Sports Reporter (Permian Beat Writer) - Odessa, TX

The Odessa American is a daily newspaper in West Texas in need of an Odessa Permian High School sports beat writer to cover Permian Panthers.
Reporter will primarily cover Permian football in the fall, while chipping in with other high school sports during the winter and spring seasons. Opportunities to cover Division II and Junior College sports with Texas-Permian Basin and Odessa College and Double A baseball with the Midland RockHounds will also be available. Applicants will need a bachelor's degree and one to two years of experience. Ability to work on multiple assignments throughout the week and turn around stories quickly on deadline is important. Accuracy is a must. Past design experience with Quark or InDesign is a plus, but not required. Send a resume with references and clips to sports editor Joshua Perry at jperry@oaoa.com

 

I know a guy who does preps at this shop. An insufferable lad for sure. First time I ever had a conversation with him he trashed a good friend for 10 minutes without realizing my relationship with the person. All over a silly, years-old grudge.

Regardless, I know he was miserable at his last preps job and I've heard little changed when he moved out to Permian. Take that for what it's worth.

 

If covering prep football is your thing, this is an ideal beat. The grind is comparable to that of a Division I beat and has a similar following. I covered Permian's crosstown rival, Odessa High, last year and saw it firsthand. Odessa College pumps out high-major talent in all of its sports and Division II UT-Permian Basin has decent hoops. The addition of UTPB's football team will be interesting, too. I learned a lot at this stop. Never a shortage for interesting stories in that area, lemme tell ya.

 

West Texas? No thanks.

 

Clear eyes, full hearts, can't lose.

 

Oh come on. You don't like tumbleweeds and oil wells?

 

Them jackrabbits is good eatin', too.

 

This is a solid job for someone starting out or someone on the way up. I started out at the OA back in the day, and if you want a high school beat with the workload and the scrutiny of a college beat, Permian is a great chance to make your mark. I covered Odessa High and learned a lot about covering a beat from this job. I even got to be an extra in Friday Night Lights (the movie, not the TV show). As for Odessa in general, it's not the greatest place in the world for a single guy (or girl), but there's enough to keep you entertained if you're single and there are worse places to live if you have a family.

When I worked in Odessa I was a cocky punk out of college and thought it was miserable, but looking back working at the OA was one of the better building experiences I could have had. I'm sure a lot has changed since I left (I know oil prices and rents have) but this is definitely a job worth considering.

 

Just a quick update. Our reporter gave like a month notice and isn't leaving until the end of this week. We are still reviewing and accepting applications.

 

Contrary to what folks who hate covering preps have said (crossthread), all the experiences I've had with the outgoing OA preps guy have been very pleasant. People who have worked with him think the same thing.

 

Anyone know if there's been an update on this position?

 

Is the reporter allowed to write anything critical about the team or the coach without getting run out of town? Back when I covered high school sports in the D/FW area and covered the occasional game featuring Odessa Permian, the sportswriters were as arrogant about the program's success as the fans were.