Sports Writer - Brownsville Herald

http://www.journalismjobs.com/Job_Listing.cfm?JobID=705068

The Brownsville Herald is looking for a sports writer with experience covering high school and college sports.

The ideal candidate will have a print journalism background in a college or professional setting, be highly motivated and have solid writing skills. Knowledge of page design (Quark) is also required.

Send resume and writing samples to Rachel Benavidez, editor.

By e-mail: rbenavidez@brownsvilleherald.com

By mail: The Brownsville Herald Attn: Rachel Benavidez 1135 E. Van Buren Brownsville, TX 78520


South Padre Island very close!

 

The ad doesn't say it, but fluency in Spanish would help a lot, I'm thinking.

If you can handle tropical-style summers, this could be a fun gig, perhaps. Minor league baseball and hockey (!!!) are in the area. And yes, the PUTA Broncos. Whoops, make that the UTPA Broncos.

 

This is a good first-job-out-of-college gig. The area is hard-core with its preps, esp. with six high schools in town - five public, one private - and at least two more in the coverage area and there is always a story to report on. In fact, the head coach at one of the biggest schools in town was just reassigned within the district and plenty of questions are being raised. The college, Texas-Brownsville/Texas Southmost (UTB/TSC) just went NAIA, but whatever UTPA/minor-league coverage that runs in the paper is usually from The Monitor in McAllen (also owned by Freedom Communications). Don't know much about the staff, but they have a kick-ass government reporter on news side who's been there for a few years and the aforementioned Rachel Benavidez is a former reporter.

Spanish isn't necessary, but it certainly helps, esp. if you ever decide to go to news side. The politics in the area are great to follow. There is desk work. Pay is so-so. The area is affordable, but don't plan on a condo out on South Padre Island. Also, the office is only a few blocks from the U.S.-Mexico border - cheap liquor and plenty of partying to be had across the International Bridge.

 

Been awhile since I was down there. What was it? Quarter to go to Mexico and a dime to come back? Or is it the other way around?

 

The ever-famous Rachel Lenzi also worked here.

SportsJournalists.com vets will know who that is.

 

Excellent starter place to learn both the business and spanish. The pay isn't great but the experience is. Jump on it.

 

Paging Jesus Muscatel ... paging Jesus Muscatel.

 

Del knows of which he speaks.

I worked at the Brownsville Herald in sort of a mid-life crisis in the early '90s.

My crisis was I was out of a job right when The National folded. Three months or so of unemployment. Yeah, it sucked.

When I was there, there were several good journalists. One is a graphics artist now in Las Vegas. Another is a reporter in Salt Lake City, or at least was. Think he went to law school. Another is an editor in Phoenix. One woman who was here briefly works at the Mercury-News.

(Philip True was also at The Herald when I was there. Philip, tragically, was murdered on assignment for the San Antonio Express-News doing a story on the Hinchiol (?) Indians, who have a very primitive way of life.)

There were two or three others who were extremely sharp. They've gone on to bigger and better things.

The only guys still there when I was on the border are Brad Doherty, the photo chief, and Gilbert Salinas, a good guy and a good journalist. Brad is very talented and could have left years ago but makes a lot of money free-lancing. You could say Brownsville is rife with news, much of it, well, oriented toward crime, the drug trade, immigration, La Migra, secondary education (the Brownsville ISD I believe is still the largest employer south of San Antonio), agriculture and the Port of Brownsville.

There is also the tourism industry on South Padre, which is 20-25 minutes from downtown Brownsville.

(Of course the biggest industry there, so to speak, might be poverty, to be honest. It's pretty fuckin' depressing.)

I was able to cover UTPA hoops while I was there, and Texas A&I football, too, but I had more experience than most of the sportswriters who came down the pike here. I was there almost three years. It was tough, but I tried to make the most of it. I made lots of friends at the paper and within the school district. Still keep in touch with a few of 'em.

The Herald, The Monitor in McAllen and the Valley Morning Star are all Freedom Newspapers. They share stories. The writers share stories of nickel-and-dime management, awful salaries, excessive heat, etc. The publisher of the Herald is a total putz.

I was bummed out when I had to take this job, but selling insurance was out of the question. A close friend gave me some advice on my way there. Told me, "Jesus, look at it as an adventure."

I'm still grateful to that man, who left the biz about two years ago, but not before getting The First Amendment tattooed on his massive right arm. So he understood the passion I had for sportswriting.

And yes, this is where my alter ego, Mr. Muscatel, was born.

So in a way, I'm grateful for Browntown. I spent a lot of time at South Padre. One of my buddies was married and actually could afford to live out there.

PM me if you'd like any other info.

 

I was offered this job out of college and did not accept it. The paper looked nice, and the area presented several great opportunities for coverage. Plus you could live on South Padre Island. But the pay was extremely low, under $20,000. I don't know if that's changed.

 

HERALD, BROWNSVILLE (CAMERON CO.) SAT M DLY 14,472
HERALD, BROWNSVILLE (CAMERON CO.) AVG M (M-F) DLY 16,353
HERALD, BROWNSVILLE (CAMERON CO.) SUN DLY 16,512




With that circulation, the pay probably hasn't changed much.

 

I was essentially offered a job by phone (i.e., without having a personal interview) at this paper in the 1990s, and what stands out is the description of Brownsville I got from the fellow in charge at the time ... he essentially made the place sound like a war zone. He literally used the words "drug cartels" to describe it. I don't think the local chamber of commerce would have liked his pitch.