sportswriter/copy editor, Key West Citizen

From journalismjobs.com:

Do you want to spend your days at the beach snorkeling, fishing, diving and sunning? How about your nights playing a major role in putting out the Florida Keys’ only daily sports section? The Key West Citizen is seeking a highly motivated sportswriter/copy editor. The job is two-fold, and it’s a tough but rewarding one. We’re looking for someone who can take control of putting out the sports section a few nights a week. Design. Editing. Headline writing. Putting the section to bed. It’s all you. The other three or four shifts will be spent as a sportswriter covering people and events in the Florida Keys. We take our prep sports seriously here, and so do the locals. The Key West High School baseball team is nationally recognized and the athleticism and speed found in other sports is unmatched throughout the country. The cost of living is high, but the rewards for living in the Florida Keys are higher. At least two years daily newspaper experience is preferred and proficient knowledge of InDesign is a must. Send a cover letter, resume, three to five of your best sports writing clips and three to five of your best page design clips to the address below or e-mail to Sports Editor Ralph Morrow at rmorrow@keysnews.com. We’ll be looking to move fast on this, so send your clips today. Only applicants who send package of clips via e-mail or regular mail will be seriously considered for the position. No phone calls, please. Ralph Morrow, Sports Editor, The Key West Citizen 3420 Northside Dr. Key West, FL 33040

 

Ralphie! I thought you left the Keys. What are you still doing there? I'm at the PBPost now. Love Florida! Be back to KWest next August (now that I'm a local, I only go during local times of season. LOL)

 

Ralph just couldn't stay away... This was my first job out of college and I loved every second of it, especially the month-long spring break in March. The Conchs (aka the locals) can take awhile to get used to because they are a tad rabid about their high school teams. The only other downer is the long drives up and down to cover games in Miami. Yeah, it's pretty, but you almost wish Key Deer were extinct when you have to go 35 through Pine Key. The job post isn't kidding that the sports, especially on KW, are well above average. The baseball team is full of talent with a great game-day atmosphere that I still think about. If you're fresh from college and can afford/understand living in a small-bedroom place for $800 a month, this gig is for you. The job paid enough that I could afford living costs and still have plenty of fun. I think my liver still sits in a chair at Fogarty's...

 

The last thread on a Key West opening:

http://www.sportsjournalists.com/forum/threads/38319/

 

Had a friend leave the news side a couple of years ago to try to get on a fishing boat...... He now lives in Dallas working for a PR company.
He didn't like it there because of the boss, but he was also kind of a douche.

 

Just wondering ... who's leaving? They have a small sports staff. Or has the person already left?

The key differences in living on Cayo Hueso and other places are housing (it's an island, space is at a premium, so costs are exorbitant) and consumer costs (say, 10 percent above the mainland).

I applied a couple of years ago for a position which got zero-budgeted, but I think we've all has that happen at this point. The paper itself is nothing special; in fact, its A-section inside pages are none too impressive. FYI: The Citizen routinely runs roundups of beer-league softball and other adult rec leagues to go along with the expected youth-league sports. John Kent Cooke, son of the late Redskins owner, bought the Citizen from Lord Thomson with his inheritance.

Plenty of opportunities for outdoor recreation, if that's what you're into (except hunting, unless you're hunting bonefish) --- making their decision to eliminate their outdoor editor and section coverage not just strange but downright questionable, if not myopic. And if you absolutely can't live without a bar scene, KW's goes all night long. 8)

Whoever gets this job should strongly consider purchasing a 50cc motor scooter for getting around town --- half the population already has one and they're common rentals for tourists. Parking, like housing, is at a premium and you can park a scooter just about anywhere on the island; speed limits on the island are all 35mph and under.

 

A couple of solo desk shifts a week and three or four other shifts writing? Sounds like a lot of work. Key West may be nice but I like my days off.

 

Just guessing here, but I'd bet the schedule would vary a bit. Some weeks you may have three desk shifts and two writing shifts. Other weeks, one desk and four writing.

I have no knowledge of this paper, so maybe I'm completely wrong.