The Advocate seeks sports page designer

The Advocate, in Baton Rouge, is searching for a sports page designer. The Advocate is the largest daily newspaper in Louisiana, and publishes editions in Baton Rouge, New Orleans and the Lafayette area.

As we expand, our Baton Rouge universal desk has become a mini-design hub for our growing state operations. We’re looking for someone who can make section fronts, especially sports, shine.

You should be a detail-oriented page designer who can work on multiple pages and editions a night and not break a sweat as deadline looms. If you can make front pages stand out by breaking out graphical elements and using typography to illustrate a story, we want you on our team!

You should have a bachelor’s degree in journalism or graphic design, or any related field, with a combination of education and work experience. Experience with InDesign, as well as knowledge of Photoshop and Illustrator a plus. Our ideal candidate can also make headlines sing and has an excellent grasp of AP style. He or she is also versatile in news and features. We’re seeking team players and someone who can manage numerous pages, stories and their time appropriately.

This position is based in Baton Rouge, the crossroads for great sports, entertainment and intriguing politics. We’re just an hour away from New Orleans and Lafayette.

Email pdfs of your best clips and why you liked them, along with a resume and cover letter — or a link to your website with the same information — to Executive News Editor Jennifer Brown at jbrown@theadvocate.com.

FYI:
Jen Brown is on the News-side, and she'll sign off on the hire. Joseph Schiefelbein is the executive sports editor, and you will be working primarily with/for Joe and with his team.

 

I interviewed here few years ago. I was quite impressed and may consider applying again.

How quickly you looking to hire?

 

There's always plenty of work to be done, so, if we're happy we've got the right person, we'll be happy to get on down the road.

 

Can't speak for anyone else, but I personally would need to move pretty quick, as I would have to enroll my children in school.

And from your perspective, football season being around the corner

 

Yes, on both counts. Football never stopped, but it starts with SEC Media Days, which means the package we have tomorrow (and the USFL).

 

Is this purely the print product or will there be some digital responsibilities?

 

It's both, as anything is these days. Our online desk friends help out a lot and our writers have freedom and do their thing, but our sports desk guys jump in plenty as well. And any ideas on the digital front are always welcome. ... We're all integrated now, just like anybody else. ... We've been recognized as APSE Top 10 in website the past two years (and another APSE Top 10 for our NOLA version this past year as well), so -- like any shop -- this is certainly vital to us. Everybody pitches in

 

Having said all that, what I'd like to see from this position -- on the print side -- is someone to define our look, which I know we've gotten better at in the past three years, but I'm always looking for more, for better. ... So, primarily for this position, I need someone with a print vision (and, yes, during the editing process, there will be times to pitch in for the digital product). ... We're trying to expand on the print side, and we've done this in the past few years. So, making sure we are working on the best quality print product -- and tending to each of our three different sections -- is absolutely vital to us.

 

Sounds like a grade A primo spot. If I wouldn't have recently taken a position, I would have gone after this. Sounds like a great desk gig FWIW

 

To add a little bit about what it's like to work at The Advocate...

The company is unique in many ways. Be sure to do your research about the newspaper situation in this state, particularly in New Orleans. But we are growing. Our NOLA edition every day is continuing to add subscribers frustrated by what the Times-Picayune can (and cannot) deliver. In the physical sense, we're growing, slated to move into a new office (built for us adjacent to our press, also a recent upgrade) later this year. And as far as sports is concerned, we have been able to bring in the type of talent that any paper our size would envy.

That said, as it pertains to this job, bring your lunch pail -- you'll need it. I'm biased but, for our size, I believe we are the best sports section in the South (the awards Joe has led us in the past few years would argue the same), and we might be the biggest, too, if you count up the pages we're punching out each week. Football -- particularly LSU, but very much the Saints and Louisiana-Lafayette, too -- is a year-round obsession, and our sections reflect that. Be prepared to encounter an engaged readership that is paying attention to what's in the paper -- and honestly cares about it, too.

If anyone has any questions that they're not comfortable directing at Joe, feel free to shoot me a private message.