Sports/outdoors writer-columnist in Port Angeles, Wash.

from jj.com

Company: Peninsula Daily News
Position: Sports/outdoors writer-columnist
Location: Port Angeles, Washington St.
Job Status: Full-time
Salary: $25,000 to $30,000
Ad Expires:
February 21, 2012
Job ID: 1313454
Website: http://www.peninsuladailynews.com

Description:

The North Olympic Peninsula of Washington state has it all for the sports and outdoors writer -- the Olympic Mountains, river and saltwater fishing for salmon, steelhead and huge Dungeness crab, alpine hiking, hunting, skiing and snow play in Olympic National Park at Port Angeles' doorstep -- and prep teams that include a newly crowned state football champion and the Northwest's community college soccer powerhouse.

So this position with the Peninsula Daily News is an ideal opportunity for an up-and-coming writer who enjoys it all. Not only does this position include sports reporting but an outdoors column twice a week and some page designing, pagination and sports wire responsibilities alongside the sports editor.

Peninsula Daily News is a community-minded, family-focused six-day newspaper (15,862 Monday through Friday; 17,572 Sunday) and Web enterprise (more than 1 million page views monthly) that is the dominant news and advertising provider for the two-county North Olympic Peninsula. Port Angeles gets half the rainfall of Seattle, is just a 90-minute ferry ride from Victoria, British Columbia, and enjoys a North Olympic Peninsula fan base that also follows Seattle-area professional and university teams.

This position is in our main newsroom in Port Angeles, although there is plenty of opportunity to get out and about in Port Townsend, Sequim, Forks and environs. This is essentially a daytime position with evening work on game nights in a Tuesday through Saturday shift. Because an in-person visit is required, applicants from the Northwest and West are preferred.

We offer a competitive compensation and benefits package as the daily newspaper of Washington state's largest newspaper group, Sound Publishing Inc. (http://www.soundpublishing.com).

The successful candidate will show good writing skills in both reporting and sports column-writing styles, some knowledge of page design, headline writing and InDesign pagination and be personable since this is one of our newsroom's top public contact positions. Knowledge of football, baseball, basketball and soccer are essential.

Please email resume with a detailed cover letter addressing how you fit our above requirements, plus samples of your writing and page layouts (PDFs preferred for layouts, simple text for writing) to Sports Editor Brad LaBrie at brad.labrie@peninsuladailynews.com. Our mailing address is Peninsula Daily News, P.O. Box 1330, Port Angeles, WA 98362. (Street address: 305 W. First St.)

Questions about the job can be directed to Brad at 360-417-3525. Fax is 360-417-3521.

 

This is my old job. I recently decided to move on and take a position at the Lincoln Journal Star in Nebraska.

This is certainly a great opportunity for anyone looking to break into the business. There are nine high schools to cover and loads of outdoor activities, many of which you get to participate in yourself. The area is beautiful and there are more than enough stories to tell. The sports department essentially operates as its own paper, so you will be given plenty of freedom to do the job as you see fit. You also will get a chance to design pages and edit copy as the Sunday page editor.

I would be remiss if I did not mention that the paper was also recently sold. The new owners moved print operations across the water to Everett, altering the print deadlines from 11 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. each day. Obviously, this means you'll have to be a little creative with your sports coverage.

Good luck,
Matt Schubert

 

Got caught in a Stephen King-like fog once in Sequim. It was so think, I initially thought there was a large fire. It was like a solid wall of white.

One of the strangest things I've seen.

 

Who's on the Twilight beat?

 

Thanks for the info, Matt. Not interested in this opening, but once upon a time, inquired about a desk opening at the PDN. I believe the copy desk chief I talked to passed away a few years ago.

And that's a pretty drastic change in deadlines. Whoever gets this gig will almost have to take a weekly newspaper approach to prep sports. But you're right, the outdoors opportunities are tremendous.

Best of luck to you at the Lincoln paper -- quite a step up!

 

Just applied. Am from Seattle, but never ventured out to the Peninsula. Hopefully I can finally get out of corporate hell!

 

Interviewed there years ago. Small town that feels further away from civilization than it actually is. A ferry ride from Victoria, BC, but definitely a small-town feel. No colleges in the area, so it was primarily high schools, rec leagues, youth leagues, etc.

I heard about the sale, but a 5:30 p.m. deadline? That's insane, might as well be a PM paper. Oh, well, at least you can get the paper out and high-tail it to Safeco Field in time for the bottom of the second.

 

This job has popped up again

http://www.journalismjobs.com/Job_Listing.cfm?JobID=1313454

 

You would not be able to get to Seattle in less than 2 1/2 hours because you need to take at least one ferry boat.

Would be great if you like the outdoors as Olympic National Park is right next door, but don't ever expect to cover any Seattle or UW team (unless they perhaps do it on their own time). You can basically say you are closer to Canada than Seattle and Victoria is worth a few trips.

 

I worked for Sound Publishing for almost four years before I left the field last year, feel free to PM me with any questions...they are an...interesting company to work for.