Changing beats

Let's say your paper has two college programs or two pro teams. Are beats rotated, and if so, how often. Also, do you like the idea of changing beats? The benefits? The downside?

 

i'd be leery of doing it just to do it

of course, the longest i think i've ever been on a beat is three years -- and both times i've done that, year two was so much better than year one and year three, well, year three i did pretty damn well. in one instance, i held my own against one of the best in the biz and the second time i owned the beat by then, despite several disadvantages inherent in the situation

 

I would think it sort of defeats the purpose. Having a beat writer means one person knows the ins and outs of a program, has developed rapport with the necessary people and is not learning everything from scratch each time out. That person has the background knowledge essential for full coverage of a program.

Unless there are compelling reasons to switch beats (and I would include personality conflicts as compelling reasons), I don't see the point.

 

It's done a lot on news beats. Of course, those are different animals. But sometimes, you get stale doing the same thing every week. Maybe a change of scenery would be good.

Not saying it should be done willy-nilly, but when well-thought-out, it might be good.

 

I don't have a problem changing beats.

 

Solid, sir.

 

The three-year rotation is a good thing, IMPO. One thing I've found is that after three years on a beat, I'm about to go stale. I'm not curious/inquisitive in the fourth year as I was during those three years, and I'm champing at the bit for something new and different. Beat changes - heck, even beat-tinkering (like, let's take a mildly different approach to the beat, rather than just a usual cycle) can do wonders for a person.