Sports writer, The Daily Times (Farmington, N.M.)

This was just posted today. The sports editor portion of it is not official yet, but it should be known within the next few days whether that position will be open as well. PM me with any questions you might have...you could say I know this one quite well.

http://www.journalismjobs.com/Job_Listing.cfm?JobID=1164526

Company: The Daily Times
Position:
Sports editor, reporters
Location:
Farmington, New Mexico
Job Status: Full-time
Salary: Not Specified
Ad Expires:
May 24, 2010
Job ID: 1164526
Website: http://www.daily-times.com

Description:

We are looking to hire in both news and sports.

We continue to recruit for a good reporter in news and welcome new applicants as well as refreshed applications from previous applicants.

Meanwhile, we have a talented sportswriter leaving us to become managing editor of publications for an NFL team; and our sports editor may be leaving soon for an exciting new opportunity of his own. So...we're looking to hire and to hire fast!

Multi-talented applicants with experience in fields other than writing will get second looks; i.e. design/pagination, web skills, etc.

We need solid candidates looking to experience lively action at a daily that is the largest media entity in the Four Corners region, serving readers in New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, Arizona and the Navajo Nation.

We're making promotions and shuffling folks around, so the news beat is uncertain, depending on the strengths of the candidate. If the beat is cops and courts, here that means anything from the routine to learning about the discovery of ancient bodies found at a construction site. Education and/or local gov't also are possible beats.

We need someone hungry to go beyond the norm, someone who wants to dig to find out why domestic violence rates are higher on an American Indian reservation, or why there are those who are biased in an American Indian border town, or why folks in Aztec believe in UFOs, or why people desperate for help can't get it to their remote ranch with 911.

We deal with the FBI, a progressive local police unit fighting gangs, and we deal with the local sheriff in a land where outlaws still try to hide and cowboys still ride horses to work. The journalism potential is unlimited for those who have a work ethic and a drive to do stories far beyond the norm.

Pay is in the mid-20s in $$; much more if you're seeking outdoor adventure or a different kind of place to practice good journalism.

Now, the standing ad for all our postings:

A documentary film team was here in 2007 to interview us about our newspaper's powerful influence on local racial/cultural issues. Steven Spielberg is sitting on a movie- rights option with a story about Kit Carson and the massive Navajo Nation based in our back yard. Here, yesterday and today are a living link, and the outdoors adventure life is the world's greatest!

Throw in a passion for journalism, and this place rocks! (Pardon the outdoors pun.)

We've won several national awards and fellowships, including from Columbia University where we were asked to speak in New York in 2008 about our investigative and diversity coverage. Ditto in Chicago, Boston and in various other large forums. Our staff eagerly applies for and earns fellowships for advanced training. We also won an Inland Press national award in 2008 for a profile story of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, reported in Venezuela, after talking with him about connections between his oil fields and ours here in the Four Corners. Our editor won the 2009 Robert G. McGruder Award, the nation's highest newspaper honor for diversity leadership and combating racism.

We're in negotiations now with a former CIA/FBI agent to do contract work with us on special investigative pieces by teaming with our best reporters.

We're a small, cozy newsroom, that likes to think big.

No, we don't have a dime to spend. We're just creative in finding one. That's why we're patient in our hiring and hunt ambitious, talented and opportunity-seeking journalists.

Wimps need not apply. We go after racial bigots and closed-minded governments, and the battle often gets fierce. The rewards, however, are tremendous. Keep reading...

Imagine life right in the middle of a western novel: The magnificent Rocky Mountains within view and only an hour to the north. The colorful Navajo Nation only minutes to the west. High desert landscape with endless scenic views and spectacular sunsets right here in town. And, at an altitude higher than the mile-high city of Denver, the weather here is great, with sunshine year-round, cool summer breezes, dry temps and fairly mild winters.

Add to that: the annual Connie Mack World Series for baseball nuts wanting to see the nation's best pro and college prospects; the national high school rodeo championships; colorful American Indian festivals; hot air balloon festivals; some of the best fly fishing in the world; a ski resort an hour away; one of the most modern public libraries in the nation; an awesome indoor aquatic center that has hosted Olympic prelims; the recently ranked No. 1 public golf course in the U.S.; great whitewater rafting and...well...you get the picture.

Farmington, spurred by active oil-and-gas industry, is the commerce center for the Four Corners region, tucked in the northwest corner of New Mexico and only an hour south of the Colorado resorts in Durango. We also serve readers in Arizona and Utah, making us the chief media source for the entire Four Corners region. Furthermore, we know good journalism, we have exciting goals and we aim to become one of the best community newspapers in the nation. We preach local first, and we're darn serious about our goals for quality journalism across the board. That is one reason we will continue our search until we find the right candidates.

We work hard; we play hard. We have many expectations, and we are placing the bar high. Want to join us?

Please send asap a cover letter, resume and clips to: Troy Turner, editor, The Daily Times, P.O. Box 450, Farmington, N.M. 87499; or to tturner@daily-times.com.

 

I had lunch with Troy Turner at the Associated Press Managing Editors conference in St. Louis this past year when I was working there for school.

He was a great guy to talk to and taught me a few things in our short lunch-time conversation. I don't know what he'd be like to work for but he seemed like he had the passion for journalism. He's from Alabama originally. He is very high on the diversity and putting minorities on the front page from what I gathered in our conversation.

Farmington is...well, Colorado is only 35 minutes away. Lots of gang, drug and crime issues there.

 

A sports writing job in Baseball Town USA.. Too bad it's in New Mexico, landfill USA

 

A job here opened up about two years ago. I was fortunate at the time to be in contact with the staff there.

The people there then were incredibly courteous and straightforward. Troy and Louie St. George seemed like great people to work with and for.

 

Not sure where you've been Kmac, but NM happens to be known as the Land of Enchantment; so called because of its incredible natural scenery.
And nothing wrong with Farmington. It's a truly great sport town. The local high schools are competitive in just about every sport.

 

Troy is nice, but he needs to turn down the gushiness on the job-ads.

 

Update...both positions in the sports department are, in fact, open.

 

Who left?

 

Both the sports editor and the sports reporter left for jobs in Southern California. The writer's last day was yesterday, and the SE's last day is the 15th.

 

You can't eat scenery. And it's tough to take it in when you've got your eyes open for meth heads. Rural areas like this almost all have similar problems. Just because Farmington's pretty doesn't make it an exception to that rule. And that's without the unique sets of problems that come with a large Native American population, as the ad alludes.