Sports Reporter, Strasburg, Va.

thekingisheijira spells it out nicely ... yeah, it's nice to get a byline from those events every once in a while, but you aren't going to make a name covering the Redskins in Strasburg. You'll do it by kicking ass on the bread and butter, which there is preps. You won't have any opportunity to do anything with the Redskins but cover games. No news breaking. No feature writing. Just games.

You cut your teeth on the preps here, and the competition aspect with another daily makes this position unique in terms of small papers.

 

The situation is exactly how everyone has described it.

Preps is our bread and butter, with a pair of local colleges getting the attention they deserve. Occasionally, we'll venture down to Charlottesville, Blacksburg or hit a Redskins game, but don't expect a beat or to be there often. And it'll likely be on your own time and not much more than a chance to get a good clip.

But if you don't mind that, I'll do my best to make sure you get those opportunities.

Thanks to everyone with kind words for our section. Keep the questions coming.

 

Hometown of former Chicago 7 defendant Rennie Davis, I believe. Or maybe he was from Berryville ...

 

While this may not be the place to gather Redskins clips, off-beat type stuff like covering colleges and pros is VERY important for young writers and opportunities to do bigger stuff than preps shouldn't be overlooked. Big-time events are more than opportunities for clips, they're chances to meet more established writers, people from bigger papers and see how the grown folks do it. I don't think people asking about off-beat stuff is a negative.
None of these small papers pays any money, so people need to get all from the experience that they can.

 

Omar ... no, asking about these things are not wrong at all. Going to a Redskins game to network and get the experience of being in an NFL environment is a positive. But if you apply for this job thinking you'll be at Redskin Park three days a week, you'll be sorely disappointed. That's all we're getting at ...

 

Experience is one thing. Slavery went out in 1864.

 

Maestro, good point. CAUTIONARY TALE: Several years ago, I was a candidate for a low-level job at a very good-sized daily. But because the paper was near an MLB team, during the interview, I continually asked the SE about opportunities to do stuff with that team. Well, I didn't get the job. The SE told me later that he didn't think I would be happy with the job they had. So, youngsters, do stuff off-beat, just don't make it your focus.

 

But Boots is right, for sure. Small papers take young kids, pay them 22k, make them work ALL THE TIME, do layout, copy edit, take calls, drive all over the world and then drive back late at night, because there is no hotel money in the budget. So, you've got to make sure that you take care of you. Get the college clips, get the pro clips, get your name out there and split with the experience you've attained.

 

To get this semi-back on topic...

The pay here isn't great, but it's good for a paper our size. We pay hourly, and you'll be getting plenty of overtime, especially during football season.

So keep those resumes coming.

 

This is officially a bump.

Some of you candidates out there might be hearing from me soon. But there's still plenty of time to get your clips in...