Sports reporter/copy editor: Helena, Mont.

They also have a part-time gig going, as well.

Company: Independent Record
Position:
Sports reporter-copy editor
Location:
Helena, Montana
Job Status: Full-time
Salary: $25,000 to $30,000
Ad Expires:
July 20, 2009
Job ID: 1062784
Website: http://www.helenair.com

Description:
The Independent Record, an award-winning 15,500-circulation daily in state capital Helena, Montana, seeks a dynamic sports reporter and copy editor with excellent writing and design skills to join a staff of six in this sports powerhouse city in the heart of the Northern Rockies.

The reporter and designer who lands this full-time job will join a staff that is loaded with talent, and will join a newsroom team committed to excellence in print and online. Helena is home to multiple high school state champions and also Carroll College, which has won five of the past seven NAIA football national championships and has many other highly competitive teams at the national level. Helena also has high-level amateur hockey and minor league baseball.

The Independent Record, a member of Lee Enterprises, is a leader in news and sports innovation. This fast-paced newspaper needs a self-starter who can make an immediate contribution to achieving a high level of excellence in the print and online products with compelling sports page design, enterprising sports news and feature reports, and multimedia presentation at helenair.com.

The ideal candidates should have a journalism degree and at least one to three years of newspaper experience. The ability to craft eye-catching designs at least three days per week via Quark Xpress is preferred, and covering some of the marquee sports beats as a writer is a responsibility of the job.

When you aren’t working, enjoy the myriad of recreational opportunities Helena has to offer in hiking, mountain biking, fly-fishing, skiing, boating and many more.

Hourly wage is based on experience and expertise. Full benefits in accordance with Lee Enterprises are afforded, including health, vision, dental, life and 401(K).

E-mail resume, cover letter, and design and/or writing samples to Sports Editor Jeff Windmueller at jeff.windmueller@helenair.com or send to:

Jeff Windmueller Sports Editor Independent Record P.O. Box 4249 Helena, MT 59601

 

Key words: Lee ... Helena ... NAIA

Beautiful part of the world. Black hole of a town. Good small-school sports, though. They've had a lot of turnover there recently, if I recall correctly.

 

Always do. But how on earth does a 15,000 paper have a sports staff of SIX? I know of papers twice that size that are struggling to keep staffs of 3.

 

Helena shuts down after 4 on Fridays. Everybody heads home.

Carroll College is an NAIA dynasty in football, decent in basketball. Really ugly ass purple unis though.

There are far worse places in the world, plus you get to stalk Brian Schweitzer regularly.

 

Should say, though, that if you're desperately looking for a job ... this really wouldn't be a bad one. Get some clips, learn to fly fish and get out. Know people there who love the job.

It just wouldn't be very high on my list.

 

I suppose that would rank as a plus on certain people's lists. For me, not so much.

 

As for the staff of six, I don't believe half of them are full-time.

Any words on these positions yet?

 

Still in the interviewing process. Four FT, including SE.

 

They play much bigger than their circulation would lead one to believe. Produce a weekly 12-16 page tab on Carroll football that is inserted in the Saturday AM edition, that includes features, lineups, scouting reports, stuff you would see on an NFL or BCS beat.

Good space, 6 pages most weekdays and 8 on weekends.

 

At a 15,000-circulation paper!?
We're in a different part of the country and don't have a college close by, but we're the same size paper. Our sections are half that size, and there's no way in hell we'd be able to sell a weekly tab.

 

Yeah, Batman, I was damned shocked, too. I've seen enough 15,000 circ. papers to get an idea what to expect. But this is different. They are every bit as good, if not better than, any paper in the region: Great Falls, Missoula, Billings, whomever. Paper has four sections daily plus a hefty classifieds section, newsroom staff twice as large as most papers its size.

As for the tab sections, editors swear they make money on them (and they DO sell a LOT of ads). Sent three people (including a web person) to the NAIA football national title game in Georgia last fall. Beat writer is Jeff Windmueller, who was promoted to SE last winter. Terrific writer and great all-around guy.

Carroll College stadium outshines most any D-II school I've ever seen. Two-deck, enclosed press box with suites with food and beverage service, close-circuit TV, private restrooms, jerseys of former outstanding players encased in glass... stuff you would expect at a pro or BCS school stadium. They may not be large, but, man, they do it right.

 

Full-time position filled. Still looking to fill a 29-hour per week slot.