Sports writer, Louisburg, KS

Miami County Newspapers, a 9,000 circulation twice-weekly serving the Kansas City area communities of Paola, Osawatomie, Louisburg, Spring Hill and La Cygne, has openings for a general assignment reporter and a sports writer. The right candidate for each position will be someone who is a self-starter, is deadline-driven and is a strong versatile writer. Experience is preferred, but not necessary. We are willing to cultivate young talent. Miami County Newspapers is an award-winning chain of four papers -- Miami County Republic, Osawatomie Graphic, Louisburg Herald and Miami County Weekend. We are located on the southern edge of the Kansas City-metro area in a growing region. We offer a competitive salary and good benefits. Our four-paper chain is owned by the News-Press Gazette Co., based in St. Joseph, Mo., increasing opportunities for upward mobility. E-mail a resume and at least five clips showing the range of your abilities to Doug Carder, editor, Miami County Newspapers, dcarder@miconews.com. (Please put your name and reporter applicant in the subject field).

 

Didn't realize this paper was owned by the St. Joseph News-Press. Other than that, I don't have much to add.

 

Has to be a great job...look at all the happy people in these photos.

http://www.louisburgks.net/Living.html

Check out the community pool on the bottom right.

 

Purple. Wildcats. Powercat logo.

Ugh.

And, I think the community pool is on the bottom left.

 

There's a hottie or ... okay there's one hottie in those pics. I bet she's taken.

And I had no idea so many historical monuments existed in Louisburg -- Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial, definitely worth it.

 

I laughed at that too. The best pics of louisburg are taken somewhere else.

 

Not a bad job. I'd guess you'll spend 99% of your time covering Louisburg High and only Louisburg High.

Pretty sure it'd pay $25,000-ish.

You'll probably be responsible for writing and laying out five or six pages a week for the Louisburg paper, and writing and maybe designing a little more for the county-wide weekend paper.

I wouldn't think the hours would be as flexible as other weeklies might be, but it really isn't a bad gig. You could easily live in the Kansas City suburbs, like Olathe or Overland Park (not that that's anything great, but there is civilization, lots of places to eat and a nightlife both there and another 20-30 minutes away in downtown KC, Westport or the Plaza.) Louisburg's probably a 30 minute drive from the heart of Overland Park and Johnson County, 45+ from the Plaza and Westport. You wouldn't cover any KC sports, no Royals or Chiefs, but you could craft an occasional feature out of them, justifying a trip to the ballpark on occasion.

It's a weekly, so it isn't like you'll be writing for the KC Star, but if you work hard, you'll have plenty of opportunity to generate good clips and take a step up somewhere in the area.

That's damn near all I know -- I've never worked there, but know a lot about it -- but if you have more questions, PM me and I might be able to help. Also PM me if you know what happened to the guy that was there. My curiosity needs satisfying.

 

Pilot's right about Louisburg being 20-30 minutes away from the KC suburbs. Louisburg's not a bad place either. Not a spot a single person in their 20s or 30s is probably gonna want to live, but it's a quick shot down the highway from the KC area where there's plenty to do. If you commute out there from Overland Park or Olathe then you'll find plenty of decent apartment complexes that should be fairly reasonable.

 

I don't know anything this paper or position, but I'm not so sure about that. Emporia probably doesn't pay that, and it's a six-day PM daily. For that salary, you might have to hit bigger papers like Salina, Hutchinson or Garden City. And even then ...

 

I know someone who started at $24k+ there recently. Straight up $25k is probably a little high, but within $1,000 of what I'd think a new hire, especially one with some experience, to get.

It's easily enough to live in Louisburg. Johnson County is more expensive, but it's still possible. You'll probably have to put off buying the boat for a few more years.

 

There are plenty of worse weeklies and dailies where you sign your life away the day you start. I'd say if you're from the Kansas-Missouri-Oklahoma area and just want to get a place to start, it's not too bad. You'll get a shot at covering decent schools and possible state tournaments. If you work hard, there are decent-sized dailies in the region. But count heavy on preps and JV sports. Anything like Royals or KU would have to have a local slant and probably an off-the-clock shift.

 

Wow. Not bad for weekly.

Re: Johnson County, I hear you. It's a like a mall, only you drive from one place to the next. It's probably better for ones sanity -- not to mention paycheck -- to simply live in Louisburg. I've never heard anyone bash that town.