Sports writer, Williamsport (Pa.) Sun-Gazette

I remember we had quite a thread a couple years ago when the SE's job was open, before Brigandi was hired. Something about the old SE leaving to be a beer salesman or something.

Anyway, feel free to add comments.

Fresh meat from jjobs.com:
The Williamsport (Pa.) Sun-Gazette, a 30,000 daily, 35,000-Sunday circulation newspaper in northcentral Pennsylvania, seeks a full-time sports staff member comfortable writing a feature story on a high school player one day, covering a college basketball game the next night, and working a desk shift the next night. The Sun-Gazette covers 24 high schools, six colleges, a minor-league baseball team and the Little League World Series. We’re looking for someone who can only report on those institutions, but someone who can find a compelling story beyond them to wind up on A-1 once in a while. Since nearly half of your time will be spent on desk and pagination, QuarkXPress ability is needed. Please send a resume and work samples to Ben Brigandi, sports editor, at bbrigandi@sungazette.com. Newspaper experience is preferred, but strong entry-level candidates are welcome. Williamsport Sun-Gazette 252 West Fourth Street Williamsport, PA 17701 570-326-1551, ext. 3127

 

I seem to recall that this paper had an opening not that long ago. They certainly cover a wide area. A 65-mile stretch of U.S. 15 up to the New York State border is the spine of the coverage area. Not very many people, but one of the prettiest drives on the East Coast.
Paper isn't the prettiest, its peers in Sunbury and Bloomsburg are better designed and win more awards, but this isn't a bad stop.

 

I thought the old Se before Ben moved to the dark side as a city editor type?

Maybe there was one in between.

The previous opening, I am pretty certain, was the result of a guy getting a gig at the CDT in State College .. a step up.

So who left now?

 

Sun-Gazette has done a redesign recently -- recently being sometime in the past couple years. It looks a lot better than it used to.

And you never know, an Altoona part-timer (they have some good ones) might be in line for this, too.

 

Why not go after the sports editor from LH. They are both owned by Ogden.

 

Altoona also is owned by Ogden.

Also factor in Lewistown here, another Ogden paper. The two guys there, Jimmy Johnson and Dan Graybill, are good writers. Jimmy's been in Lewistown a couple years, so he may be looking to move up.

And maybe the Lock Haven dude enjoys being his own boss in Lock Haven? Something to be said for that.

 

Seems like a decent place. What are applicants looking at in terms of pay scale? $20K? $25-30K?

OT: While I've never seen the Sun-Gazette, I grabbed a copy of the Bloomsburg Press-Enterprise during a recent road trip...Nice, clean presentation, along with a helluva weekly prep football tab.

 

Very low 20s would be my guess, without any inside info.

 

Making my way from Removo to Williamsport after covering a basketball game in the winter ... it sends chills up my spine thinking about it.

 

if i had to guess, considering the circ., id say high 20s and maybe low 30s. anyone know who owns this paper?

 

Ogden, which is why it'll be low 20s. Also consider the fact that the cost of living there is very low.

 

I will out myself as a former staffer at the Sun-Gazette, who changed jobs right after the Little League World Series this summer. I believe they technically replaced my position, but this may be them finally replacing a guy who left a few months before me, and going back up to five full-timers.

Ben is a great guy to work for, and the rest of the guys on the sports staff are great to work with too. The management cuts corners everywhere they can, and is laughably frustrating to work for. The pay is crap, but so is the cost of living. I had a 900 square-foot apartment about five minutes from the ofice that cost less than $450/month. The guess of low $20s is right on.

Ben and everyone try as hard as they can to cover as much as they can as well as they can. There are a ton of high schools to cover, including some upwards of an hour away from Williamsport. Lycoming football is pretty big-time (for D-III), and I got to do some Bucknell hoops here and there last year. Not sure what the status of the minor league baseball beat is. The guy who left before me had it for a few years, and then I did it this past summer. But that's not a bad gig at all, and it just became a Phillies affiliate.

They put together an impressive weekly football tab, and of course, 10 days of strong wall-to-wall coverage from the Little League World Series. There is a lot of freedom to go with your own story ideas and write columns if you have a good idea.

I spent 15 months there right out of college, and really did learn a lot, not only about my career but about myself, considering I was a born-and-bred suburbanite living in small-town, U.S.A. It was a positive experience overall. If you're willing to live on your own in the middle of nowhere, or if you're used to small-town America, you could do much worse right out of school or for your first full-time job.

Feel free to message me with any specific questions.