January 30, 2003

A suggestion for the authors of the beat reports. When posting an item, include links to one or two of your top news items on the front page. For example, today's NHL report could have linked to the Trottier firing and put the full details inside the post along with the other items from the beat.

posted by rcade to editorial policy at 04:22 PM - 5 comments

Hope you don't mind the input. I'd just like to see a little more information when I'm deciding whether to read a post, especially on the times I read this site via its RSS feed.

posted by rcade at 04:25 PM on January 30, 2003

I'll be honest with you - I'm confused and possibly frightened by your RSS technology. I'll look into what it is and how widespread it's become, and if it seems like the right thing to do I'll tailor my posts accordingly. For the record, I know we all appreciate the input. Sportsfilter has become a fun place (although with a limited active membership) and I think it's still evolving. The thing about the beat reports is that we've been through this before and we couldn't seem to come to a consensus on how to best post those things. I like your suggestion, though. In my next beat report I'll put a sentence or two on the FFP that describes what's inside before I just say "(more inside)". It'll be an abstract of sorts. I think I'd rather keep the links inside the comments section, just for asthetic reasons. Some topics can't be summed up with just one link, you know? We'll see how the next report is received, and go from there. I'll be interested in what the other beatheads have to say, but for the most part I think your suggestion is a good one.

posted by Samsonov14 at 07:10 PM on January 30, 2003

I'm just glad you're still doing it, Samsonov, unlike *cough* the NBA beat report guy.

posted by Ufez Jones at 10:26 PM on January 30, 2003

I wasn't envisioning the link (or links) as a summary of the entire beat report -- just a teaser about the biggest news. But there's certainly room to experiment here with different approaches.

posted by rcade at 11:09 PM on January 30, 2003

*cough* Gesundheit. (Or is that for a sneeze?) I moved a few months ago, I'm starting a new job, and I'm trying to finish my doctoral dissertation. It hasn't been pretty. I think I'm going to need some help with the NBA beat. Any volunteers? (Note: my replacement must be a biased Pacers fan committed to subversive NBA beat reports that make the Pacers look better than they really are.)

posted by jacknose at 12:47 AM on January 31, 2003

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