Sports editor -- Parsons, KS

OK. I can only speak for myself. I make $25 K, and Parsons is bigger than where I live, so......

 

I started at $22K there in 2004. But $22K goes quite a ways in PK. My wife and I rented a decent three-bedroom house within walking distance of the paper for $350 a month.

 

Not speaking for anyone else, but my experience working SE at a paper that had a guy who had been there forever is this: You will often be compared to him, never favorably.

"Well that's not the way Jack (or whomever) would have done it."

"I wish Jack were still there."

"That paper's gone downhill since Jack left/died."

Blah blah fucking blah.

 

I applied at one point. I don't remember if it was before you or before JJHHI. Harris still owned it. Ultimately, I was too worried about being "the/another guy who followed Jack Harris." In a sense, Jack was a mentor but Parsons was *his* job and I wouldn't be surprised if the position is open now because people *still* feel this way.

 

I surprisingly did not run into a lot of that, unless people were just saying it behind my back. I was concerned about it, but the readers in Parsons were exceptionally kind, respectful and complimentary toward me.

Jack was a great, great guy and an amazing historian, but he had his share of shortcomings as a journalist. I was a wet-behind-the-ears kid the year I had the job, and I didn't know what the hell I was doing in terms of planning, but I knew how to write and report, and the readers seemed to appreciate that.

I have no doubt there are still a handful of people who would moan about it not being the way Jack did it, but that's true just about everywhere these days, and usually not because of the person running the department so much as the budget, space and staff.

Don't get me wrong: I couldn't get out of there soon enough. But I learned a lot about myself and the business that year and met a lot of great people I'm still in contact with seven years later.

 

Despite all the horror stories, I'm sending in my resume to Parsons. I've been out of sports for a year and have learned the hard way that I need to be back there.

 

Don't worry about the horror stories, Kamikaze. In this case, I can say they're overblown. Either people want to work, or they don't.....

 

I had this gig after JJHHI and before the recently departed SE. I will say that the horror stories aren't completely off base. There are a lot of problems in upper management at that paper. I won't go into detail in the forum, but anyone who wants to know more about that aspect is more than welcome to PM me.
But, that being said Ray Nolting is one of the best bosses I have ever had in this industry, and he will go to bat for you 100 percent of the time.
The job itself was always great to me. I was fresh out of college and it offered a chance to grow as a journalist and especially as an editor. There's a lot of tradition there and an opportunity to really make the gig your own. In addition to the local high schools and JUCO, I tried to make a bi-weekly trip to KC to cover the Royals or Chiefs for column fodder.
The Parsons basketball team has really improved since I have been there, and they have made a few trips to the state tourney in the past few years.
As far as comparisons to Jack, I agree with JJ as well. My first day on the job I received four phone calls from local residents excited to once again have a sports editor. My last day, I got a card in the mail from an older couple I never met who just wanted to say they appreciated my writing. Sure, you deal with an angry phone call from time to time, but I found the people of Parsons to be pretty great.
Honestly, I enjoyed my time in Parsons quite a bit, though I have to admit I was happy to move on when my chance to move up finally came. I still have lots of friends from the area who I stay in contact with on a pretty regular basis.
If you want to put in the work, it's really not a bad gig at all.

P.S. I can sadly confirm that Jack's records were gone by the time I got there. I found one spiral notebook containing some SEK basketball history, but the rest is no more. Not sure what happened to them, but I sure would have loved to have had them on my watch.

 

Good to know the readers in Parsons aren't a problem. I guess I psyched myself out when I looked into it.