Two openings, SE and writer, Gainesville, Ga.

Company: The Times
Position: Sports reporter
Location: Gainesville, Georgia
Job Status: Full-time
Salary: $25,000 to $30,000
Ad Expires: October 26, 2006
Job ID: 683632


Description:
The Times in Gainesville, Ga., has an immediate opening for a talented, experienced sports writer who loves writing about local sports.
This position is an ideal opportunity for a young writer looking to shine by covering mostly high school sports. We cover athletic programs at 10 area high schools as well local and state colleges, Lake Lanier rowing and paddling events, auto racing and other local-interest sports. The successful applicant should be a self-starter who can generate story ideas and "own" the beat, while also working as dedicated team member in a progressive newsroom. Knowledge of AP style is a must. Experience with copy editing and page design is desired. Knowledge of Adobe In-Design page layout system is a plus.

Schedule requires night and weekend work. We offer paid vacation, benefits and 401K profit sharing. The Times, a seven-day daily with a circulation of 24,000, is a Georgia Press Association General Excellence Award winner. We are located in fast-growing Hall County one hour north of Atlanta on beautiful Lake Lanier. Salary is based on experience. Send cover letter, resume, six to eight clips and five references to: Keith Albertson, Managing Editor at: kalbertson@gainesvilletimes.com or P.O. Box 838 Gainesville, GA 30503


Company: The Times
Position: Energetic sports editor
Location: Gainesville, Georgia
Job Status: Full-time
Salary: Negotiable
Ad Expires: October 26, 2006
Job ID: 683623


Description:
SPORTS EDITOR The Times in Gainesville, Ga., has an immediate opening for a talented, energetic sports editor to lead a department dedicated to community sports coverage.
The ideal candidate is an energetic self-starter with a passion for local sports. We cover athletic programs at 10 area high schools as well local and state colleges, Lake Lanier rowing and paddling events, auto racing and the Atlanta Falcons, who train in our county. Must be extremely organized and a good planner who can look not only at what's going into tomorrow's paper but also long-term to set the agenda for the type of stories that should be covered by a staff that includes three full-time writers, a part-time clerk and several stringers. Must be a visual thinker who can design strong, local-oriented pages by combining good stories, strong photos and exciting headlines. Requirements include strong copy editing and page design, knowledge of AP style, and good news judgment. Knowledge of Adobe In-Design page layout, Photoshop and Illustrator systems a plus.

If you are talented, enthusiastic and love newspapers, you might be a good fit in our newsroom. Schedule requires night and weekend work. We offer paid vacation, benefits and 401K profit sharing. The Times, a seven-day daily with a circulation of 24,000, is a Georgia Press Association General Excellence Award winner. We are located in fast-growing Hall County one hour north of Atlanta on beautiful Lake Lanier. Interviews will begin immediately and continue until the position is filled. Salary is based on experience. Send cover letter, resume and five references to: Keith Albertson, Managing Editor at: kalbertson@gainesvilletimes.com or P.O. Box 838 Gainesville, GA 30503



If the writers job can get up to 30K, would the SE's job likely be around 35K? Also, why two openings? Are they cleaning house? New publisher?

 

Definitely not a new publisher. Unless something drastic has happened there since mid-July.

The current publisher has been a friend of mine for more than 20 years. Visited with him and his wife this summer in Canton, Ga., in fact.

Probably not the easiest guy to work for, but then, I've never worked for him before. Mrs. PD did at one point, however, and says he was a hard-ass. Of course, that was when they were both in Advertising sales.

 

The ME, Albertson, is good, good people, once you get past the old man's bright, shiny exterior.

PM me for details on this gig.

 

I'm curious to find out what happend to the SE. I believe he has only been there a little over a year and for the Gainesville Times to lose two sports people during football season can't be good.
I know the SE took some heat from readers about the way he or didn't do things, so anyone interested might be weary of having to deal with parents complaints.
I don't think Gainesville turns out a lot of good teams, unless you count Buford, which is on the border of Hall/Gwinnett County.

 

Actually, Gainesville HS has a great football program, for what it's worth. Haven't won a state title in a long, long time, but they win a helluva lot more than they lose. 10+-win seasons have been the norm lately. They've also got a really nice stadium, and the community is pretty big into it on Friday nights.

Not that any of that makes the job better necessarily. Just saying Buford's certainly not the only excellent football program in the Gainesville area.

 

Plus, they've got a great nickname.

 

HS sports there is pretty strong, and the area is still growing like crazy.

There's been six baseball state champs in the last 10 years (although Gainesville's days of dominating the GHSA have been over for a while.)

The football fans like to think there's great football being played there, but it's not (Buford notwithstanding.) Gainesville's "great" football program stretches back to the 1920s and there's a ton of history there, but, honestly, the Pachyderms are just the best of a middling bunch of teams nowadays. ... City Park stadium, however, is one of the best places to watch/cover a game in the entire state. Classic football environment.

Between the lines, though, the basketball is much better -- the GHS girls won three state titles in four years in this decade, while the East Hall boys notched three in five years. Some excellent players, teams and coaches, all around. And Lanierland is really something special.

 

Gainesville is a very good area for living (away from the poultry factories). On Lake Lanier, basically 45 mins. from Atlanta via interstate and about 45 mins from Athens. High school sports are strong, and I believe there has been some opportunity for covering major college (UGA, Tech), though that may have changed. Current staff of sports writers is young, good people.
I think the writer that's been there the longest is changing fields. Not sure about the SE deal.

 

Eh, I dunno. I'm certainly not gonna spend a lot of time debating the greatness of Gainesville, Ga. high school football because, well, I'm not completely insane yet ... but they have won 11 or more games three out of the past four years, have a trip to the Dome during this decade and are undefeated so far this season. They've also got 3 region titles in the past 4 years. They struggled during the 90s, but they seem to be back now.

So you're certainly right, buck, that most of their "greatness" was a long time ago (only state championship was in 1925, and it's unofficial), but I wouldn't call them "middling" after going 13-1, 11-1, 8-4 and 11-1 the past four years.

Again, just sayin'. It doesn't really matter all that much. Not trying to start some big debate or anything.

 

I said that the 'Phants are the best of a midding group, around Hall County and NE Georgia. I didn't say that GHS itself is middling. But the whole region has very few big-name Division I prospects. Hell, the best-known area product right now is UGA's Martrez Milner, out of West Hall ... and he was a blocking receiver who caught ~20 passes in his whole HS career there. Good kid, love the family, but purely as a player he ain't done shit in Athens. Had one big game against Boise St. and one big catch against Colorado. That's it.

GHS is a good football team. But three region titles -- in that region -- ain't saying much. They're not exactly playing the Parkviews and Valdostas and Lagranges every year. The football in that area is NOT very good, not compared to the rest of the state and certainly not compared to the rest of the country. That's all I meant.

It's still a lot of fun to cover, though, as far as the job is concerned.

 

That's probably fair to say, buck. I see what you're saying now. The football gets a lot better as you work your way in toward the metro area. There's certainly a reason GHS hasn't won a state title in 80+ years.

You're right. Good call. And, yes, Gainesville's stadium is a great atmosphere to watch a game.

 

I played against Gainesville in the mid 80s; at that time they had won something like 21 of the past 26 region titles. They were the Valdosta of the mountains.

They are possibly on their way to rebuilding that kind of tradition, but from 1987 until 2002 they didn't win more than 7 games in any season.

And no football team from NE GA north of Commerce or Buford has ever won a GHSA state title.

I think the fun of covering Hall County schools, for football as least,would be that the season for them is about beating their neighbors in the region. Not many regions' schools are as close together as the Hall group.