Sports Editor, Mountain Home, Ark.

Life sports?

Aren't sports life?

 

I am serious, she said wanted the people that didn't have kids playing sports to be able to find something in the newspaper.

 

Songbird, I'm sure you would. But you know how this biz is full of cheapskates when it comes to publishers. I've worked for more than one. The job on this thread probably pays mid-20s.

 

Well, 20k will get someone 20K worth of effort.

$35K will get you me, who will bend over backwards to produce.

Oh well. And Arkansas seemed so real.

 

I'd bet they pay at least $30k, maybe $35k.
About to hit desperation time for sports departments with school sports starting back up.
And truth to be told, that area is full of old, retired people and they don't give a damn about the local football team. Not a damn.
Local golf, fishing, hunting, outdoor activities, that would be the bread and butter, plus Piggie football and some preps.

Funny, true and slightly sad story about the Gannett way in Mt. Home.
Gannett is the owner there and they place a big emphasis on diversity. Problem is maybe five black people live in the coverage area, and that might be five too many, but they couldn't recruit anyone to work there.
It got to the point that if a resume indicated any kind of diversity, membership in NABJ or a black fraternity or sorority, would automatically get an offer.
But even that didn't work.
So the Editor started traveling around to the different j-days and job fairs that the colleges put on. She, at the time it was a she, would have food and drinks in the booth, but to get the pizza and cokes, you had to fill out an application. If it was a minority candidate, she would ship the application off to Virginia to show how she was doing her best to recruit diversity.

 

They stress communitiy sports becuase it is a retirement community. A lot of their population is from Chicago and other points North.

 

my wife spent a few years there growing up and still has a lot of family there. you'd better like banjo music if you take that job.

 

This used to be a pretty good little paper until Gannett came in and shat upon it. The sports department used to actually cover stuff, now they force you to do those stupid life sports stories about an 80-year old who gets up and jogs two feet per day. The cuurent ME doesn't have a clue about how sports should be covered. Actually, from what I can tell she doesn't have a clue about anything.

Sonny was there 15 years and he knew the area sports well. This knew ME comes in and shoves him out the door. And its not just the sports department. The entire news room has left, with one person remaining with any experience of over a year.

If you want to live in a pretty decent town that is pretty much isolated then give it a shot. But don't expect to cover any real sports and don't expect to make over $24-$25 K

 

Googly,

Great screen name. Frank Zappa fan?

 

hehehe, thanks. Actually, it was some phrase stuck in my head and i couldn't remember where I got it. Someone else pointed out the Frank Zappa song Nanook Rubs It ( I think that's the title) but that's not where I heard it. I could have sworn "great googly moogly" was something Mister Magoo said but I could never confirm it (do they even show Mister Magoo cartoons anywhere?)

 

I remember "great googly moogly" from Maggie and the Ferocious Beast on Nick Jr.

 

Wasn't there a Snickers commercial a few years back where the guy who painted the end zone for a "Chiefs" game instead spelled out "Chefs" and when it was pointed out to him, he used the phrase Great Googly Moogly?