APSE contest--goodbye game story category, hello beat writing category

http://apsportseditors.org/uncategorized/from-the-first-vice-president-beat-writing-category-added-to-2011-contest/

Not sure I agree with this choice. So what happens to the game story from the high school football game when a kid scores a touchdown from his wheelchair? Or what happens to the great NCAA tournament gamer from a general assignment reporter? (I've written neither of these, just sayin')

It seems to me that game stories, breaking news, features, explanatory and investigative all fall under a beat writer's umbrella. All this change does is stop someone who doesn't have a fulltime beat from winning for writing a killer gamer.

 

I certainly think it's an interesting change, and I think awards on that could be pretty cool; the part I couldn't figure out is the notion that "we gained one, so we have to lose one." I'm not really sure as to why.

 

Problem is, it's an unwinnable category for most writers on a pro beat. Best gamers I've read have been done by prep guys.
There are a few pro writers who can crush out a game story, but they are few and far between.

 

This is a huge plus for sports writers at newspapers as opposed to web sites. In the new world, it's very, very difficult for a newspaper writer to win in the game story category. Why? If I'm covering the BCS championship game for a newspaper, even with generous deadlines, I might have 45 minutes to write the game story. If I'm writing it for Yahoo, ESPN, CBS, etc., I could take two hours (in many cases) and obviously have a huge advantage. This was obvious during the NBA playoffs last spring, too. How could, say, the Morning News compete on a Mavs gamer with Yahoo?

 

This. I would think beat coverage would encompass tweets, blogs and podcasts in addition to the standard issue gamer.

 

Bottom line is there will be a lot of growing pains on this category. Anything where you're allowed to write a cover letter explaining yourself adds a whole new dimension to simply judging coverage or writing.

 

Best tweet.
Best in-game Facebook update.
Best re-tweet.
Most "likes" to something you posted on facebook.

 

Game stories are tough to give awards for because the winning story often involves something completely out of the writer's control -- kid hits a game-winning 3 at the horn to cap a 40-point comeback, .500 team upsets undefeated power in first game after popular coach/player dies unexpectedly, teams play game in empty stadium because of surprise SARS outbreak. If your event doesn't involve history, high drama or Hallmark moments, you could craft the new Four Horsemen lede and still not sniff a best gamer award.

 

Most trending hashtags

 

Great idea. Solid, informative beat coverage was never recognized in the previous APSE contests, and this seems like a decent way to recognize the grinders and unsung heroes of the industry. Having good day-to-day coverage is far more important to readers than flowery game stories.

 

It just seems like every other category falls under the jurisdiction of beat writers. A beat writer should be able to write a gamer, a beat writer should be able to churn our a feature, a beat writer should be able to break news, and a beat writer should be able to work on a project. Don't see a reason to have it all molded into one at the expense of the game story category.