Asst. Sports Editor - DeSoto Times (Hernando, MS)

From Mspress.org ....

The DeSoto Times, located in Hernando, MS., is the oldest business and only locally-owned newspaper in DeSoto County. It is the most comprehensive, vital source of news in DeSoto County and the official newspaper of record for the county since 1839.

We are currently accepting application to the following position:Assistant Sports Editor

We are looking for you if you possess the passion, drive, experience and leadership skills to cover the best sports in north Mississippi. Our coverage area includes a professional hockey team, a nationally-ranked junior college and nine high schools.

The assistant sports editor’s responsibilities include writing and photographing sports stories, as well as editing and laying out the sports section. The successful applicant will be positioned to move into the sports editor position as our long-time sports editor transitions into retirement.

This is not an entry-level position and ideal applicants will have proven media experience with strong layout skills. Submit resume to Luke Horton via email: editor@desototimes.com or mail to: Assistant Sports Editor, DeSoto Times, 315 Losher, Hernando, MS 38632 or Fax to 662.429.5229.

And now, the rest of the story ....

The Times is published three times a week. When it was bought 11 years ago, it was converted from a weekly to a daily. It hit a slump about two, three years ago and scaled back to its current publishing scheduling. Ron Caldwell is the sports editor, and he's done a good job there for a long time. Cyndi Pittman, wife of one of the men who bought the paper and converted it into a daily, recently returned to the publisher's job after stepping away three years ago for family reasons. Her newspaper background is in advertising. Those are the only folks I know on the Times staff. Luke Horton is editor of the Times.

DeSoto County is one of the fastest growing counties in America, adding an estimated 42,000 new residents between 2000 and 2007 due to middle class flight out of Memphis. Of the nine high schools mentioned in the ad, three were created within the past five years. All but one of the nine are public schools. School and city corporate line issues are a hot topic here.

With those high schools come a ton of high school sports. The premier prep sports here are baseball, fast-pitch softball and volleyball, and that's a reflection of the strong emphasis placed on those sports on the youth level. DeSoto County is home of the Snowden Grove baseball complex, one of the largest in the South. Because the public schools are in one overall district, there's a lot of built-in rivalries. It will be interesting to see where the DeSoto schools fall when the Mississippi High School Activities Association (public schools) adds a Class 6A beginning in 2009-10 and reclassifies its schools.

The pro hockey team is the Memphis RiverKings, which plays in the DeSoto Civic Center. It's a solid minor league franchise compared to a lot of these here today-gone tomorrow teams you see on that level. The nationally ranked junior college is Northwest Mississippi, based in Senatobia (in the next county south of DeSoto). Since DeSoto County is in Northwest's district, a lot of DeSoto kids play for Northwest teams. And, of course, the NBA's Memphis Grizzlies are just a few miles away, but you're going to have your hands full with the preps, youth sports, the RiverKings and Northwest.

Your chief competitors will be the DeSoto Appeal, a zoned edition by the Commercial Appeal that does a good job covering sports, and the DeSoto County Tribune, a weekly paper in Olive Branch (located in eastern part of county).

When you get a break from the job and want to have fun, there's plenty of it in the area. To the immediate north is Memphis with Beale Street, Graceland and strip clubs. To the southwest are the Tunica casinos. The DeSoto Civic Center and the Snowden Grove Amphitheater in Southaven also attract their share of concerts.

 

Hernando, Mississippi ... any first-hand descriptions.

 

Of course, I was just passing through, so I may have missed some of the high points.

 

It's technically the Delta, but it feels like any good ole suburban county USA. The 19th century starts one county west or south of you.

 

I've never had a problem with DeSoto County. When I go to Memphis, it's where I stay.

 

The top beat is covering the Hernando Revolvers. 8)

 

yes, you'd be close to Memphis.
Easy access to that city and the Sugar Ditch casinos.
Good golfing is within reach there.
Job is likely best for a newbie college grad., but one who's had experience at the college paper at least.

 

I once saw Velvet Revolver there.

 

Actually, the biggest rivalry involving a DeSoto team is Olive Branch-South Panola. OB is the team that's come the closest the past couple of seasons of beating USP, current holders of the nation's longest winning streak (now at 75 straight). If the Conquistadors (gotta love that nickname) hadn't lost 4 fumbles in the second half at home in 2006 they'd have probably won. Instead, SP squeaked out a 12-7 win. The other 5A DeSoto schools, Horn Lake, Southaven and DeSoto Central, at best are medicore in football.

 

desoto central ... something about that sounds cool.

 

I'm from the area. Hernando is growing at an extremely fast pace and it's a very nice place to live. And Luke Horton is a great guy. He really know his stuff.

Hernando is 20 mins. from Tunica (casinos), and only 15 mins. from Memphis. There is a community college just south of Hernando and Ole Miss isn't that far. The area is moderately priced to live.

 

Cheech & Chong joke HERE












TBF here