Odessa American: Searching for someone ready to work

A surprise departure has created an opening on the Odessa American sports staff and with the first day of summer practices quickly approaching for the new school year, we are looking to quickly fill this position.

This hire will have the responsibility of covering Class 6A Odessa High's football program in the fall, with all that entails (features, notebooks, columns, social media postings, etc.), along with being part of the staff's coverage of Division II UTPB, NJCAA power Odessa College and all the other sports from the 21 other high schools throughout the Permian Basin.

The ad for the position is below, with all the necessary contact information. As previously mentioned, we are looking to find the right fit in a short amount of time.

Thanks,

Lee


Social media savvy sports reporter needed for the busy Odessa, Texas, sports scene. Reporter will cover news and feature stories as well as post to Twitter, Facebook and our website. Located in the busy sports town of Odessa (home of Friday Night Lights), the Odessa American is a West Texas daily situated in a sports crazy area.

Applicants will need a bachelor's degree and one to two years experience, along with an ability to multi-task several assignments during the week, delivering quick, clean stories on deadline. If you have past design experience, with Quark or InDesign, that's a bonus, but not required, as we no longer build pages in house. Also, earlier deadlines have presented us with the challenge of having to present the stories in different ways, both in the print and digital versions of the paper. Send a resume, with references and clips, to Sports Editor Lee Scheide at lscheide@oaoa.com. Drug screening and background check are required.

 

Wow! Yet another vacancy.

 

Does the Odessa American need any UTEP writers?

 

What IS it that makes a sportswriter look at a want ad for a particular position and immediately ask if they have ANOTHER position open? First, I wouldn't want to hire you if you didn't want the position I was offering. Second, I think if the American was in the market for UTEP writers, they would have placed an ad for UTEP writers.

But maybe that's just me.

(No, it's not.)

 

The guy that replied above me was a bit of a jerk but I see his points. I’ll add another reason that the OA isn’t looking for UTEP writer: they’re 4 hours apart.

 

@Sports Barf is a troll who seems angry about the direction his life has taken.

 

Now, TSP, don't be a bit of a jerk.

 

Ah, got ya.

 

Do you guys know anyone at the Odessa American that I can contact directly about this job?

 

Don't know anyone there personally, but if you're serious about this post, I'd read the last paragraph of the OP.

 

Alas, it's dumb idealism. It's the same reason some young (or old) writers will drive two hours each way to write a gamer and sidebar as a tourist reporter at Big State U. There's always the allure of whatever is the next step on the hierarchy (I suppose news has some of that, but to a much smaller extent), plus many folks will cover a lot of college sports before ever seriously covering high schools. I imagine it's worse at a place where college or pros are king, but preps are still entry level or second job level. I'm guessing you've seen the worst of it.

I once interviewed for a job where I hoped preps could backdoor me into some college stuff. The editor was smart, too smart for that. He's seen that before countless times. Worked me to a spot where the tone in my voice gave it away. It was a place where college football was king "from Christmas morning to the next Christmas eve."

This post might just be trolling. That high school probably has tons more interest than UTEP in any context.

 

Looking at this ad, it might as well be a college gig. Notebooks, columns, features, games, sidebars. Plus with where it is, it's likely justified. Prep football is king there. My wife went to Converse Judson in San Antonio, which has a po-dunk stadium with a capacity of a mere 13,000. Oh, and Judson last year played in last year's 6A quarterfinals against Lake Travis out of Austin, a program that once had a quarterback named Baker Mayfield ...