Sportswriter/Designer/Copy Editor, Eau Claire Leader-Telegram

Company: Leader-Telegram
Position: WANT A GREAT SPORTS JOB?
Location: Eau Claire, Wisconsin
Job Status: Full-time
Salary: Negotiable
Ad Expires: September 15, 2006
Job ID: 621558
Website: http://www.leadertelegram.com

Description:
SPORTS NUT WANTED -- The Leader-Telegram in Eau Claire, a mid-sized daily in west-central Wisconsin, seeks a full-time reporter/copy editor/page designer for its Sports Department. Main job duties will include the production of a four- to 12-page section several nights a week and game coverage and feature writing. Our four-person staff dedicates its coverage to 11 high school conferences, two NCAA Division III universities and a Northwoods League baseball team in the summer. The qualified applicant will have a college degree in a related field and writing, reporting and layout experience. Knowledge of Quark Express and Adobe Photoshop is a plus, but a good eye for design and the ability to write on deadline is a must. Please send a cover letter, resume, layout samples, game stories and features by April 14 to Managing Editor Doug Mell, P.O. Box 570, Eau Claire, WI, 54702. No phone calls.

They must really not need anyone if they are accepting apps until April.........

 

I'm sure they'll get a pile of good applicants for this one, assuming there are any "sports nuts" out there looking for work.

 

(sarcasm font) Couldn't agree more Vic.

I'm thinking of starting a former LT SE support group. Hi, my name is .... and I was the SE in Eau Claire for .... months.

 

The SE job in Eau Claire has been passed around like Paris Hilton.

 

"Want a GREAT sports job?"

 

I've always wanted a mediocre one, personally.

 

STOP YELLING AT ME!

 

Like Paris Hilton, except without the money.

Vic can give accurate numbers on this one, but what is it now, five sports editors in four years?

 

I met with former SE Eric Page for an interview back in March, and he seemed like a good guy. But I got a better offer and took it.

Now I'm glad I did.

 

The new SE, who is being promoted from within, will be the fifth since September 2004. One was a total disaster ... three moved on to better papers.

There have been 17 different full-timers that have come through the four-man staff since the spring of 2001. Several have left the business ... several are at larger papers. One former SE is at the Pioneer Press, another is at the North County paper in San Diego, another is in Terre Haute (Ind.), another in Rochester (Minn.) and the latest is heading to the Quad-City Times.

If you're young and looking for a place to build a good clips file, it's as good as any place you'll go out of school. There are opportunities to cover Wisconsin football and the Packers. It's a good prep scene, there are two DIII universities and a Northwoods League baseball team in the summer. Upper management is a pain in the ass, but the good news is you'll rarely have to see them. It's common for the sports reporters to go months without seeing or speaking to the managing editor or editor. The staff members all are 24-25 and have great chemistry within the department.

The pay is great in a city with a very low cost of living and high quality of life. Think 28-30k and extremely affodable housing. Being a college town, there is plenty for a recent grad to do. It's also just over an hour to the Twin Cities and just over two hours to Madison.

This paper has developed a bad reputation because of all the turnover. Some of it's true, a lot of it isn't. Bottom line: you see the ads that ask for two years of experience at a daily newspaper and wonder what they're looking for ... they're looking for someone who has put in two years working his or her ass off at a paper like this. If you're at a paper comparable in size and think the grass will be greener in Eau Claire, it won't. But if you're a part-timer at a paper or fresh out of school, Eau Claire is a great place to gain the experience you'll need to land the job you want.

PM me if you have any specific questions.

 

I would never discourage someone from taking any position, you have to get clips somewhere, and often times, one person's trash is another person's treasure.

But since the stats (seven SE's since '00, 17 staffers in and out since '01) are already out there, let's just say this has been a lot of people's trash.

Only one of those 17 was fired from the paper, all others left of their own volition.

While some have moved up in the biz, several others have moved down or moved out entirely -- including some talented folks who had their first exposure to the biz via this place and got completely disillusioned because of the way things are handled there. Most of them are successful in other fields.

Eau Claire is a fun town (though likely a bit isolated for many people) and perpetually on those Best Places To Live lists.

Have your eyes wide fucking open going into this. There's a reason why L-T job openings perpetually fly by like the background animation in the Flinstones, and it goes well beyond the usual turnover newspaper staffs with young writers often deal with.

The numbers don't lie.

 

Bottom line: You see this ad and hear the history and you run for the hills.