Since I got hired as a copy editor at Larson Newspapers in 2004, I have worked with some amazing reporters, photo­journalists, copy editors and typesetters.

Since becoming the managing editor in 2013, I can say that I personally hired and worked with some of the best staffers in small-town journalism that have served you, our readers and residents, with distinction.

Over the years we have won hundreds of individual and newspaper-wide awards from the Arizona Newspapers Association for photography, investigative reporting, sports coverage, copy editing, news coverage, page design and layout or through serving our community via clever ads, easy-to-read classifieds, efficient and informative websites or simply General Excellence, the top award in our field.

Many of the cub reporters we hired who were just begin­ning their journalism career worked with us for many years, before earning their stripes and using their experience here to go off to publications like the Texarkana Gazette, Portland Tribune, Albuquerque Journal, San Jose Mercury News, Salt Lake City Tribune and The New York Times, to run their own newspapers in Wickenburg and Northern California, or to teach at schools and Ohio State University. Most of these journalists and photographers have stayed in touch over the years as they furthered their careers. I’m glad to know the skills they learned here are serving other readers elsewhere.

Whenever we are faced with the impending loss of a reporter, copy editor or photojournalist, we advertise for the position locally and on the Journalism Jobs website, gener­ally garnering dozens of applications from potential staffers who want to come work for us, live in Sedona, make our community theirs and report accordingly.

To be frank, the high cost of rentals in Sedona, which has spilled over to other parts of the Verde Valley, has made hiring staffers difficult, especially since short-term rentals were legalized statewide in 2016, gutting our housing inventory.

Salaries with which reporters used to be able to afford a comfortable apartment or half of a two-bedroom house simply can no longer afford rentals that have doubled or tripled in cost due to short-term rentals over inflating the market.

Competition for an extremely limited number of rentals means potential staffers since 2016 have found it harder and harder to live here once they accept a job. Even former staffers have said once they leave an apartment or house their ex-landlords have been drastically increasing the rent for the same property because they know someone else will pay the higher rate. Such is the market in a capitalist state.

For 13 years before I met my future wife I also lived with roommates in four different Sedona houses, two of which are now vacation rentals — [technically my toddler and twin babies are roommates now too, but these cute slackers don’t pay my wife and me a dime in rent].

Housing difficulties have been coupled by the so-called Great Resignation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Large numbers of workers near the tail-end of their careers, including journalists, retired early from their industries. By opting for early retirement or shifting to other industries younger staffers and fresh college graduates who filled lower tiers rose up into those positions at newspapers, radio stations, magazines, TV stations and other media outlets across the country, draining the pool of available candidates.

Likewise many journalism college graduates found new positions in other, unrelated fields due to workers leaving their industries.

All this makes for a very difficult environment to try to hire new staffers to replace those who have left us. Applicants are few and far between. Other newspaper editors and media station managers I’ve contacted in Arizona for various reasons are all facing some similar shortages. Some don’t have the support staff in other departments that I do here and for which I am ever appreciative.

While other industries can have new staffers work remotely, that simply isn’t feasible in small-town journalism. News reporting generally requires staffers to be on site to talk to people in person, to attend meetings, to pick up docu­ments and to shake hands or to hear whispers and follow up on leads.

So with these difficulties, dear readers, we’re asking for your help in finding new reporters to fill some of our open positions. If you have a journalism, English or writing degree, or have experience as a journalist or know someone who does, contact us and send a resume.

If you can offer a house, apartment or room for a new hire at a reasonable rate, give me a call.

We can and we will continue to put out award-winning content even if we are a bit short-handed for a while — our current staff are some of the best journalists and photojour­nalists in the industry; we wouldn’t hire any less — but help us serve you and pass along our information to anyone who might be interested.

Christopher Fox Graham

Managing Editor

Description:

Larson Newspapers is seeking a full-time reporter at the Sedona Red Rock News, a biweekly newspaper located in the Verde Valley of Northern Arizona, south of Flagstaff.

Our News Department has a moderately-sized staff working for a long-time family-owned newspaper group of three papers that have covered our valley for nearly 60 years. This is a great position for recent college graduates working their first job who want to learn the ins and outs of covering local news with a great team of supportive colleagues and editors before moving on a few years down the road or for seasoned journalists who want to cover a diverse mixture of hard news and features and covering a growing community and enjoy doing it. Our staff earns numerous individual awards and newspaper-wide awards from the Arizona Newspapers Association often including 1st, 2nd or 3rd place for “General Excellence.”

A journalism degree or reporting experience working at a newspaper is necessary. Knowledge of AP Style required. Knowledge of social media posting of news content is also preferred. Our readership is very engaged on social media and our websites, journalaz.com and redrocknews.com. We have two full-time photojournalists, but basic photography skills are a plus. The position is full-time reporter, 40 hours/week total. Salary range based on experience.

The position is full-time reporter, 40 hours/week total. The beat is roughly eight stories per week: Hard news, local government, police/fire, tourism and business, feature stories, lifestyles, profiles, arts and other general assignment and breaking news coverage in Sedona, Oak Creek Canyon and the VIllage of Oak Creek. For monthly tab publications, one or two features or news stories from across the Verde Valley.

Stories with regional impact may also be published in The Camp Verde Journal, Cottonwood Journal Extra and ancillary tabs as they apply. Our other papers also cover Cottonwood and Camp Verde, Clarkdale, Jerome, Rimrock, Lake Montezuma and Cornville.

Reporters can live anywhere in the Verde Valley (Camp Verde, Clarkdale, Cottonwood, Jerome or Sedona, or the unincorprated areas of Page Springs, Cornville, Rimrock, Lake Montezuma, the Village of Oak Creek, Oak Creek Canyon). Hiking and outdoor recreation are big draws for residents along the Verde River and Oak Creek, as is the art scene in Sedona so there’s plenty to do off hours. Sedona gets 4 million tourists a year so the city has many amenities and businesses more akin to what one would find in larger cities.

Send resumes, clips and portfolios to editor@larsonnewspapers.com, attention Managing Editor Christopher Fox Graham, subject: “Sedona News Reporter”.