I'll weigh in here: In 30 years in the ink-stained wretch biz, I've always had great jobs in highly livable places -- but the Chronicle and Bozeman are in leagues by themselves. Granted, Montana isn't for everybody, but for the right person this is a terrific opportunity.
The Chronicle is an anamoly amid all the doom and gloom on this board. In the three-plus years I was sports editor, the circulation rose from about 16,400 to just over 18,000 by the end of November. Some of the growth is a function of living in a boomtown (housing crisis? what housing crisis?), but much of it is the commitment management has to its readers and local coverage.
We cover Montana State football and men's basketball home and away; we sent three staffers to all MSU football games this past fall. In 2006, a photographer and I spent three weeks in Alaska covering a local musher in the Iditarod. The series was kind to us in the APSE contest, but more important, our readers ARE STILL talking about what the Chronicle did. After I started here in 2004, I kept waiting for the honeymoon with readers to end. It never did. I'm still amazed that positive reader comments about what we do run about 4 to 1 compared to criticisms from parents. I guess people here are too laid-back to get overly worked up over what is or isn't in the sports section.
This is a contented and productive staff, in part because it's a great place to work but also because it's a great place to live. For a copy editor, you get to play by day -- fishing, skiing, etc. -- and work by night, and yet the bars on Bozeman's lively Main Street are still open after
deadline. (Note: If you're a single guy, good luck. They don't call it Man-tana for nothin'). It's a bit spendy here, but the recreation is cheap and the pay isn't bad for an 18,000-circ paper.
Yeah, I'm leaving the biz, but it has absolutely nothing to with any flaws with the Chronicle. You'll work for a pro in Jim Cnockaert, who turned my job offer down once but now is entrenched to the point where he is the unquestioned Mr. Rodeo of Montana Journalism. New managing editor Nick Ehli is a terrific newsman with a passion for sports, a better guy and has a decent baby hook on the basketball court. New publisher Stephanie Pressly has proven open to any creative idea.
I simply had an offer I couldn't refuse, at a time when I'm ready to do something else in an area that speaks more to my passions. I'm happy to answer any other questions about the Chronicle or Bozeman, either on here or via a PM. Hang in there, folks ... sports journalism still beats working for a living.
-- Jeff Welsch
