GA sports reporter, Quad-City Times

Company: Quad-City Times
Position: Sports Reporter
Location: Davenport, Iowa
Job Status: Full-time
Salary: Not Specified
Ad Expires: July 31, 2006
Job ID: 653369
Website: http://www.qctimes.com


Description:
QUAD-CITY TIMES FT SPORTS REPORTER
The Quad-City Times (53,000 daily, 68,000 Sunday), part of the growing Lee Enterprises chain, is seeking a multi-purpose sports journalist who is adept at both writing and working the desk. We are in a diverse, two-state, sports-oriented metro area of about 400,000 people that is three hours from the nearest major league sports city but within five hours of six of them. We are just 50 miles from the University of Iowa, have minor-league franchises in three sports and are home to a PGA tournament and the largest non-marathon road race in the Midwest. We were named one of the top 10 sports sections in the country last year by APSE, whose judges labeled us “a big, bold, risk-taking section that does a lot with a little.’’ We are seeking a general assignment sports reporter and occasional desk person who will help us enhance that image. We have a long tradition of doing a solid job of covering the mainstream high school/college/pro sports. What we need are energetic people who believe in enterprise journalism and can help us expand into less traditional areas. We need to bolster our coverage of such things as the outdoors and explore the myriad of recreational sports while also delving deeper into the mainstream sports. The ideal candidate will have a hunger for those off-the-beaten-path stories, an ability to report on them in an upbeat, interesting way and the skills to do a solid job on the desk. Qualified candidates should have a bachelor’s degree and preferably 2-3 years of daily newspaper experience.

Send cover letter, resume and work samples to:

The Quad-City Times Attn: Sports Reporter 500 E. 3rd St. Davenport, IA 52801 Fax: (563) 383-2464 Email: jobs@qctimes.com



What's the deal here? What is covered? Which major cities are referenced in the posting besides Chicago?

 

Um, maybe Milwaukee, Minneapolis, St. Louis. Look at a map.

 

The three teams referenced are the Swing of the Quad Cities (a Double-A Cardinals affiliate, formerly the Quad City River Bandits), the Quad City Steamwheelers (an arena football 2 team) and the Quad City Mallards (of the United Hockey League). There are also 18 area golf courses, whatever that's worth to you.

I would venture to guess that the cities referenced include Chicago (176 miles from Davenport, Iowa, according to MapQuest), Milwaukee (216 miles), St. Louis (266 miles), Indianapolis (309 miles), Green Bay (322 miles), Minneapolis (359 miles) or Kansas City (360 miles). Also, though they are college towns, not "major-league" cities: Madison (165 miles) and Urbana-Champaign (191 miles).

 

Not sure if it is as recent as this writing gig, but I also found a sports copy/design position available here on the Lee job page.

Any reason for two openings? What kind of place is this? I know nothing about the midwest...

 

There's a thread kicking around here somewhere about the design job. It was posted a week or few back.

Just remember this: you're under the Lee microscope even more than normal by being right down the road from corporate.

 

The minor-league baseball team is Single-A, for what it's worth.

It's a very good paper for its size. It does a great job of covering the area, a very large area, too. High school sports are very solid on both sides of the river and the minor-league teams are fairly popular, despite dwindling attendance.

They do cover Iowa, Iowa State, Northern Iowa and even Illinois (with a stringer). They occasionally cover the Chicago teams and sometimes venture to the other close cities. There also are a number of colleges in the area (Augustana (Ill.), St. Ambrose) and they cover a PGA Tour, the John Deere Classic, in nearby Silvis. Also, there is a huge road race, Bix 7, that draws runners from all over the country. Sports editor Don Doxsie took a trip to Kenya years ago for a multi-part series. It won an APSE award.

However, if you think you're going to jump in and get to cover the big-time stuff, it won't happen. It's a very veteran staff, many who have been together for a long time, like 20 years. Still, it would be a great place to be. Town and area are great being on the Mississippi River and you really are close to a lot of major cities.

People have moved on from here, too. One of the previous guys in the position advertised moved to the paper in Austin, Texas.

 

How many on staff here?

 

Anyone work for the SE here before? How is he?

 

So, basically, you likely can look forward to all of the shit assignments none of the other staffers want.

 

You know - there's a hell of a lot of "veteran writers" out there who would go for the shit jobs just to have the position.
The sense of entitlement sometimes smacks louder on this site than basic ambition.

 

I already have a good job, thanks. I was just warning others in case they missed the sections on recreational sports and the fact that desk work would be involved.

Maybe the Quad City Times is the exception rather than the rule, but I've known a lot of GA reporters (no, I've never been one) who basically drew the short straw every time a good assignment came up.

 

It's a solid staff without too many egos. They do a good job of covering the region and the direct area. They get to Chicago some and some of the big stuff in the Midwest. The design is excellent for a paper that size and the Quad Cities consist of a decent metro area within a few hours of major metros.

It's a progressive area, and the sports editor was the department's columnist. It's a good place to live and work.