Assistant sports editor, Springdale, Ark.

Northwest Arkansas Newspapers seeks an assistant sports editor to edit and write breaking news, features and columns; produce multimedia and organize and assign coverage in an eight-person department that serves four local, daily newspapers. Applicants should have a minimum of two years sports experience at a daily newspaper, a degree in journalism or related field and a working knowledge of Associated Press style; supervisory experience a plus. This person works from our Springdale office and must be able to work nights and weekends.

Northwest Arkansas has a population of approximately 350,000 and is located in the beautiful Ozark Mountains. Home to Wal-Mart, Tyson and other business giants, the area is one of the fastest growing in the region. This area is known to be great for anyone who enjoys outdoor sports. Beaver Lake is just a few minutes away. The University of Arkansas, John Brown University, and Northwest Arkansas Community College are located within this area, as is Eureka Springs. Branson, Missouri, is approximately 2 hours away. The successful applicant must have good driving record and valid driver’s license. We offer a competitive salary and a full benefits package.

Send resume and examples of work to:

Assistant Sports Editor Position, Northwest Arkansas Newspapers, 2560 No. Lowell Road, P. O. Box 7, Springdale, AR 72765 OR E-mail: jobs@nwaonline.com (list job title in subject line)

EOE, Drug Screen Required

 

If I remember correctly, this is the company that requires you have fewer than three moving violations during the last three years as far as your driving record goes. Just something to keep in mind.

 

I'd be screwed.

 

That's a good operation up in NWA and some good people. Back when I went to school at Arkansas, I knew a lot of staffers there. Some talented writers, many of which have moved on to bigger markets.

 

Which company runs this outfit today?

 

Like, Matty, I'm solid acquaintances with some of the folks at this paper. Quality journos, good people. Whoever gets this one will get a solid staff.

 

Let me answer a few of the questions regarding this position and if you have any others, feel free to e-mail or shoot me a pm. The ASE will work with me and six other sports reporters. The company is Northwest Arkansas Newspapers, which was created last year in the merger between Stephens Media and Wehco Media. We now are 4 small dailies in Fayetteville, Springdale, Rogers and Bentonville and our content is all local, no wire. We no longer cover University of Arkansas sports, our focus is primarily preps and community sports, but we also cover the NWA Naturals minor league team every home game and the growing LPGA tournament in the fall. There are opportunities to also cover some college sports with siders, features, etc. on merit.
This position includes a lot of multimedia opportunities with videocasts, live video at sporting events, blogs, etc. There will be lots of time for enterprise reporting, which we stress. We are looking for someone who can help with coaching the staff of reporters and a network of corros. While we are a community-focused newspaper, we want to continue to do good journalism and you'll get plenty of opportunities to do outside-the-box stories, enterprise and trend pieces.
This position will include a lot of coverage of the smaller schools in the area, so you'll not be tied to a desk. The ASE and I both cover Friday night games and will alternate in the winter on basketball coverage.
The person who held this job is Kurt Voigt, who was hired by the Arkansas AP to replace Noah Trister.
That's it in a nutshell. Again, feel free to shoot me a pm or email.

 

A quick update on this one. We received a ton of outstanding applicants for this position. Thanks to everyone who sent in resumes and clips. We've started working through the stack and have conducted a couple of in-house interviews as well as some outside the company. We hope to have this position nailed down in a couple of weeks.

 

Position has been filled. Thanks to all who applied. Alex Abrams has been named the new ASE.