The Indiana Publisher

Sports Editor The Commercial Review, one of the top daily community news- papers in Indiana, is looking for its next sports editor. Our sports editor is in charge of writing, photography and design for the sports pages. Experience with photography and page lay- out/design are preferred, but not required. Sports coverage at The Commercial Review focuses on two area high schools, which compete in football, volleyball, soccer, cross country, basketball, wrestling, swimming, gymnastics, baseball, softball, golf, tennis and track. We also cover area amateur sports, including the Portland Rockets baseball team that has made two recent trips to the National Amateur Baseball Federation World Series. The candidate we are looking for will have experience covering sports for their college news- paper and/or for a professional publication. Send resume and three exam- ples of your work to editor Ray Cooney at r.cooney@thecr.com. General Assignment/ Education Reporter The Bluffton News-Banner is looking for a reporter who can handle every aspect of the job with equal parts professionalism and flair. We need a reporter who can report on the education beat (our county has three high-quality school districts) and is comfortable writing features, designing pages, taking pictures, and generally fulfill- ing the demands of the profession. We will talk to novices and new- bies; if there's something you need to learn, we'll teach you. The employee will join a staff of four other journalists that produces an award-winning print edition six days a week and has a strong digi- tal footprint as well. The schedule is flexible, but some evenings are required and an occasional late night (to midnight or 1 a.m.) will be necessary. We strongly prefer someone who can relocate to Wells County. We are looking to fill the position as soon as possible. Bluffton is a community of 10,000, It is the county seat of Wells County and the community has paid attention to its quality of life — highlighted by a strong arts pres- ence and an award-winning parks department. The regional centers of Fort Wayne and Indianapolis are 30 miles to the north and 90 miles to the south, respectively. Please send resumes to Dave Schultz, editor, at daves@news- banner.com Multi-skilled Reporter We need a utility player in our Southern Indiana newsroom. Come with copy editing experience, a working knowledge of In-Design and the ability to navigate the web and you move to the top of the applicant list. Ideal opportunity for a journalist at a weekly newspaper who is look- ing for daily newspaper experience. We're an award-winning 8,800-cir- culation daily across the river from metro Louisville. Check us out at newsandtribune.com and facebook. com/newsandtribune. Apply to join our team by send- ing a cover letter, resume and work samples to susan.duncan@news- andtribune.com. Local News Reporter The South Bend Tribune is look- ing for a hard-charging reporter who will tackle a wide range of local news stories. The job entails all fac- ets of local news, including munici- pal coverage, business stories and news features. We want someone who can not only cover a meeting, but also is eager to pursue strong enterprise and watchdog coverage. We want stories that change our community for the better, not only those that reflect what's happening. This is a chance to build a strong portfolio showing diversity and depth of news coverage. A strong social media presence and ability to adapt to digital platforms is a must. Minimum of 2-3 years of profession- al reporting experience is preferred but not a deal-breaker. The Tribune has four times received the Blue Ribbon from the Hoosier State Press Association as Indiana's best daily newspaper, has collaborated with ProPublica for a series of investigative stories, and prides itself on strong daily cover- age combined with strong local enterprise. Send resume and clips (or accessible links to clips) to Managing Editor Cory Havens at chavens@ sbtinfo.com. Have a job listing you want to promote? Contact Shawn Goldsby, sgoldsby@hspa.com. View listings at https://www.hspa.com/job-listings/. Employee Sought Packaging, too, is a must if local newspapers are going to survive and grow. The number one reason readers give for preferring a printed paper over the internet is the convenient gathering together of material. Subscribers can find the information they want — sports, social news and council news — nicely edited and interestingly presented in the printed paper. More importantly, the pages are designed in a way that draws the reader into the material with many re-entry points that keeps the reader interested. With the internet, it is sometimes necessary to search for the information desired and there is often a question of credibility. Plus, like the circus, we must find ways to return to what the local paper once was. The community paper was the first social media with tidbits of who had Sunday dinner with friends or relatives and who was visiting in town. The hometown paper has always been the only source of detailed information regarding the local school, sports team, church activities and local government issues. Community papers have to truly dig into all that is "local" if the publishers expect to hold on to their readership. The same is true about advertising. We, as an industry, have sometimes out priced our value and expected more of our advertisers than we should. In the current multimedia mix and growth of small ad agencies, we must present our story clearly and boldly, offering easy to understand and use promotions at prices smaller advertisers can afford. But the best statement I heard at the circus seminar was the one about maintaining the "quality of life." The local newspaper is the sounding board of the community sharing balanced ideas from all sides. It is the community cheerleader promoting growth, wise decisions and family values. It is the watchdog, making sure those in authority live up to the standards expected of elected officials. It should have a passion for assuring a "quality of life" for all the people it serves. What is true about the status of the circus and the community paper is equally true about many small, meaningful enterprises in our city. Many are facing the same threats from the big investors working the internet. Perhaps some future loss from not being able to obtain goods and services locally will be reversed in the days to come. If so, it will probably be through the new local partnerships and local community marketing ideas. But, to me, there will always be a need for the community paper. Too often I have seen when a community loses its newspaper everything else eventually seems to disappear. We, who care about our industry, need to reinvent how the world sees and uses the newspaper. Circus Continued from Page 13 Community papers have to truly dig into all that is "local" if the publishers expect to hold on to their readership.

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