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Company:	Riverton Ranger Inc.
Position:	WYOMING NEWSPAPER EDITOR NEEDED
Location:	Fremont County, Wyoming
Job Status:	Full-time
Salary:	$35,000 to $40,000
Ad Expires:	December 9, 2009
Job ID:	1119733

Description:
FILL OUR EDITOR'S CHAIR! Riverton Ranger Inc., a family-owned newpaper company in central Wyoming’s Wind River Country, needs a managing editor who can handle the crucial job of running the local news operation for our 5-day daily (circulation 7,000 weekday, 10,000 Sunday). That makes us the third-largest circ paper in the Equality State, where just eight other people are daily newspaper editors. Our current editor has been promoted to publisher of a paper we own in a neighboring county and is leaving in early December on good terms -- no firings or resignations involved. This job is open for the right reason. Being The Ranger's editor requires energy, versatility and a belief in the vitality of the community newspaper -- and plenty of hands-on newspaper work. You'll write, edit copy and lay out pages, shoot some photos if you like, cover a sports team or two, help direct a local staff of seven (including executive oversight of the the sports editor), work on special editions, and plan the paper's editorial course in close cooperation with longtime, news-oriented publisher who wants to be the editor himself, but doesn't quite have the time anymore. Our paper has a close cooperative relationship with two sister weeklies in our county, and we help each other out. The flagship Ranger has a 61-year tradition of covering the heck out of local news and sports (plus AP wire and photo) in a prize-winning fashion in a lively news town -- and enjoying ourselves while we do it. We have page editors, paginators, photographers and sports writers, but you’ll need to have your hand in all those realms. Quark, photo and copy editing skills put you ahead of the competition. This is the No. 1 newsroom job in our company, but if you don't, can't or won't be involved in local sports, please do not pretend that you do, can or will. People in our community of 20,000 live and work in one of the nation's most desirable locations, surrounded by moutains, rivers, canyons, lakes and state parks. We're two hours from Yellowstone, Tetons. Minutes from Wind River Mountains. Wyoming's low cost of living features no state income tax and local sales taxes in the 3- 4 percent range. One town listed as an All-America Town, sister town named an American Dream Town. Diverse economy, community college, stimulating news environment for a person who understands, enjoys and covets community life in the Rocky Mountain West. We don't need a crusader here, unless the crusade is one of keeping the daily paper indispensably important in the lives of its readers. We want to fill this position with a starting salary of $675/week. We help with moving expenses, offer major medical, 401(k) and paid vacations, along with an equipment allowance for a camera or a laptop. That’s a good pay package in our neck of the woods. This is not a major metropolitan area, and it would be senseless to apply for this job if city life is what you want. There is not a Starbucks within 200 miles, and we have real winter 3-4 months out of the year. Most people who live and work here do it because they like the life. Our standards are high, and we are experienced at hiring the right person for the editor’s chair. Of the four people outside the family who have held the post, one worked 20 years in it, one 15 years, and another six years, and each won the Wyoming General Excellence Award as editor, beating daily papers two to five times our size. An understanding of clear writing, good photos, sound grammar, appealing page design and sensible editing is essential, along with good organization and an even keel in working with a news staff ranging in age from 23 to 70. A sense of humor would do you a world of good as well, all the while remembering that in our opinion you are doing one of the handful of most important jobs in our community. We need the right person, not any person, and we won’t hire at all if right candidate doesn't come along. Contact Steve Peck, publisher shawnsteve@wyoming.com or P.O. Box 993 Riverton, WY 82501. Electronic resume, clips, photos and letters are fine, with plain text preferred strongly. We are considering applicants immediately. Good luck.