Sports Reporter - The Daily Courier, Oregon

SPORTS REPORTER. The Daily Courier is in the beautiful Rogue Valley of Oregon and on the leading edge of Internet journalism for papers its size, 16,500 circulation. It seeks an energetic and creative sports writer who can help the staff move forward in video and other new areas, while maintaining the high writing and reporting standards of an award- winning newspaper that’s been owned by the same family for 110 years. Our main sports beat is the local high schools, but the area is recreation rich, with everything from salmon fishing to hydroplanes to horse racing to cycling. If you want to live in a great area and enjoy challenges, send a cover letter, resume and clips to Dennis Roler, editor, at droler@thedailycourier.com or at P.O. Box 1468, Grants Pass, OR 97528, by Dec. 7.

Anybody know anything about this place?

 

Grants Pass is one of the fast-growing cities in the U.S. And Oregon is beautiful. I would say this is a pretty good gig, but I don't know anything about the paper, so who am I to judge?

 

You'd think if a paper was going to tout it's site as top-notch in the opening line of a job ad, the site would be a little better.

 

Grants Pass is off the beaten path (read: Not on the I-5 corridor). And being in extreme southern Oregon, you could say it's in the middle of nowhere.

That said, it is beautiful, especially this time of year. But you're too late -- the rains have already started, and likely won't end until May.

 

How far to outposts of civilization?

 

I-5 isn't too far away -- off the top of my head, I would guess 30-45 minutes, which is where Medford is.

From there, Roseburg is a couple of hours north and Mount Shasta is south, just past a little mountain community called "Weed".

 

I believe they just hired a new sports editor there, so I'm not sure what the turnover situation is or why they're hiring for this position. I called a while back and the guy listed on their web site as the sports editor was no longer the sports editor (but still working there), then they just hired a new SE about a week ago. FWIW, he seemed very friendly on the phone.

Still, Oregon is beautiful. The area around Grants Pass is very recreation rich for those who enjoy hiking, camping, mountain climbing, kayaking, etc. Grants Pass itself is a little podunky, but it has its small-town charms as well. Not sure what the pay scale is like, but the standard of living in Grants Pass is definitely less than it is in Portland, Bend, Eugene or any of the other bigger cities in Oregon.

 

Wrong. I-5 runs right through Grants Pass.

 

How far to Portland? Eugene? Northern California?

 

About two hours south of Eugene, four hours south of Portland. Not far at all from the California border, but pretty far from anything worth visiting. It's very close to Medford which, in turn, is close to Jacksonville and Ashland, two fun, touristy little towns. Handsome Harley is right in saying Grants Pass is in the middle of nowhere, but I-5 runs right through downtown, so it's not a huge production to get on the Interstate for traveling purposes.

 

Awesome, Bob, thanks.

 

The new sports editor is Lance Ogden of East Oregonian and Joplin Globe fame. From my experience, he's a great guy to work for.
I'm guessing this would mainly be preps, but I know there's a possibility Ogden might send someone up to do columns for Duck and Beaver home football games.