By MIKE FANNIN
APSE President

Mike Fannin

Just the other day, I had to bid farewell to another of my colleagues and friends. A Chiefs reporter at my paper, the Kansas City Star, was leaving to join Yahoo! Sports as its national college writer. On this occasion, it was tempting to feel a bit bruised.

This was the fourth sports reporter The Star had lost to the online world in the last 18 months. Two had gone to ESPN and two to Yahoo!, all for national jobs. No need for a tiebreaker, I told Yahoo's editor in chief and old pal Dave Morgan when he called to let me know that Jason King – a gifted writer with whom I'd worked for nearly 10 years – was in good hands at Yahoo!

Such is life today in sports journalism. And so what?

There's no point in crying, getting angry or giving up. When sports journalists are in such high demand, it's a good thing for our business. And we need some good news right now. Has there ever been a better indicator that content is still king, that what we do is valuable? It is a commodity that comes with a price tag: higher salaries and a more competitive market for sports journalists.

I can appreciate how difficult it is for the individual newspaper losing people, especially since in many cases those jobs may go unfilled for a while or go dark. Lots of us have lost talent – the Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, Miami Herald, New York Times, Dallas Morning News and Orlando Sentinel, among others.

But before we lay this all at the feet of ESPN's George Bodenheimer, let's remember our own history. This isn't much different from 50 or 60 years ago, when many cities had multiple newspapers that took turns hiring one another's employees. I've worked in a two-newspaper town. What's the difference between losing a reporter to ESPN versus the Washington Post? Today's top sports reporters are being offered six-figure, multiyear contracts that allow them to live anywhere they want. Can anyone blame them for jumping?

In an extreme example, ESPN recently hired columnist Rick Reilly from Sports Illustrated, reportedly for more than $2 million.

"You don't really realize it until you leave, but a lot of decisions made in newspapers are about money," said Wright Thompson, senior writer for ESPN.com and former takeout writer for The Star. "At ESPN, while we're not throwing money around, the conversations haven't been about what it costs, they're about how good the story is.

"At the same time, newspaper staffs have a bond. The most important thing I miss is being part of a community in a deep and meaningful way."

The other day, reporters from the Wall Street Journal and New York Times called to discuss this phenomenon in the sports journalism community. Weren't we, as a group of newspaper editors, worried about losing all our best people to online competitors who were once friends?

Well, I suppose you could look at it that way. But I've seen no shortage of available talent. I see the same kids writing vigorously, passionately to attract attention. I see the veteran reporters looking for that last place where they can finish their craft. The truth is, the marketplace is flooded right now, mostly because there are fewer newspaper jobs every year.

At the end of the day, ESPN and Yahoo! still feed off the thousands of stories a day produced by American sports sections. They continue to look at us with envy; many of their biggest hires have come from the print side.

At sports sections across the country, we are still responsible for developing the next generation of reporters and editors. We just have to move more deftly – and with greater diplomacy, political skill and ingenuity – than before. As Jesse Ventura famously said in the move "Predator": "We ain't got time to bleed."

No, these are not times for idle hands. Newspapers sites are getting more sophisticated by the day, but we have to keep pushing for fresher, bolder ideas and more staffing – especially in connection with revenue-producing initiatives. Already, we have this edge: Sports is the biggest driver of online traffic for most newspapers. But if you think you're doing everything you can there, think again.

"Newspapers talk about emphasizing the Internet," Thompson said. "The first time I walked into ESPN.com offices in Bristol, I understood how far newspapers had to go. We have floors and floors filled with some of the smartest people I know, and that's just to do sports."

But remember, nobody covers your local franchise like you do, as evidenced by all the papers appearing on the ESPN scroll. And we're working harder than they are in most cases, producing content every day for two mediums.

Just the other day, as I toasted our outgoing writer, he told me he was trying to reach an editor in Santa Monica recently. A big group was gone from Yahoo! Sports that day. They were having a get-together – on the beach – while playing volleyball.

They're taking our people and playing volleyball on the beach! OK, maybe that hurts just a little.

Mike Fannin, managing editor/sports and features at the Kansas City Star, is president of the Associated Press Sports Editors. He can be contacted at (816) 234-4345 or by e-mail at mfannin@kcstar.com.