Sports writer/paginator in Taunton, Mass.

[BYUSportsGuy]

Company: Taunton Daily Gazette
Position:
Sports Writer/Paginator
Location:
Taunton, Massachusetts
Job Status: Full-time
Salary: $20,000 to $25,000
Ad Expires:
July 16, 2009
Job ID: 1061842
Website: http://www.tauntongazette.com

Description:
SPORTS WRITER/PAGINATOR

Want to join our team? We’re seeking a sports writer with some seasoning who can cover a game just as well as writing a player profile. You’ll also be called upon to produce pages in the sports section so sound editing and pagination skills are essential. If you possess a strong work ethic, a healthy dose of enthusiasm, a great sense of humor and love to embrace challenges, then our sports staff and award-winning newspaper is the team you want to join. We’re the Taunton Daily Gazette, a daily newspaper located in the heart of Massachusetts, within 30 miles of Cape Cod, Boston and Providence, R.I. Please email your resume to Editor Dino F. Ciliberti at [email protected], or send to 5 Cohannet St., P.O. Box 111, Taunton, Mass. 02780.

 

[esport12]

When I lived in the area, my recollection is that the Daily Gazette was a decent paper for its size. Haven't been up there in a while though. But I'm not sure 25K is livable in that area... at all.

 

[Drip]

This paper is not what is used to be. There has been a lot of turmoil there. I know its a gig, but just be careful.

 

[NCWCsports]

Just a resume? No clips, pages that I've designed, or should I just assume that those should be included with the resume?

 

[BYUSportsGuy]

Sometimes papers ask for resume first, then choose a few out of those that apply to have them send clips. This has happened a few times to me lately.

 

[esport12]

Is this Gatehouse?

 

[Drip]

Is this Gatehouse?

No, Poor House. You can't even afford Ramen on that salary there.

 

[slappy4428]

BYH hasn't seen this yet, has he...

 

[Walter_Sobchak]

I can probably provide some insight here via PM.

 

[AVSE]

This paper is not what is used to be.

Pick a paper, any paper, and apply this sentence liberally.

 

[cluelesswonder]

you're not covering the boston teams, they'll get that from another gatehouse paper.

you're not covering any of the boston colleges, few care about bu or bc in taunton. maybe you'll get a bc story from gatehouse.

you're not covering providence college or the pawsox/p-bruins, since you're not that close.

there's a shot your paper could be shut down at any minute and merged into the brockton enterprise, based 15 minutes away -- wait, that won't happen, since it would require gatehouse putting you into the brockton union. so they would just shut the paper down totally and tell you to go screw.

and you have to deal with that asshole dino, who once wrote a column in his old stomping grounds (pottsville, pa, iirc) that he was stripping the sports editor of any chance of covering the eagles and was doing it himself. must enjoy the press-box buffet.

any other questions?

 

[tdonegan]

I don't know much about the shop itself but I've lived in the town next door my whole life.

25k would be livable there. You can easily find an apartment for around 500/month and under and the property values have dropped enough recently that a two bedroom runs around 230 right now.

Like every other paper in this part of MA they mostly do high school coverage. There's two high schools in the city, Coyle Cassidy and Taunton High, then there's five or so parochial schools and all the public schools that play in the area. Other than the occasional game in Martha's Vineyard or New Bedford none of the teams play more than 30 minutes away.

There's no pro coverage there, though, unless it has a real local angle. I know the Enterprise does some but if Fenton ever moves on I don't know if Gatehouse would even replace him, given their difficulties lately.

It wouldn't be bad at all for a young person starting out but I wonder if they're looking for someone more experienced. Feel free to PM if you have any questions.

 

[IanA1985]

I used to freelance for this paper a few years back. Trust me when I say this, this paper is definitely bush league at best. They owed me months and months of back pay from so many articles and the EIC there didn't even seem to care (it's the same guy by the way). He made it known that me staying on top of him to make sure I got what was owed to me was indeed putting him out. I had to actually call the Gatehouse Corporate office and go through them to get my money. Sure, it was only $500 or so, but still, they owed it to me!

 

[Good Luck Cadet]

First off, the Brockton paper is nowhere close to 15 minutes away. Second, Dino really isn't a bad guy. But with that said, Taunton is a pretty tough area and the high school sports there aren't that great. You can get by on the pay, but it surely won't be in luxury. Not sure who the SE is there right now, any ideas?

 

[cluelesswonder]

actually, i just mapped it, between the offices of both papers, and it's 16 minutes -- they're both off route 24.

secondly, i have never, ever, ever, ever heard anyone say anything nice about dino, who backstabs his sports staff and steals beats from them. are you dino? that's the only logical explanation. ask some people in pottsville what they thought of dino.

 

[JimmyHoward33]

Mapped a traffic free Rte. 24.....in other words, fantasy land

 

[ScribePharisee]

actually, i just mapped it, between the offices of both papers, and it's 16 minutes -- they're both off route 24.

secondly, i have never, ever, ever, ever heard anyone say anything nice about dino, who backstabs his sports staff and steals beats from them. are you dino? that's the only logical explanation. ask some people in pottsville what they thought of dino.

Dino must really suck.

$25K anywhere in that part of the country would suck for anything other than part-time wages.

 

[cluelesswonder]

Mapped a traffic free Rte. 24.....in other words, fantasy land

yes, many of your hypothetical drives would be in a peak traffic crunch, like, say, 6 p.m.

it's 14.5 miles door-to-door between the papers. i tossed 15 minutes out there, which is pretty accurate in non-rush-hour traffic.

this all takes away from the basic point, which is the gazette could be shut down at any point, especially if gatehouse has another big debt payment to meet. friends of mine got cut the last time that happened, in the fall, and another friend of mine got jerked around at his job as a result. i've seen it up close.

 

[tdonegan]

If you can't get to Brockton in 15 from Taunton you must be going the speed limit—which is about 15 mph too slow on 24.

 

[sgreenwell]

I lived in Warren, RI, which was about 30 minutes away on $25k - At $600 for a (crappy) single bedroom, student loan payments and occasional nights out, I just got further into debt. I can't imagine living somewhat-near for anything less than $25k, and since they're advertising it as $20k to $25k, it seems like there is a good chance that would happen.

The only time I ventured into Taunton was for some summer girls' softball tournaments. They hosted them fairly regularly at a big complex with a half-dozen fields, if I recall correctly.