Sports writer, Beaufort (S.C.) Gazette

As Jeff Kidd from the Island Packet noted in an earlier post, Zach Van Hart is moving from our sports staff to Jeff's staff. Zach was with us for two years and did a tremendous job. His exit creates an opening for us.

The Gazette is a 12,000-circulation McClatchy daily on the southern coast of South Carolina, about halfway between Charleston and Savannah, Ga., and 30 minutes from a beautiful beach on the Atlantic Ocean. It's a gorgeous part of the country.

We have a 27-person newsroom and a four-person sports staff, meaning that we're not big enough for this job to be 100 percent writing. But since we were able to add a fourth person to Sports late last year, it went from about 50-50 to about 85 percent writing, 15 percent desk. Considerable design experience isn't required, but if you have no design experience, it's going to be tough to emerge as the top candidate. There will be more than ample opportunity to get some great clips.

Zach is a perfect example of what we hope to accomplish here - provide someone with a first or second job out of college, work with them, offer lots of feedback, help them become a better overall journalist, then help them move along, hopefully to another McClatchy paper. If you give us two years, we think we can prepare you very well for your next career stop.

The job pays $28,000 - not enough to buy a Corvette but not bad for a $12K daily. We have an excellent benefits plan, including 401(k).

I worked in sports departments for 27 years in an earlier journalism life, so I probably look more closely at our sports section than some executive editors do at theirs. We have an excellent sports editor in Dave Hale, who has been at The Gazette for six years and is the primary hiring contact for this job.

Interested applicants should send a cover letter, resume, six to eight writing samples showing a variety of work and any design samples to:

Dave Hale, Sports Editor
The Beaufort Gazette
P.O. Box 399
Beaufort, SC 29901-0399

If you have questions, contact Dave at dhale@beaufortgazette.com or me at sblust@beaufortgazette.com.

Steve Blust, Executive Editor
The Beaufort Gazette

 

Anybody know what all these guys cover? I'm assuming preps and local golf heavy like most of the papers in that part of the state?

 

Our focus is preps. We cover three high schools in Beaufort (two public, one private) and two in a neighboring community (one public, one private). Local golf is big, and there are plenty of other amateur events to cover. We had a criterium here in May, and there are many other recreational events, such as triathlons, that attract some top athletes. I realize that won't sound glamorous to everybody, but good writing is good writing, regardless of what you're covering.

We're two hours from Columbia, but since The State is now a McClatchy paper, we don't cover the University of South Carolina much unless we're doing a feature on a local kid.

If you're looking to cover pro or major-college sports, this isn't the job for you. But if you're looking for a job that will get you the clips that could lead to that type of job, it might be.

 

Jeff said in his e-mail to the rest of the applicants that he was going to forward them to Beaufort. Will you be sifting through those, or do we need to send a new packet?

 

Jeff has forwarded some of the top applicants' material this way. But without knowing whether you're in that group, I would recommend sending a fresh packet to Dave Hale just to play it safe.

 

I haven't been there in years, the family always passed through on the way to Fripp Island, but Beaufort always seemed like a nice place. If you've seen The Big Chill or The Great Santini, those were filmed there.

 

I don't know Mr. Blust, but I've heard good things about him. I do know Dave Hale, and you couldn't meet a better guy (I rank him above Jeff Kidd, but only because we've had a "few" beers). This is a great job for somebody talented starting out and wanting to move up. The majority of the coaches you deal with down there are great, and you're living near the ocean, which is always good. This is really a gig much like Hilton Head, except HH probably pays a little more and their paper is a little bigger. But still, it's a good gig.

 

Met Steve briefly as a senior in college and he has never hesitated to give me advice on my way up. He seems genuine in wanting to help young writers develop. This would be a great place to start and get a lot of experience. The pay seems pretty good for a 12K at first, but cost of living there can be on the expensive side. Overall, a quality job here.

 

Gorgeous city. Great fishing... Is the Shrimp Shack still there?

 

28 isn't bad for a first job.

 

Another solid representation of the job and what it entails. Let's hope that becomes a trend.

 

It sure is, out on St. Helena Island. World-class shrimpburgers.