Sports Reporter - Elizabethton Star (TN)

E-Mail: jamie.combs@elizabethton.com and brian.reese@elizabethton.com
Name of Contact: Jamie Combs & Brian Reese
Start Date: immediate
Job Description: The award-winning Elizabethton Star is looking for a sports reporter who knows the importance of covering the entire range of sports in a community, whether it’s minor league baseball, elementary school tournaments, boxing, fishing, tennis or, well, just about anything else.
Skills Desired: We’re looking for someone with newspaper experience who’s able to turn stories around quickly, can handle a camera and is also well-versed in page design. Knowledge of InDesign and Photoshop is essential. Send a cover letter, resume and both writing and design samples to jamie.combs@elizabethton.com and brian.reese@elizabethton.com. No phone calls, please.
Website: www.starhq.com
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I'm leaving this post Wednesday after a 13-year stint. This is a great job for someone coming out of college. You will be the main beat writer for the Elizabethton Twins (Rookie affiliate for Minnesota Twins — top-pick Nick Gordon is here now), cover East Tennessee State (Division I) men's and women's basketball, football (in 2015) as well as Milligan College (NAIA) sports and have the opportunity to cover the University of Tennessee football team (on own dime). I was also the beat writer for NASCAR and NHRA events at Bristol Motor Speedway and Bristol Dragway, had the "Jason Witten beat" covering the Dallas Cowboys tight end (an Elizabethton native) when he is in town, his youth football camp, etc.

The bread and butter here, however, is preps. My beat was Elizabethton High School, one of six high schools in our coverage area. There is a Division I prospect returning at running back and the Cyclones are coached by Witten's brother Shawn, a former Virginia Tech Hokie. The girls basketball team recently won the TSSAA Class AA state championship and returns all but one player to the floor this year — with a couple of D-I prospects to boot. You will also be asked to cover and shoot youth sports, little league, local MMA, boxing, golf and other various activities.

The people in the office are fantastic. Jamie Combs is a great Sports Editor to work with, is very flexible. You will also work with Brian Reese, news editor, and a new publisher in Lynn Richardson, who is president of the Tennessee Press Association. You will have an opportunity to crank out award-winning stories and boost your resume.

Now, the negatives.

We had four full-time spots in sports until January when Boone Newspapers purchased our shop, letting two of our full-time reporters go as well as our sports photographer and several others who had been here many years. I had to learn photography on the fly, but quickly became acclimated. Any photography and pagination skills here are a plus. ... The salary wasn't great. I began working at the Star in high school as a correspondent, worked my way into the Sports Editor role before stepping down to concentrate on an additional Public Relations program at nearby ETSU. In 13 years, I had a total of three raises and had to work a part-time gig two nights a week at a bar in Johnson City on top of a weekend music gig traveling around the southeast to stay afloat for the most part. Boone has been hinting at raises once the paper recovers from the layoffs.

In the end, I can't say enough positive things about the people at Elizabethton Star. It truly is a family. If you are young, hungry and want a cool place to start, I could not recommend this place enough.