Sports writer, Ellensburg, WA

he Ellensburg Daily Record, a six-day-a week newspaper in Ellensburg, Wash., has an immediate opening for a full-time sports editor. The Daily Record — 5,800 circulation, Monday through Friday afternoon and Saturday a.m. — is located in Central Washington, 105 miles from Seattle. The paper's daily paid and online circulation continues to grow and, in 2008, the Washington Newspaper Publishers Association named the Daily Record’s Web site the best among all classes of the state’s smaller papers. This position offers the ambitious candidate a chance to prove themselves in the newspaper business with hands-on experience in writing, copy editing, design and multimedia.

The successful applicant will be primarily responsible for covering five high schools, a solid NCAA Division II college with a full slate of sports, and one of the nation’s oldest and best PRCA rodeos. (In 2009, the local college football team, which has made back-to-back playoff appearances, is undefeated through seven games.) You'll also get the chance to cover Seattle's pro sports teams on occasion. It's primarily a one-person job, but the paper also uses a mixture of sports correspondents. The paper's managing editor and assistant editor each have previous sports experience and have helped many reporters land jobs at the next level. A recent sports editor now plies their trade at a major East Coast daily as the primary beat writer for an NBA team.

Ellensburg is a lively, fast-growing town of 17,000 on the edge of the Cascade Mountains that offers some of the best outdoors opportunities in the nation. The Daily Record is an award-winning daily newspaper whose staff is driven to give its demanding readership the sort of coverage typically found at much larger papers. A bachelor’s degree in journalism or equivalent reporting experience is preferred. Recent college graduates are urged to apply. Knowledge of InDesign and Adobe Photoshop and multimedia skills a plus. Interested candidates may forward their resume and work samples to: Jeff Robinson, Ellensburg Daily Record, 401 N. Main Street, Ellensburg, WA 98926 or via e-mail to jrobinson@kvnews.com

 

This was my first full-time newspaper job. If anyone wants to know more about the area or anything, feel free to PM me.

 

Been through there several times and interacted with several SEs from there. There are certainly worse places to start a career.

You have a D-II college with a decent athletic program, two hours from Seattle and you get to run your own section. No, you won't get rich, but can get some solid clips and maybe even have some fun along the way.