Sports Writer, Beaumont, Tx

The Beaumont Enterprise seeks a creative sports reporter who enthusiastically embraces the local sports scene and can produce news, features and enterprise for both print -- including 1A -- and online. Candidates need to truly understand what it means to put audience first. We're not interested in traditional game stories. We’re looking for a journalist with a multimedia mindset and experience who seizes every opportunity regardless of form or platform. Our reporters produce CoverItLive webcasts from big games, shoot video and host weekly chats with coaches and players. The successful candidate will need: Enthusiasm for high school sports, and a curiosity to share with readers why something happened, instead of just what happened. S/he should be a great collaborator who can gather visual materials and brainstorm photo and design concepts with talented photojournalists and page designers, recognizing that good storytelling sometimes takes non-traditional forms. Coverage responsibilities will include Lamar University, high schools, the outdoors and recreational and individual sports. The Enterprise is the sixth-largest of 15 daily Hearst newspapers, including the Houston Chronicle and San Antonio Express-News, both home to many former Beaumont journalists. We’re located in Southeast Texas, which offers some of the lowest cost of living in the country (and there’s no state income tax), plus diverse shopping, restaurants and entertainment. Nestled in the piney East Texas woods, Beaumont is at the epicenter of a water-lover’s paradise, with lakes, rivers, bays and the Gulf of Mexico nearby. The city is a short drive from Houston and Galveston.

Send cover letter, resume, references and samples of work to Kris Worrell, Managing Editor at kworrell@hearstnp.com or, Beaumont Enterprise, P.O. Box 3071, Beaumont, TX 77704.

 

Kinda like the area ... may have to try.

 

I don't know about now, but historically some great high school sports in that area. Bubba Smith, Jerry LeVias (first black star in the SWC) and Jimmy Johnson (the coach) all came from Beaumont or Port Arthur. More recently, Jay Bruce, Stephen Jackson and Kendrick Perkins came out of there.

The city's pretty blah, but you're an hour from Houston, probably 90 minutes from Galveston and an hour from the casinos in Lake Charles, La., if you're into that sort of thing.

 

There some good people here. I hear good things about the new sports editor, and of course some great high school teams. They also, as this ad points out, do some pretty creative things. The ME is pretty big on that -- and they're not afraid to put sports out front.

That said, it should be pointed out, that Friday nights and other game nights can be hectic. They have to be off the floor at 10:30 p.m. because they print in Houston, about an hour away. A hurricane destroyed their press a couple years ago, and instead of spending the millions of dollars to repair it, they decided to print in Houston. So far, it works out for the most part.

I believe the circulation hovers around 50K.

 

I could swear ABC had their latest circ numbers around 35k. Could be wrong though, cause that seems like a massive dip.

 

Circulation has dropped dramatically in Beaumont.

I interviewed there in spring 2009 and was told it would be a few weeks before they decided who to hire. About a month later I e-mailed the managing editor, who had contacted me to see if I was interesting in applying, and in an e-mail reply I was told there were delays in the hiring process and it might be a few more weeks.

A month later, I learned they'd hired someone. I gave them a week or so to get back to me to let me know, figuring surely they'd at least tell the people who interviewed in person. When that week passed, I wrote to the ME and asked if what I'd heard was true. Yes, it's true, was the answer. I didn't get a good answer as to why they never bothered to tell the finalists the position had finally been filled.

Was also told they had to revise their search and couldn't afford to hire someone with my experience, so they went with someone pretty much straight out of college (a friend of the child of a Houston Chronicle staffer, I was later told).

Never got reimbursed for my mileage for driving to Beaumont, despite having to fill out forms the day I interviewed "in case we need to cut you a check for any expenses."

The conclusion I came to so I could move on without being bitter: Good people in a bad situation.

 

JD -- Did they tell you the circulation?

 

I don't recall if they did or someone who previously worked there did, but it was one or the other. I remember being stunned by how low it was compared to earlier in my career and even earlier, when I grew up reading it somewhat regularly. I can't tell you what the circulation was a year ago, but it wasn't an encouraging figure.

 

Worse than I thought:

ENTERPRISE, BEAUMONT (JEFFERSON CO.) M (M-SAT) DLY 28,939
ENTERPRISE, BEAUMONT (JEFFERSON CO.) SUN DLY 33,082

 

ABC has Beaumont at 28,939 daily and 33,082 on Sunday. I know they were 50-60,000 not that long ago.

1A is a trainwreck every day that I see it online. Not sure about the rest of the paper, but it looks like a big mess to me.

And a 10:30 deadline on Friday night is beyond ridiculous. With most teams running a spread offense, a lot of games won't even be done by that time with a 7:30 start.

 

Wow. I cannot believe it's that low.

And yes deadlines there suck

 

I know of another who had a not too nice experience interviewing with this bunch. It's another reason why people are leaving the industry.