Sports Writer, The Robesonian

Sports Writer (posted 8/26/09)

The Robesonian, an award-winning daily newspaper in Southeastern North Carolina with a circulation of about 14,000 a day, is looking for a sports writer. The successful candidate would have excellent writing skills, a passion for sports, and a strong work ethic. Coverage is mostly high school, with some coverage of The University of North Carolina at Pembroke. There is an occasional opportunity to cover ACC athletics, and even the Bobcats and Panthers as time allows. Knowledge of NASCAR is a big plus. Pay is competitive and benefits are solid. Send clips and resume to Donnie Douglas, editor, The Robesonian, P.O. Box 1028, Lumberton, N.C. 28359, or email to ddouglas@heartlandpublications.com


"Knowledge of NASCAR is a big plus." Git 'r dun boys.

 

Re: Sportswriter -- The Robesonian

The Robesonian -- another frequent visitor to these fine boards. Not as frequent as Roswell or Farmington, but a familiar face nonetheless.

http://www.sportsjournalists.com/forum/threads/47271/
http://www.sportsjournalists.com/forum/threads/38397/
http://www.sportsjournalists.com/forum/threads/58788/
http://www.sportsjournalists.com/forum/threads/54614/

 

Re: Sportswriter -- The Robesonian

Yeah I thought the name of this place sounded familiar.

 

Re: Sportswriter -- The Robesonian

Is Khary still there? I didn't see his name on a quick scroll through their site.

 

Re: Sportswriter -- The Robesonian



Khary is not there. He resigned to go back to college.

 

Re: Sportswriter -- The Robesonian

Why?

 

The Robesonian, an award-winning daily newspaper in Southeastern North Carolina with a circulation of about 14,000 a day, is looking for a sports writer. The successful candidate would have excellent writing skills, a passion for sports, and a strong work ethic. Coverage is mostly high school, with some coverage of The University of North Carolina at Pembroke. There is an occasional opportunity to cover ACC athletics, and even the Bobcats and Panthers as time allows. Knowledge of NASCAR is a big plus. Pay is competitive and benefits are solid. Send clips and resume to Donnie Douglas, editor, The Robesonian, P.O. Box 1028, Lumberton, N.C. 28359, or email to ddouglas@heartlandpublications.com

Here we go again. I'm sure the Donnie Douglas comments will crank up once more. Lumberton is one tough area to live in. Not much to do except work. At least the beach is not too far away. UNC-Pembroke is a nonscholarship 1-AA (I refuse to refer to it as the politically correct FCS; neither does SI) program in football so there should be opportunies to cover the Braves. And, it is a job opening.

 

Sounds like a dream gig.

 

I held the job. Good place to learn, but not for everybody. (There is another thread on this if mods want to combine.)
UNCP is Div. 2. It does give scholarships. The coverage is mostly high school. Donnie always encourage us to try to work in some ACC, NASCAR, Panthers, Bobcats when time allowed, which was not frequently. It can be done some though.

 

Actually worked there back in the day, late 1990's....Actually lived in downtown Lumberton and walked to work....People there were super nice....Donnie Douglas was a disaster though, VERY hard to work for....Used to be the sports editor and was extremely hands on...

 

My two cents:

I was editor at this shop for about nine months. Hated pretty much every second of it for a variety of reasons, the least of which was that I was pretty much done with journalism at that point in my career. Some of the other reasons have been touched on in numerous other threads, so I don't feel the need to reiterate.

As someone who is completely out of journalism these days, I can kind of stand back and view the gig a bit more objectively and less emotionally now. I would have a hard time recommending a gig there to someone, and I make that comment more due to the state of the journalism industry than the job itself. Papers like The Robesonian used to be great places where you went and paid your dues by working hard for little pay and learning a ton. You did that for a couple of years and the pay off would be a gig at a bigger shop (or the knowledge that you really didn't like journalism).

But with the industry basically caving in, I feel like a young person who takes a job at The Robesonian or other papers similar to it are going through a lot of heartache that ultimately won't pay off in a better gig at a bigger paper. No one should ever want to stay at a shop like The Robesonian very long. But with the pool of jobs shrinking, it's becoming less likely that the experience one might get at The Robesonian — and I thought the writers who worked under me learned a lot and were well prepared for something bigger and better — will yield the results it did, say, 10 years ago when jobs were more plentiful.

And if I were giving my opinion to a young reporter, I would say that it's not worth it...Unless they are completely committed to making a go of it in this industry.

PM me if you guys want any more information.

 

What he said...