By DENNIS PECK
The Oregonian

	WORKSHOP

When it comes to sports departments and the Internet, the good news is that sports drives Internet traffic on newspaper websites. And after 10 years, we are still just scratching the surface of what the Internet can do.

The bad news: after 10 years, sports departments are still just scratching the surface and ...

"We've created a cannibalization process," Philadelphia Inquirer sports editor Jim Jenks said. "We're giving our stories away. No wonder circulation isn't growing."

Instead, said Jenks, the former executive producer of ESPN.com and director of league services for Paul Allen's Starwave, the key is to recognize what can be done on the Internet that sports sections can't do in print, and capitalize on that.

Some suggestions include:

• Breaking news — especially news you suspect others will get, too, as the news cycle evolves.

• Blogs for high-profile writers.

• Beat writer Q&As.

• Team-based message boards.

And while most of these tie up dwindling resources, there are things even small newspapers can do.

Small newspapers can provide sites for local youth and high school leagues or post prep statistics online, said Jason Carris, deputy managing editor of special projects at the Daily Journal in Vineland, N.J. A hit with readers at the Journal was a photo journal of a weekend youth soccer tournament.

And for those willing to push the envelope, there's always what Fort Lauderdale Sun Sentinel assistant sports editor Steve Svekis put together this past NFL season. Words do not do it justice, so check it out at www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/football/pro/dolphins/ (Svek's instant reply icon is on the right).

The bottom line, though, Jenks said, is that sports editors need to continue to stress to their bosses how valuable sports is to their newspapers' websites and demand (ask/beg/plead) for the resources to build on that.

A valuable bit of information to have when doing that is to work with whoever monitors viewer traffic on the website to get the percentage of that traffic that is there because of sports.

And then take that to those in charge of allocating resources.

"We need to keep pushing, keep pushing, keep pushing," he said.

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