Sports writer opening at Martinsville Bulletin

From Journalism Jobs:

Wanted: Sports writer for a three-person sports department at 18,000 a.m. in Southside Virginia. Successful candidate will cover preps, area college teams and other local sports, including Martinsville Speedway's two Sprint Cup races each year; edit copy and paginate with Quark XPress. New grads with experience as well as sportswriters on weeklies or those looking for new challenges are welcome to apply. Send resume and clips to Ginny Wray, Editor, Martinsville Bulletin, P.O. Box 3711, Martinsville, Va. 24115; fax 276-638-7409; email (.txt ) only files to ginnywray@hotmail.com

 

Not that this is going to sway anyone one way or another, but their reported circulation to ABC as of Sept. 30, 2011 was 14,000 M-F and 16,500 Sunday. Probably a recycled ad from a few years ago when that number was reasonably accurate.

Not sure if things have stabilized out there in the last few years. I know it used to be a sports writer/sports editor job would open up every six months like an Old Faithful that spits out sustenance wages and dreary Southside Virginia living. On the other hand, you're within driving distance to Greensboro and Roanoke. The preps aren't too bad, though the summer doesn't offer much more than baseball (Legion, youth, wood-bat collegiate summer league). The races give you a weekend or two to hob-nob with the five remaining NASCAR writers and eat the world's most disgusting hot dogs.

Guessing the technology is still well behind the curve if they can only accept .txt files at a Hotmail account. Hotmail. How utterly quaint. Forget their Facebook and Twitter presence, I want to see their Prodigy page.

 

This is Paul Montana - I am the one leaving this position. I have accepted a job at the Daily News-Record in Harrisonburg, VA.

I can give a good plug for this position. Mystery Meat is right in that this job has been open a lot in the past, but before it was because of instability. Now it is because people are moving on to bigger things. Our last reporter who left went to graduate school, which is what he wanted to do. Now I am moving on to a bigger paper, which is what I wanted to do. You'll get a ton of clips, and you get experience in just about every aspect of print journalism (page layout, photo, copy editing). If you're looking for an entry-level position that can spring you up the ladder, this is a great fit.

Mystery Meat is also right about circulation (it has gone down a bit - that number is old). He's also correct about summer baseball - mostly what is covered is the Coastal Plain League (Martinsville Mustangs). But there are also opportunities for nifty features that you can't do the rest of the year, and there is a high school football tab every August that's fun to put together.

As for technology - yes, admittedly behind the curve. However, right before I left, sports has been pushing for both Twitter and video, and management is at least willing to listen. Could be a great opportunity to not only get involved with that sort of thing, but also say that you were the one who got it started.

Martinsville is a small town, but the sports people are great about helping you get acclimated. (I grew up outside of D.C., then went to Charlottesville for college, and ended up feeling comfortable in Martinsville.) There are things to do here if you're willing to look.

Any questions, feel free to PM me.

 

Paul: That's encouraging that you moved up from there (and to a hell of a launching pad newspaper, at that). Obviously where people go in life doesn't hinge completely on their surroundings, but it's nice to be around a place where people have legitimate aspirations instead of one filled with flameouts, antiques and never-had-its.

I worked in Danville for about a year in the 2000s and back then people left Martinsville screaming and with their hair on fire. I might be imagining the fire part. But there was a LOT of discontent back then about newsroom environment and unwillingness to spend money on work-related travel outside Martinsville or Henry County. If I remember correctly, writers weren't even allowed to cover playoff games involving their teams in Pittsylvania County.

Something I forgot to add is while I'm sure the pay is still pretty low, the cost of living is low too. As in it's pretty easy to find a 1-bedroom apartment for less than $400/month.

Note to prospective applicants: If you've never lived in southern Virginia, the Carolinas or Appalachia, it might be a bit of a culture shock. Bad: Hard to find good coffee shops. Good: Easy to find good biscuits.

 

Mystery, let me dispel some of those rumors.

I did not advance to Harrisonburg despite being in Martinsville as you imply. I advanced to Harrisonburg in large part because of Martinsville.

I am well aware of how the Bulletin was earlier in this decade as far as constant turnover and people leaving with extreme discontent. Times have changed. The Bulletin was great to me, and I am sure anyone on the current sports staff would say the same. (I know because I've asked.)

When our local football and boys basketball teams travel anywhere in the state for playoffs, we always cover it. We often cover road games in the regular season as well for football, and occasionally go outside Henry County - Danville or Eden, N.C., for instance - for basketball. (Holiday tournaments are an example.)

You are correct that cost of living is dirt cheap. And yes, it's not an easy move from a bigger city to Martinsville, but as I previously stated, staffers know this and are eager to help get new hires acclimated.

 

Didn't mean to imply anything. Just pointing out that the Bulletin has not had the greatest reputation in the last little while (do a search on this board for previous Bulletin openings). I think, looking back, I could have worded that a bit better. I'm not saying that the people in Martinsville are all malcontents and goofs *now*. I was trying to draw a comparison between the Martinsville of the last 10 years and what it apparently is now. If you and this other dude who went to grad school are an indication, then things are improving there and that's good.

If you're getting to travel for playoffs and holiday tournaments, again, that's an encouraging sign. When I was in the area, that was not the case. Not even to Tunstall. I think the only exception were the High Point furniture shows, and even that wasn't a simple transaction. Here's hoping that has changed for good. I sincerely hope it has. I didn't spend that much time in Martinsville, except for a couple of race weekends, but they have good country people out there.

 

The Bulletin had a bad reputation because of the editor, not anybody in sports.

 

Paul isn't the only one leaving. Looks like Martinsville is down a sports editor, too. ... http://www.martinsvillebulletin.com/article.cfm?ID=31977

 

Two leaving at once. Calling Tom Petty. Your dream job is open.

 

This is Johnny Buck, the sports editor who's leaving the Bulletin. Potential applicants should know that this sports writer opening is a good gig, especially for recent college grads.
I'm taking the SID position at Patrick Henry Community College here in Martinsville. I've worked at the Bulletin on two separate occasions, most recently for four years as the SE. The departure of Paul Montana (to Harrisonburg's paper) and myself was purely coincidental. I'm happy for Paul but feel bad for the paper due to the timing.
However, former sports writer David Reynolds will do a fine job as the new SE at the Bulletin. David's young but talented, and he will be fun to work for. He's about two years out of UNC, where he served as SE for the Daily Tar Heel. I will be doing some stringing for David while he fills out his sports staff.
The Bulletin used to suffer from constant turnover, but that hasn't been the case over the past four years. ... I hope David and the new sports writers he hires will continue the recent trend of stability.
PM me if you have questions.

 

I can vouch for what Buck and Montana both said here ... well, at least about the staff. With expanded playoffs in all sports taking place in Va., these guys have helped me out several times getting playoffs on their side of the state covered for our section. Good luck to both of these guys.