Sports writer, Albany, Ga. ...

[DannyAller]

Hi, everyone. This is Danny Aller, sports editor of The Albany (Ga.) Herald newspaper, an award-winning 25,000 circulation daily located in Southwest Georgia.

We're going to have a sports writing position hit the job boards any moment now, but I wanted to open the thread and both offer some insight (beyond the brief ad) and provide contact information for anyone who may have questions. This way anyone who is interested can get a jump on it. Plus, we're also looking to get someone in here fairly quickly so whoever we hire can have most of the summer (when it's a bit slower) to get brought up to speed and settle in comfortably.

We're hiring for the job vacated by longtime Herald sports writer Scott Chancey, who -- as some of you know -- has been with us for eight years and will be tough to replace. Scott was recently hired as the sports editor in Greenwood, S.C. --- so many congrats to him!

A little about what the position/beat entails:

** The person in this position will cover primarily our five local colleges --- Albany State and Georgia Southwestern (both D-II), along with Darton College, Albany Tech and Andrew College (all JUCOs) --- as well as reporting/tracking news from any of our four major universities our readers care most about: Georgia, Georgia Tech, Auburn and Florida State. We have many local athletes from our area who play for these four schools, not to mention the overwhelming general interest in their major sports teams, which lends itself to feature opportunities, notebooks and game coverage. The primary responsibility, however, is the five local colleges and their teams, most of which are highly competitive each year in both their respective conferences and nationally. Darton, especially, in the last few years has made a multitude of splashes at the NJCAA National Championships in golf, soccer, softball, baseball and wrestling.

*** This writer will also help out from time-to-time covering high schools, of which we have 24 (mixed between public and private). High schools will be the primary beat of our other sports writer, but because of the vast area our paper reaches in Southwest Georgia, it's not a beat one person can do alone. Or at least not up to the standards our readers have come to expect. The Herald's sports staff, like many newspapers across the country, lost a full-time sports position a year and a half ago, and these days is comprised of myself, two full-time writers, two heavily contributing part-timers and a stable of great freelancers. When we lost the position, we made adjustments, moved some folks around and --- to be honest --- we really haven't lost a step in the award-winning section/content this paper has become known for now for over a decade. As many of you know, our business hasn't gotten any easier recently, but a team effort can often make amazing things happen.

*** Aside from using the wire for most national news, there is also some national coverage done by our local sports staff, whether localizing a mainstream story or otherwise. And it's not limited to stories just on local Southwest Georgia athletes who are now starring in the NFL, NBA, MLB or pro golf, which we have many. Whether it's a trip to the Braves (spring training, usually), the Masters, the Daytona 500 or an ACC/SEC football game, these are all areas that we have traditionally covered. Naturally, this has been scaled back some in the last year but the opportunities to work on national stories are still certainly there.

*** Having design/layout/copy editing experience is a HUGE plus here. This position is 80% writing, 20% layout/design/copy editing, meaning four days of the week will be spent writing/reporting with generally one day of desk work mixed in. Our layout program (InDesign) and story-filing/wire system (Scoop) are both very easy to learn and use, so previous experience is not a must --- but a definite bonus if you have it. During the week, our section can be as big as six pages, or as small as three. Sundays are generally 8 to 10. And our nightly deadline is 11:45 p.m.

*** Salary is always negotiable and will be based primarily on experience level.

Well ... that's about it. Hopefully this insight helps. And I'll be happy to answer any additional questions anyone has about the job/area. Just email me at: [email protected].

And for those already interested, just send over your resumes with five writing/design clips and a list of references to the same address, or you can mail them to me at: 126 North Washington Street, Albany, Ga., 31707

 

[Shifty Squid]

Solid paper, from what I've heard. Good gig for the right person, I'm sure.

Albany's in a weird location in Georgia. It's a decent-sized town, but it's seemingly in the middle of nowhere. More than 40 miles to the nearest interstate. More than 100 miles to the closest bigger city, which is Macon (I don't think there's a bigger one closer than this). This is just to say that this is probably a moderate-sized town with a smallish-town feel that could be isolating for some. Just something to keep in mind.

 

[bydesign77]

And its pronounced more like al-BIN-ee not like the capital of new York

 

[budcrew08]

I wish every job listing had this much detail.

 

[Buckeye12]

Amen.

 

[writingump]

Every editor who puts a job posting on this site should be required to put this kind of information on here. Good job, Danny.

 

[koolbreeze]

Every editor who puts a job posting on this site should be required to put this kind of information on here. Good job, Danny.

Agreed. Well done, Danny.

 

[Mark2010]

Yep, agreed. Very good spot for someone who wants life in the deep south with the sports mix that it brings.

