway airport, which (per my road atlas) is on another island.

 

If there's no Bridge to Nowhere yet, you can always drive Caribou Barbie's Road to Nowhere.

http://www.juneauempire.com/stories/092108/sta_334953116.shtml

 

Football Bat, thanks for the link. Nothing like paying $25 million for a gravel road that "would be good for a 5K or 10K road race."

I guess everything's bigger in Alaska, including the bonehead ideas.

Also, a huge issue in southeast Alaska is the road they want to build "connecting" the state's capital, Juneau, to the outside world. This Lynn Canal Road -- shelved for now -- would cost at least $400 million, go through several avalanche zones and it would still require a short ferry ride across the northern end of the Inside Passage to Haines or Skagway. Once there, a two-lane road through often treacherous winter weather takes you through the Yukon Territory of Canada, and 800 or 900 miles later, you're in Anchorage!

Yep ... lots of bonehead ideas floating around the land of Gov. Barbie!

 

I had a phone interview there. They don't pay well, they won't help with moving expenses because they would have to pay to move you back if you got canned, and it's not the cheapest place to live.

I wonder what happened with the guy who took the job last year.

 

Will they pay off my student loans if I promise to stay for three years?

 

That would seal the deal if that were true.

 

Yeah, I imagine the cost of living is higher, because all the stuff has to be flown or shipped in, driving up costs.

Is the pay comparable with other papers of its size?

 

I'll vouch for the fact that it's a lot more expensive up there. I was in Alaska for two weeks this summer, and when gas was about $4.00 a gallon here, there were some places in Alaska that we filled up for as much as $4.82 a gallon. Those were in the more remote areas, but I think it was about $4.35 in Anchorage. And drives to get around were long, so we burned through gas really quickly, which you would have to do to get to most places.
Meals and beer were pretty reasonable, though, and the beer was really good. As was the fresh seafood. We didn't make it to Ketchikan, though, so I have nothing to offer regarding the city.