Sports Reporter | The Montana Standard (Butte, MT)

The Montana Standard, an 8,000 circulation daily in Butte – the nation’s largest single historic district -- is seeking a sports reporter to join a three-person staff in April dedicated to covering a region with a rich sports heritage. Our new hire also will collaborate with a team of 18 staffers statewide who are building an innovative and robust new sports website (406mtsports.com).

We’re looking for someone who can unearth nuggets of compelling content for both a loyal print readership and an increasingly savvy digital audience in a hearty former mining city with a strong sports culture and a colorful personality. Two city high schools and the NAIA’s Montana Tech anchor our coverage, but our reach includes Montana Western College plus numerous small towns where sports are king. In addition, Silver Bow County is flush with people who are active year-round.

Duties include feature/game coverage, plus typically two page-trafficking shifts each week. We emphasize content that will be well read not only in the Butte area but all of Montana. Periodic coverage of events of statewide importance for 406mtsports.com papers in Billings, Missoula and Helena also comes with the job.

Social and digital media skills are essential, and the ability to take photos/video is a big plus.

Once one of the most raucous mining towns in America, Butte is reinventing itself into one of the region’s most livable communities. It is a hard-working city that also serves as a tourist destination for people who appreciate history and the wealth of outdoor activities in the surrounding mountains.

The Standard is an equal opportunity employer with an excellent benefits package that includes medical, dental, vision, paid holidays and a generous paid time off policy. Salary depends on experience. Visit our websites at www.mtstandard.com and www.406mtsports.com to see our work.

To apply go to www.mtstandard.com/workhere. Please provide clips or links to your work.

 

Just curious, Is copper still mined in the Butte area?

 

Not sure, but a little more than a decade ago, its daily circulation was almost 14,000.

 

One of the many Lee papers in Montana. May set off alarms for some.

 

I guess it was just a comedic rumor that Joe Montana was going to name his daughter Butte.

 

I once saw the Parts Unknown episode where Bourdain went to Butte. Place looks pretty hardcore.

 

Sure is. Not anywhere near the scale it used to be, but Montana Resources still has an open mine here. Also, if anyone has any questions, I’ll be one of the people you’ll be working with and I’d be more than happy to answer anything.

 

It is 8,000 now. A 40+% decline 0ver the last 10 years is pretty typical. There are papers that have lost far more than 50%.

 

Not sure about the Butte paper, but the 406mt sports conglomerate has done pretty well spreading the Big Sky and Frontier Conference coverage around to participating papers (I'm most familiar with the Helena IR and Missoulian).

I'm guessing the coverage sharing is similar with Montana big-school preps.