By DWAYNE BRAY
Dallas Morning News

	THE BEAT GOES ON

The two veteran sportswriters, along with the Miami Herald's Armando Salguero, conducted a workshop on beat reporting at the June convention of the Associated Press Sports Editors in Philadelphia. The workshop, aptly called "The Beat Goes On: Top-Notch Reporters Discussing Their Craft," was moderated by San Francisco Chronicle sports editor Glenn Schwarz.

NBA writer Jasner and columnist Heyman, a former Yankees beat reporter, sparred in PTI-like fashion over the issues of competition from the fan Web sites, newspaper reporters making television appearances and how game stories should be written in this age of instant information.

Jasner said fan Web sites force him to spend countless hours chasing down leads, most of which turn out to be false. Heyman said reporters should just ignore such Web sites.

"Newspapers should be ahead of the radio, ahead of the Internet," Heyman said.

Jasner said that's not possible with so much competition. Salguero agreed with Jasner.

Salguero said a Dolphins fan Web site prints commentary of plays run in practice — even from practices closed to fans. Salguero said he doesn't know how writers of the site get information from closed practices, or if the site just makes it up.

Heyman said that's all the reason not to pay attention to such sites. "I would say ignore that," he said.

Fort Worth Star-Telegram Comments from players, such as Cowboys quarterback Quincy Carter, are likely to be on the Web before they hit print. The influence of the Internet is changing some responsibilities of reporters.

Heyman said reporters spend too much time chasing Internet rumors because reporters are not developing their own stories. He blamed sports editors — saying they don't spend enough time hiring reporters who can develop sources and break stories. He said sports editors seem more interested in hiring reporters based on their ability to write well.

"Breaking stories should be the most important thing for the beat writer," Heyman said. "There is too much emphasis on the writing, and not enough emphasis on the reporting.

All three panelists agreed that covering a beat requires more sophistication than it did when they started their careers because competition has increased while accessibility to athletes, coaches and management has decreased.

Janser said many players have no idea that he's paid to tell the truth about what's happening in the NBA.

"There are a lot of players who believe my job is to go to games," Jasner told the packed room of sports editors. "They don't have a clue what I do."

Players aren't alone in misunderstanding the role of beat writers, said Heyman, who said beat reporting challenges are complicated because general managers lie to them about trades and other news.

The other two panelists said GMs don't often lie to them. "They just don't tell you everything," Salguero said.

Salguero and Jasner said it's their policy to trust GMs and other front-office sources until they give him reason not to. "I don't go in assuming that everybody is lying to me," Jasner said.

The panel advised sports editors to watch their reporters for burnout, saying the increased pressure to be first for stories and the year-round nature of beats can ruin writers quickly.

Baseball, with its six-week spring training and 162 regular-season grind, is still the most exacting beat. But the panelists said other leagues are becoming as difficult to cover in their own right, as the term "off season" becomes a misnomer.

Despite dealing with twice as many players as his baseball counterparts, Salguero said covering an NFL team isn't as taxing as the job Heyman had when he covered the Yankees. Football writers, he said, have more time to develop stories with its once-a-week game schedule.

"Football is different," Salguero acknowledged. "You're on the road two days for eight weeks a year. I don't know how baseball and basketball guys do it. God bless you."

"Baseball," Heyman added, "is more work and sports editors need to understand that."