The economy changes the game

By: Sarah Harl

At the recent Atlantic Coast region meeting of AP sports writers, the economy was the main topic of discussion.

Many papers would like to see the AP move toward an a-la-cart pricing concerning sports stories. Their argument is that larger papers are getting charged more to run AP stories, even though smaller newspapers use more AP coverage.

The pay-for-what-you-use plan would help out larger newspapers who are just as affected by the declining economy as smaller papers.

The sports gurus talked about everything from not only the declining number of talented sports journalists, but the fact that they now must hire less talented journalists due to budget.

They are now having to create online packages, or special sections to attract readership. Instead of writing the news, they are now worried, more than ever, about selling the news.

There was no word on the outcome of the discussion, but one thing is certain: the economy, should it not rebound, has shifted the game. It's the fourth quarter. How these writers respond will determine the outcome of the game.