Sports Writer, Leesburg, FL

From JJobs.

Salary: $25,000 to $30,000

The Daily Commercial is growing and is looking for a writer who is passionate about high school and college sports. We cover 14 schools in a two-county area and have local student-athletes playing for the University of Florida, Florida State and the University of Central Florida. We also cover events at Daytona International Speedway and sometimes cover bowl games and pro sports. You should have strong reporting and writing skills and be comfortable working on deadline or reporting multi-sourced features that can dominate a front page. The position involves some editing, so knowledge of InDesign is a plus. The Daily Commercial, located 35 minutes outside Orlando, is owned by Halifax Media Group. Halifax is one of the nation's fastest growing newspaper companies and one of the few that still invests in its newsrooms. The company offers competitive pay, excellent benefits and great opportunity for advancement. Please send your resume, a brief cover letter and clips to Managing Editor Tom McNiff at tom.mcniff@starbanner.com

 

I had forgotten Halifax picked up the Daily Commercial, which had been attempting to cover a decent-sized county (and neighboring Sumter, I think) with a staff of one the last several years. In any case, Tom McNiff is a great guy.

 

And on the bright side, it no longer has as its publisher one of the five worst human beings I've ever come across.

However, like fun is Leesburg 35 minutes from Orlando, at least any bits of Orlando worth a damn.

 

Is it a one-person staff now?

 

Has been for quite a while, as in five or six years. I don't check the website very often, but I'm not sure I've even seen stringer copy for a while.

I think the news side is down to two, maybe three, reporters.

 

The ad says the paper is growing, so maybe they're adding a position.

 

Their ads also used to say they had a circulation well in excess of what they actually did.

Any growth that they're experiencing would be the partial clawing back of previous dramatic losses, put it that way.

 

Bumped back up, jobs open again

jjobs.com
http://www.journalismjobs.com/Job_Listing.cfm?JobID=1543285

Company: The Daily Commercial
Position:
Sports Writer
Location:
Leesburg, Florida
Job Status: Full-time
Salary: $25,000 to $30,000
Ad Expires:
April 1, 2014
Job ID: 1543285

Description:

The Daily Commercial, a 16,000-circulation newspaper just outside Orlando, is looking for a writer who is passionate about high school and college sports. We cover 14 schools in a two-county area and have local student-athletes playing for the University of Florida, Florida State and the University of Central Florida. We also cover events at Daytona International Speedway and sometimes cover bowl games and pro sports. You should have strong reporting and writing skills and be comfortable working on deadline or reporting multi-sourced features that can dominate a front page. The position involves some editing, so knowledge of InDesign is a plus. The Daily Commercial is owned by Halifax Media Group, one of the nation's fastest growing newspaper companies and one of the few that still invests in its newsrooms. The company offers competitive pay, excellent benefits and great opportunity for advancement. Please send your resume, a brief cover letter and clips to Executive Editor Tom McNiff at tom.mcniff@starbanner.com

 

Does anyone have an update or know anything about this opening? Interesting that it's open again. Maybe it was never filled the first time?

 

If it's Halifax, enjoy signing that 2-year non-compete.

 

Honestly not sure. If this is the same paper I was thinking of, I got a call from them to interview but I had already started my job in Wisconsin.