Alabama football beat writer

JournalismJobs.com - Job Listing - Seeking Alabama Football Beat Writer

This will probably start out part-time, but it will become a full-time beat writer position out of Tuscaloosa. Feel free to message me for further details. I'd be happy to answer any questions.

 

So it's a part-time freelance gig that requires a degree and two years' experience?

 

It's a part-time freelance gig that will at some point in the intermediate future turn into a full-fledged beat writer job covering Alabama football, boots on the ground in Tuscaloosa.

 

What's the thought process there? Save a little money till the guy is full-time? A pseudo-trial run to see if the reporter is actually good?

Not being snippy -- genuinely curious.

 

Has anybody checked with rcsoxfan or DJDennisOU to see if they will be applying for this job?

 

Great question. I'll try to answer in a way that explains it without revealing too much of the business side that could potentially displease the owners.

We've got to get better at covering individual teams, especially the ones with the largest fan bases in the SEC. Eventually, I foresee SDS hiring multiple full-time beat writers. Probably not ever one for all 14 teams. But schools like Georgia and Tennessee. Alabama obviously is the first move there, all else being equal.

I'm not able to hire someone full-time right now. I am very confident I will be able to at some point in the not-so-distant future. In the interim, I still want to find someone to cover Alabama for us and upgrade our coverage there. To me, it makes sense to make the best of those circumstances. The pseudo-trial run is a byproduct rather than the driving reason, but hey -- why not use that? And it also gives me something legitimate to sell to a candidate.

We're not going to attract someone from AL.com or someone already on the beat full-time to the current offering. But if I were a little younger, I could see where this would be an attractive opportunity to work myself into a full-time beat job competing with all the big boys.

Make sense?

 

It seems like SEC Country or whatever is doing the same thing. Should be interesting.

 

The worst job in the country is any job that requires covering Nick Saban.

Good luck, though. I'm sure there are plenty of eager beavers who'll jump at the chance. Just not me.

 

Why are you so confident you will be able to hire someone in the not so distant future if you can't afford to hire somebody right now? No guarantees, just to sweeten the pot and make it possible for a legitimate reporter to apply? If so confident, why not hire a full-time reporter right now?

 

I do feel confident. I would be very glad to delineate our plan in much greater detail to any legitimate candidate. And we may end up hiring away a full-time reporter from another gig when the time comes. But this initial person will have an opportunity first.

 

I'm from Alabama, I live in Birmingham and an Alabama grad and I've applied for freelance positions before with SDS and never heard a word back.

 

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