 

[Dr. Van Nostrand]

And its pronounced more like al-BIN-ee not like the capital of new York

I always thought it was pronounced all-BEN-ee.

 

[bydesign77]

Bin or Ben I guess

 

[deskslave]

Solid paper, from what I've heard. Good gig for the right person, I'm sure.

Albany's in a weird location in Georgia. It's a decent-sized town, but it's seemingly in the middle of nowhere. More than 40 miles to the nearest interstate. More than 100 miles to the closest bigger city, which is Macon (I don't think there's a bigger one closer than this). This is just to say that this is probably a moderate-sized town with a smallish-town feel that could be isolating for some. Just something to keep in mind.

Depends on your definition of major city, really. If you consider Columbus a major city, it's a little closer than Macon, as is Tallahassee. But they're all more or less two hours. And Columbus sucks.

From a high-school sports perspective -- which is less relevant to this job, but not irrelevant -- Albany's always been a stronger basketball town than a football town, unusually for Georgia.

 

[novelist_wannabe]

While Albany isn't where perennial powerhouses are located in football, it's not unusual for coverage area teams to go deep into the playoffs. I've said this before though: That's less important than your working environment, of which I know little. Just know the guy who's leaving, and he's salt of the earth. I'll also say this: If you're a suburban person used to metro/industrial culture, this will probably carry some new experience with it, though perhaps less so covering colleges than in covering preps.

 

[Shifty Squid]

Solid paper, from what I've heard. Good gig for the right person, I'm sure.

Albany's in a weird location in Georgia. It's a decent-sized town, but it's seemingly in the middle of nowhere. More than 40 miles to the nearest interstate. More than 100 miles to the closest bigger city, which is Macon (I don't think there's a bigger one closer than this). This is just to say that this is probably a moderate-sized town with a smallish-town feel that could be isolating for some. Just something to keep in mind.

Depends on your definition of major city, really. If you consider Columbus a major city, it's a little closer than Macon, as is Tallahassee. But they're all more or less two hours. And Columbus sucks.

From a high-school sports perspective -- which is less relevant to this job, but not irrelevant -- Albany's always been a stronger basketball town than a football town, unusually for Georgia.

Ah, good call on Tallahassee. Didn't even think about them. They're roughly the same distance as Macon, but yes, they are slightly closer. And you're certainly right about Columbus, although that town is a bit more convenient to get to/from than is Albany. Doesn't change the fact that the place sucks.

 

[Floyd]

If you want details on this job -- or Albany -- I'll be happy to pass along my experiences.

Rather than get into the details here though, I'll simply re-post what I wrote when the last job was posted (way way back in November)...

http://www.sportsjournalists.com/forum/threads/74363/

I debated whether or not to write this, and I'm not sure I made the right decision, so Moddy, if you feel the need to zap this post, I certainly won't hold it against you.

Most critiques, I can live with. But there's just something about having my integrity called into question that eats at me.

I posted my opinion about this job on this thread a few days ago with the hope that young journalists would avoid a bad situation. It is a situation I know well, having worked through some of it, and having stayed in close contact with others who stayed well after I left. I also have spent the past several years working closely with other young journalists and have seen how difficult this industry is, and getting off on the wrong foot can end a career before it's even begun. It's an issue close to my heart.

My criticisms of this job were simple: The sports editor there has created an unhealthy work environment and the coverage at the paper (at least in sports) has deteriorated in recent years.

I'll admit, in my original post I may have been a bit too colorful in my critique in order to drive home my point. For that, I apologize.

What happened in the days after my original post was this:

The sports editor, managing editor and publisher of the paper spent the next three days researching my screen name to identify who posted the comment. The managing editor then called my current editor repeatedly to try to get me in trouble with him and force an apology. The publisher contacted me to inquire as to why I was trying to hurt his newspaper. When I responded with my concerns, the managing editor sent me an email calling me a liar, a coward and saying that I had no integrity as a journalist or a person. Oh, and I was told I was "too thin skinned to work in this business." The irony of someone who spent three days reacting to a message board post calling me thin-skinned almost made the whole incident worthwhile.

In any case, I was assured that my comments about this job opening were made because of a personal vendetta rather than my honest assessment of the situation, and I believe the fallout from my comments have certainly driven home that point. Obviously this is a pleasant working environment where the management is so concerned with putting out a quality product that they would never waste three days investigating and attempting to punish anonymous message board posts. They certainly did prove me wrong.

In any case, this will most definitely be my last post on the subject, and as I said, a large part of me just wanted to drop it altogether. But as a journalist, the only thing I truly feel I must protect at all costs is my integrity, and so I find it particularly difficult to allow things like this to go unaddressed.

