Prep sports editor, Athens (Ga.)

Howdy, folks.

I'll be putting this on the job boards, but here's a first look.

The Athens (Ga.) Banner-Herald seeks an energetic full-time prep sports editor to join its award-winning staff.

In this position, you'll be in charge of coordinating high school coverage for 25 schools. The position also has desk responsibilities, so Quark proficiency is a plus.

Experienced candidates are preferred, but recent graduates are encouraged to apply.

The Athens Banner-Herald is a Morris Communications-owned 32,000 daily newspaper in Athens, Ga., home of the University of Georgia and one of the greatest live music scenes in the country.

Send your resume, six writing clips and two design clips to John Kaltefleiter, Sports Editor, Athens Banner-Herald, One Press Place, Athens, Ga., 30601. E-mail: john.kaltefleiter@onlineathens.com. No phone calls.

No resumes will be accepted after December 20, 2007.

Here's a few more details to the ad.

One of our talented writers, Jon Page, has decided to cash in his journalism chips and move closer to his home in North Carolina. Jon is one of the top employees the ABH has seen throughout the years and is a damn good writer. He'll be missed.

I stress that this position has copy editing responsibilities, so it's important to have Quark and Photoshop experience. However, this position also has excellent writing opportunities, including various sports at the University of Georgia.

Our section was top 10 in both daily and special section at APSE and honorable mention in Sunday this past year. It was also top 10 in both Sunday and special and honorable mention for daily in 2005.

If you have any questions, e-mail me, but please no calls. I'll take resumes and clips by regular mail and e-mail. Pdfs work well for design clips attached to e-mails.

 

John is about to be regretful that he's putting this on so many boards. He might receive 2,349,483 resumes for this gig.

 

There's plenty of opportunity to do great work in this position, and from the city schools to the country schools, there's plenty of variety. Just don't get caught behind a chicken truck on your way up to Franklin County.

Never knew John as the editor, but he always seemed like the type of guy who would be a blast to work for.

 

As many here know, Tex is good, good people. And if you apply, you're applying for his old job.

Even though it's a Morris paper, I definitely recommend this gig.

 

Is this really an editor spot, though? Sounds like it could be advertised as preps writer.

 

Maybe, but a lot of papers are doing this. It's a way to get people onto a management line.
Don't see anything wrong with it.

 

No, the AB-H has actual preps writer positions, too. If the job is the same as it used to be when Kaltefleiter was manning it, this person would be in charge of coordinating the prep coverage (I think they've got something like 35 schools -- 12 main ones and ~20 more fringe schools.) A lot of writing is still involved, of course, but there are more editor-type duties than a typical preps writer would have. Thus, prep sports editor.

 

Buck's right. And while many papers may do this to put people on a management line, that's not what the ABH typically does, Texas' rise through the ranks notwithstanding. They're sure as hell not gonna pay you like management, that's for sure.

I didn't think Page was prep editor, though. I thought Jennifer Iannone was?

 

That's correct, deskslave. I am the prep editor and will be until January. Then I will move into the position of Georgia baseball beat writer once Jon Page leaves. I'll also be sharing the Georgia gymnastic duties.

We cover 24 area high schools though there are not writers that are just prep writers. The prep editor plans all the prep stories and writes a lot. Even when I move to Georgia baseball, I'll be helping out with preps, writing a few stories a week.

On football Friday's, three AB-H writers go to games and we have several stringers that also help with coverage.

 

Texas is a super guy and from what I've seen is doing an excellent job as sports editor.

Athens is an awesome, awesome town, with tons of great places to eat and drink and listen to music.

You will work your ass off in this job, but you'll get to write about some interesting stuff -- including my alma mater, the mighty Clarke Central Gladiators.

The pay was awful when I was there, but I've heard it's a little better now. Athens is a pretty cheap place to live, so the typical Morris pay shouldn't be a deterrent.

 

thoughts on pay?

 

I'd guess in the neighborhood of $30K, but I could be wrong.