Sports Writer, Emporia, KS

As far as small-town jobs out of school, this one might be one of the best. Good sports editor, D-II school gives you good access and decent level of competition, and good preps in the region. There are plenty of places in the area to make the leap if you do a good job.

You could do much worse than this place, especially in Kansas.

 

No offense, JME, but that comes off about as elitist as it gets. People have to start somewhere. And your hell might be someone else's heaven.

Me? Emporia would be hell, but that's just me.

 

I did some stringing for this paper a month or so ago, and really was impressed with the sports editor. As for the section itself, I had no idea what to expect until my stories were mailed to me -- and I was pleasantly surprised. Great design, and lots of good, local copy.

A journalist, especially a talented new grad, could do a whole lot worse. IMHO.

 

I wouldn't say that. They once hired someone as an SE from North Carolina.

I know a bit about this paper, it's where I started. Worked there for two years, busted my ass, then was able to latch on with a mid-sized paper elsewhere. I traveled to nationals for women's hoops and got to cover the D-II national outdoor track and field meet, where I got some great stories from the teams that came (and I later used to earn my ticket elsewhere).

Forty hours? Forget about it. Driving across the MIAA takes time, in addition to the doubleheaders you're covering during basketball season, or the Saturday afternoon football games. And you probably have to help the SE on preps -- when I worked there, the SE followed Emporia High everyone while I assisted on area teams, which number about 20. I usually assisted on the phone calls.

But I got to write a ton of stories, then cut my teeth on design (QuarkXPress back then). Both of those things made me a better, more well-rounded journalist.

Pay might not be great -- I missed on a low-income housing project by $500 when hired -- but you have to start somewhere. Which reminds me, the ME listed, she worked the register at the Casey's down the street as a second job to her working the cops beat when I worked there. Like I said, pay might not be that great. The descendants of William Allen White aren't generous when it comes to money.

Socially, there are things to do. Just not in abundance. Play ball at ESU against some punks. Pyramid Pizza helped me gain some infinite amount of wait with its lunch buffet and two-for-one Mondays. And there's a strip club, if you're into hanging out with the Emporia State football team.

 

A friend/former co-worker of mine worked there immediately after graduating from KU. He went on to bigger and better things and is now at a metro paper that draws many praises from this board. He always said Emporia was a great place to start.

 

Emporia isn't that bad. It was my second job out of school, and I loved it for about a year. As Oz said, a ton of clips and you learn a ton. I learned more there than I have anywhere, but got tired of certain higher-ups, like many before me, and moved on. The current ME is very easy to work with, and the SE is a solid guy. I won't comment on ownership, except to keep your expectations low. Just about everybody who has worked there has moved on to bigger and better things.
I'd gauge the typical week, especially during the sports seasons, at 60-80 hours. But it's worth it if you like to work. There's a lot more to do there than one would think.
The negatives: 1. Workload. 2. Pay, though its not as bad as some. 3. two people doing the job of three or four.
The positives: 1. Great beats. 2. Within the view of Topeka, KC and Wichita, jobwise.

 

My Emporia story: Once got caught in a hellacious thunderstorm on the Kansas Turnpike, so we pulled into Emporia to ride it out while dining at a Hardees. Just as we set our trays of Thickburgers down, the manager walks over and says, "There's a tornado warning, you'll have to take cover in our restroom."

Long story short, my buddies and I sat under urinals for 20 minutes . . . fine dining at its best.

 

"Ridin' the storm out, waitin' for the thaw out
On a full moon night in ... Emporia?"

 

mmm, Thickburgers ...

 

Note to self: Go to Kansas. Acquire an Emporia anecdote.

 

I've got another Kansas anecdote, but I'll post it another time.

It involves a broken-down car, 2 Ford dealerships, Dodge City and the Bourbon County Fair.

 

Songbird, you need to get cracking on a book about your Deadhead tour experiences.