Take from it what you will, and good luck to anyone who still sees fit to apply.

Signed without anonymity,

David Hale

 

[MonsterLobster]

Solid paper, from what I've heard. Good gig for the right person, I'm sure.

Albany's in a weird location in Georgia. It's a decent-sized town, but it's seemingly in the middle of nowhere. More than 40 miles to the nearest interstate. More than 100 miles to the closest bigger city, which is Macon (I don't think there's a bigger one closer than this). This is just to say that this is probably a moderate-sized town with a smallish-town feel that could be isolating for some. Just something to keep in mind.

Depends on your definition of major city, really. If you consider Columbus a major city, it's a little closer than Macon, as is Tallahassee. But they're all more or less two hours. And Columbus sucks.

From a high-school sports perspective -- which is less relevant to this job, but not irrelevant -- Albany's always been a stronger basketball town than a football town, unusually for Georgia.

Solid paper, from what I've heard. Good gig for the right person, I'm sure.

Albany's in a weird location in Georgia. It's a decent-sized town, but it's seemingly in the middle of nowhere. More than 40 miles to the nearest interstate. More than 100 miles to the closest bigger city, which is Macon (I don't think there's a bigger one closer than this). This is just to say that this is probably a moderate-sized town with a smallish-town feel that could be isolating for some. Just something to keep in mind.

Depends on your definition of major city, really. If you consider Columbus a major city, it's a little closer than Macon, as is Tallahassee. But they're all more or less two hours. And Columbus sucks.

From a high-school sports perspective -- which is less relevant to this job, but not irrelevant -- Albany's always been a stronger basketball town than a football town, unusually for Georgia.

Ah, good call on Tallahassee. Didn't even think about them. They're roughly the same distance as Macon, but yes, they are slightly closer. And you're certainly right about Columbus, although that town is a bit more convenient to get to/from than is Albany. Doesn't change the fact that the place sucks.

What's so bad about Columbus?

 

[Scrubs]

Typical military town: Strip club, tattoo joint, strip club, tattoo joint, strip club, tattoo joint

 

[MonsterLobster]

Typical military town: Strip club, tattoo joint, strip club, tattoo joint, strip club, tattoo joint

I suppose that's true if all you've ever driven is the one stretch of road that lines Fort Benning.

I prefer it over Albany, which is much smaller, and Macon, which is only slightly larger.

 

[Shifty Squid]

Typical military town: Strip club, tattoo joint, strip club, tattoo joint, strip club, tattoo joint

I suppose that's true if all you've ever driven is the one stretch of road that lines Fort Benning.

I prefer it over Albany, which is much smaller, and Macon, which is only slightly larger.

I would tend to agree with this. But that's a bit like saying you'd prefer the chick with the lazy eye to the one who weighs 600 pounds and her friend who's missing a nose. True, perhaps, but it doesn't say a whole hell of a lot.

It also sends a reminder of how many crappy medium-ish cities Georgia has: Albany, Columbus, Macon, Augusta, Valdosta. Do Atlanta, Athens and Savannah sufficiently pick up the slack? They ain't bad.

 

[Drip]

Typical military town: Strip club, tattoo joint, strip club, tattoo joint, strip club, tattoo joint

I suppose that's true if all you've ever driven is the one stretch of road that lines Fort Benning.

I prefer it over Albany, which is much smaller, and Macon, which is only slightly larger.

I would tend to agree with this. But that's a bit like saying you'd prefer the chick with the lazy eye to the one who weighs 600 pounds and her friend who's missing a nose. True, perhaps, but it doesn't say a whole hell of a lot.

It also sends a reminder of how many crappy medium-ish cities Georgia has: Albany, Columbus, Macon, Augusta, Valdosta. Do Atlanta, Athens and Savannah sufficiently pick up the slack? They ain't bad.

Georgia has only one major city - Atlanta.

 

[Shifty Squid]

Typical military town: Strip club, tattoo joint, strip club, tattoo joint, strip club, tattoo joint

I suppose that's true if all you've ever driven is the one stretch of road that lines Fort Benning.

I prefer it over Albany, which is much smaller, and Macon, which is only slightly larger.

I would tend to agree with this. But that's a bit like saying you'd prefer the chick with the lazy eye to the one who weighs 600 pounds and her friend who's missing a nose. True, perhaps, but it doesn't say a whole hell of a lot.

It also sends a reminder of how many crappy medium-ish cities Georgia has: Albany, Columbus, Macon, Augusta, Valdosta. Do Atlanta, Athens and Savannah sufficiently pick up the slack? They ain't bad.

Georgia has only one major city - Atlanta.

No question about that, I don't think.