Yahoo! Sports/ RivalsHigh High School Sports Blogger

http://www.journalismjobs.com/Job_Listing.cfm?JobID=1168210

Rivals.com/Yahoo! Sports is looking for a talented, enthusiastic and versatile journalist who can combine a passion for high school sports and knowledge of the Internet for a new blog on RivalsHigh, our national high school web network. RivalsHigh taps into the massive appetite for high school sports, using written and video content to provide the best news, features, results and discussion of high school sports on regional and national sites.

The job is divided into three parts:

* Producer of blog posts: This new venture will be part of the Yahoo! Sports blog network (http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs), which receives about 150 million page views per month. Candidate will be responsible for surfing the web to find the most interesting/relevant high school sports-related stories. Could be about the school that is staging a 24-hour run-a-thon to raise money, the school that lost 45-0 in a baseball game, the game that was delayed when a 20-foot scoreboard came crashing to the ground, the son who broke his father’s 40-year-old record, the school that has its football team do Yoga, a legendary college coach’s advice to HS players, etc. Once found, candidate will verify information and self-publish to blog. Likely output of 20-30 posts per week.

* Creator of original content: Candidate will still have a chance to do their own full-length stories, either by further developing stories found on the web or by pitching an original idea, such as: Do off-the-rack mouthpieces really provide protection, is lacrosse taking over baseball as the leading youth spring sport, what happens when rival high schools merge, should aluminum bats be banned, how are states dealing with issue of public vs. private schools

* On-site reporter: This is not a daily or even weekly occurrence, but if there’s something big happening in your area, we want you to be there.

The ideal candidate should have a solid understanding of the types of content that are successful on the Web -- particularly to a general audience such as the one found on Yahoo.com -- and a flair for packaging and promotion to match. Candidate will program their own content, so a fluency in the web and its tools is a must, as is an interest in promoting your work on social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter.

Candidates should have experience working on content teams that operate on a 24-7 cycle (that means nights and weekends) and packaging stories, photos, and video from multiple sources. The candidate should be comfortable in an environment that blends human editorial judgment, great writing, and technology solutions.

The ideal candidate must have a strong sports journalism background and must be able to demonstrate strong writing ability. An understanding of the competitive landscape both online (blogs, other sites) and off (print and TV) is a must. As is a sense of humor.

Responsibilities include:
* Programming/updating blog
* Producing clean original content that adheres to AP style
* Identifying and aggregating stories from content partners
* Editing original and aggregated content
* Collaborating with editors at RivalsHigh
* Packaging and pitching content to the RivalsHigh editors and Yahoo! Front Page team

Requirements:
* Minimum 2 years of experience in the sports journalism industry
* Understanding of the basic principles of Web content production
* Understanding of HTML and related web authoring tools and photo editing software such as Photoshop
* Excellent verbal and written communication skills
* Working knowledge of Facebook, Twitter and other social tools
* Demonstrated ability to work under pressure, be available to work at all times and meet deadlines
* Well-versed in AP style

This is a freelance, work-from-home position that is salaried but does not include benefits. Interested applicants should send a cover letter and resume to sports-jobs@yahoo-inc.com with "RivalsHigh blog editor" in the subject line. Yahoo! Inc. is an equal opportunity employer.

 

This is odd. They use the word "freelance" and "salaried" in the same sentence.

I don't really know if this belongs in stringer help...it looks sort of like a full-time job

 

I believe the person they hire would be known as an "independent contractor." So, you get a "salary," but aren't technically an employee (no benefits).

 

It's an interesting in-between job description. Obviously, they want you to work enough where it occupies an equivalent a 40-hour week. The time investment is what I was getting at. I don't look at the stringer board a lot -- my wife would kill me if I tried to do MORE work than my regular job already calls for -- but are there are a lot of freelance jobs like this one out there? Is this a trend?

 

Like all aspects of the network, I would imagine it's work as an independent contractor.

 

I think many of the Yahoo writers operate this way.

 

anyone around here still in the running for this one? I didn't make it to the final cut. Sounds like a pretty ideal opportunity for whoever lands it.

Good luck to anyone still under consideration.

 

Was in the same boat as you, blacktitleist. I would imagine they're still interviewing the quarter/semifinalists.

For those interested:
Yahoo/Rivals has handled it well. Lot of communication back and forth.

400 or so people originally replied. They were asked to supply responses to various prompts, and supposedly 200 or so responded to that. They cut it down to about 24 or so and are working from that.

Probably a pretty diverse and talented field to choose from.

 

couldn't agree more, Eagle.

Very professional in correspondence. Came away pretty impressed at the level of communication supplied to the applicants.

I figured I would be a long-shot as primo as I anticipate this one to be, and I'm sure there are a lot of talented folks out there who still have a shot. Lots of talented folks who didn't make the final cut, either, I suspect.

 

Who was the one handling the applicants? Someone from Rivals or someone from Yahoo like Mottram?

 

Tom Bergeron was the one corresponding with the applicants and it seemed like he was the one doing the majority of reading and evaluating when it came to resumes and the sample prompts. His title is RivalsHigh Editor.