Sports writer, Greenwood (S.C.) Index-Journal

[writingump]

See, folks, it now has the Moddy seal! Why wouldn't you go after this one?

 

[JJHHI]

A review of my posting history reveals how I feel about Scott and the Index-Journal. Good place, great people.

 

[ScottJBryan]

Scott, this made me giggle like a school girl: "Greenwood is a nice, small town. It's not podunk -- we've got a movie theater, ..."

Good luck in your job hunt!

Thanks TP. About half the people we've interviewed in the past for other jobs have always said the same thing, "It's a lot bigger than I thought." Not a lot of people have heard of Greenwood, so I think they expect a one-stop light town with nothing to do. We're no metropolis, but we've got a decent-sized town and things to do. Plus, we're not far from Greenville, Columbia, Augusta and Athens.

 

[ScottJBryan]

Thanks JJHHI, as always, for the kind words.

 

[Cubbiebum]

My understanding is Doug Zaleski has been bumped up to sports editor, and Ben will be working the Ball State football beat with Doug.

As of early August:
http://www.thestarpress.com/article/20120812/SPORTS/308120037/Doug-Zaleski-The-Star-Press-sports-editor

Thanks, hadn't heard.

As far as Greenville, been there many times as my parents live an hour south. It is a very beautiful city that anyone would be lucky to live in. Got a park in the center of town that has a natural waterfall/rapids with a suspension bridge you can walk over it with. You can also get in the water in areas. One of the best parks I have been to.

 

[ScottJBryan]

Thanks for the info, CubbieBum, but we're Greenwood, about an hour from Greenville. But Greenville does have a beautiful downtown area. Quite a few staff members have been known to visit Greenville for the day, since it's so nice.

 

[Ben.Breiner]

Well since this was my job, I should probably say something.

I'll steal advice from a big-time sports writer, who I talked to when I was first looking for jobs. "Find a place where you can do good work and tell good stories." This paper fits the bill.

The job: This is a shop where you will work, a lot, there is no doubt about that. On the plus side, most of the work is reporting as a universal deck keeps the layout shifts light. More than a few people have come to the paper and been shocked at how much you produce, but Mr. Bryan runs a newsroom where expectations are high. The area has very good prep football, which is nice. We had teams make the state final and semifinal in basketball the last two years, but winter sports are uneven. Spring generally produces enough contenders to keep things interesting. There are also two small Division II colleges in the area. Both have had strong baseball teams in the past few years, and one features a powerhouse women's basketball team, which regularly allows for coverage of the NCAA tournament.

The people: Working for Scott J. Bryan has been a pleasure. He pushes young writers, gets the best from people and generally creates a fun and hardworking atmosphere. His enthusiasm and drive truly helped build up this newsroom. Should you interview, prepare for his long monologue (25-plus minutes) about everything involving the town and paper. I know his enthusiasm at that part of the interview hooked me. Scott Chancey is the kind of editor who will never leave you lacking something to work on. The rest of the newsroom trends on the younger side with a lot of transplants, which is nice because you've already got the makings of a social circle.

The town: Greenwood certainly isn't a big town, but in this business, you could find a lot worse places to live. You've got most of the chain restaurants, a handful of good local ones, a movie theater, a couple of nice bars and they're getting a Kohls for whatever that's worth. You're also 1-1.5 hours from Greenville/Spartanburg, Columbia, Augusta and Athens, which are all pretty cool places.

I have to say I've enjoyed the last 21 months working here and a part of me is sad to go. If anyone has any questions, shoot me a PM or email me at benbreiner@gmail.com.

 

[Cubbiebum]

Thanks for the info, CubbieBum, but we're Greenwood, about an hour from Greenville. But Greenville does have a beautiful downtown area. Quite a few staff members have been known to visit Greenville for the day, since it's so nice.

And I will back out of the thread and hope no one notices ...

 

[Balthier]

Is Greenwood still known as having widest Main Street in the U.S.? Serious question. Thought I heard that on Jeopardy once.

 

[ScottJBryan]

Is Greenwood still known as having widest Main Street in the U.S.? Serious question. Thought I heard that on Jeopardy once.

Back in the day, it did have the widest Main Street in the U.S. In fact, it had train tracks that ran right down Main Street. At some point -- I have no idea when -- they tightened it up, and it's a regular four-lane Main Street with businesses on both sides.

True story: Because of the constant flow of trains, the city fire department had to park a fire truck on both sides of the tracks to ensure they could reach fires.

 

[jwoodso1]

Graduated from Lander in December. Greenwood is a nice little town and I regularly read the Index-Journal. Will be applying after I get my clips and everything together.

 

[Rainking]

Did this one ever get filled?