HS Sports Reporter for New Jersey Herald, (Newton, NJ)

From JJobs: http://www.journalismjobs.com/Job_Listing.cfm?JobID=1175286

The New Jersey Herald, Sussex County's foremost source of local news, is seeking a full-time sports reporter to cover high school sports. Candidates must be able to generate feature ideas, producing quality and quantity under deadlines. Experience with multimedia required, posting copy through our website, Twitter and Facebook. Editing and page design experience a plus.

Please send cover letter, resume and clips to Jim Dente, Sports Editor, at jdente@njherald.com.

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Anyone know about this one?

 

I worked there for two years, leaving this past December.

You will get every opportunity to write, write, write on this job. Jim Dente is a good person and a good boss.

The only downside, to me, was the cost of living in the area in relation to what you made on your paycheck every two weeks. It just wasn't enough for a single-person household (I had to live across the river in PA.)

At one time, there was a three-man sports staff with a 32-hour a week stringer, plus two part-time clerks. Needless to say, that didn't last too long in these economic times and, when I left, they were down to an editor, two writers and one clerk, with stringers doing a few games a month.

Overall, I'd give this job a thumbs up. Like I said, you get to write -- a lot. The people of Sussex County are good and the most common thing to come over the newsroom police scanner is a call for a bear in someone's backyard.

The sports aren't as competitive as areas due east: Bergen and Morris Counties, but every so often there will be a state finalist. The best sport, by far, is wrestling, and I would imagine that if someone loved to cover it and knew a lot about the sport you might get extra consideration.

Don't quote me on this one, but I'd say the payscale is anywhere from 26-31K.

Added perks:
From your desk you can see prisoners/drunks being escorted into the Sussex County jail.
Dominick's Pizza (a walk away) makes the best pie in the world.
If you're feeling frisky, there are plenty of hookers walking along Spring St. at night. (So I've heard).
The staff at the paper are friendly, nice, pros that work their butts off.
You can be in New York in about two hours in the heaviest traffic. You are also not that far from Philly, either.

Again, I recommend this one.

 

Mojo, you said that you couldn't afford to live in the area? How cheap was it in PA. What was the commute from the office?

 

$600/month in PA (in an admitted shithole in Bangor, Pa); $800-900/month in Newton, blocks from the paper.
Commute was 45 minutes. A hard 45: two lane road with lots of farms around.

 

oh my.

 

You sold me on watching drunks and picking up hookers.

 

Nothing wrong with helping a drunk when he's down and supporting the working girls. They need love too.

 

Jim Dente is a pro who's worked on a couple of larger papers and even covered the Yankees beat during their late-1970s drama. A beginner can learn a lot from him.

 

Jim Dente is one of my good friends and a real pro. Works as hard as anyone on his very small staff.
You will work long and hard on this job, get plenty of opportunity to write and be able to learn from a vet who knows this business well and is very easy to get along with.

As mojo implied, "downtown" Newton can be a very strange place.

 

Anyone hear an update on this one?

 

This one had been filled. Word is the new guy starts on Monday.