High school sports reporter -- (Muncie, Ind.) Star Press

Is writing a game story what drives you? Is the challenge of covering high school sports, doing it on deadline night in and night out and doing it in a new, compelling way each time what makes you tick?

If so, this is the job for you.

The Star Press seeks an experienced lead high school sports writer to maintain a longstanding tradition of reliable, compelling sports coverage while at the same time push boundaries to draw new audiences in new ways.

Covering a five-county area of East Central Indiana, The Star Press has 18 high schools in its footprint, giving the lead high school sports writer plenty to keep track of. Our area has a rich history of basketball and volleyball success, and the football here is often strong. With so many schools, the feature and enterprise story possibilities are endless, and so is the volume of big games.

That will be the primary focus for this writer: the big game. What’s the event everyone is talking about, is focused on, and is looking forward to? This reporter will devote his/her primary focus on that, and do so with a digital-first mindset that relies on social media as a marketing tool not only for expanding readership but growing and developing a community dependence on our expertise.

Requirements:

• Bachelors in journalism
• Professional sports reporting experience
• A willingness to be aggressive and open using Facebook and Twitter to communicate with readers is a must.
• Preferred applicants will have some video and, perhaps, some experience shooting still photos of games while also covering.

If you have an outgoing personality and are willing to be the face, the expert, of everything high school sports in our community, this is the job you've been looking for. We want a journalist we can market. We want a journalist who wants to market him or herself. And most of all we want a journalist who gets excited about high school sports coverage and wants to do that in Muncie, IN.

What we offer: As a part of Gannett Co., Inc., the nation's largest media and marketing solutions company, we offer a dynamic, community-focused environment where individuals are rewarded for exceptional performance. We offer competitive salaries and benefits, including health care, dental and vision coverage, flexible spending account, 401(k), paid vacation time, personal and sick leave, and tuition reimbursement. Pre-employment drug testing and background screening are required.

Career Opportunities: High School Sports Reporter (66441)

 

Assuming this post is different than this one?

 

Yes. The department has a preps and preps features reporter.

This is my shop. Feel free to send any questions my way.

 

Former coworker got their preps features gig a few months ago.

 

Both Muncie and nearby Anderson have been on a downward slide in recent years, with both cities going from three city district high schools to one, but living there isn't bad if you get a place on the Ball State side of town. People do pay attention to preps there -- especially basketball -- although nowhere near the intensity that was had during Indiana's single-class era. The city has a little bit of a nightlife to it, mainly at Ball State and to a lesser extent downtown. And if you need a big-city fix, you can be in Indy's Castleton neighborhood in less than an hour. The paper was bought by Gannett in 2000 from Central Newspapers (the Pulliam family) in the same sale that included the Indy Star and the Arizona Republic. I don't see much of that paper's work anymore, but what sports puts out seems to be solid.

 

Any updates?