Much like nature, The Evening Sun newsroom abhors a vacuum.

I’ve seen it happen a hundred times (OK, more like half a hundred times, but I’ve long since stopped counting) – every time an Evening Sun staff writer announces his or her impending departure, the remaining reporters start circling that beat like vultures.

“Beat,” for the uninitiated, is journalism lingo for a reporter’s assigned coverage area. In our newsroom, we divide beats in two ways – topical and geographical. Each reporter has a series of subjects or jurisdictions from which they draw their stories on a weekly basis, as well as a number of Chenango County towns for which they are responsible. That’s not to say that there isn’t overlap; in fact I’m most content when my entire staff is well-versed in every beat, able to handle any story at any time. But for purposes of organization and developing expertise, I assign each reporter a “beat” as soon as they get started here.

Some beats are more coveted than others, and some become more coveted as time wears on and a reporter’s interests change or emerge. That’s why when someone says they’re leaving, invariably moments later I get an email or a knock on my door ... “Can I take over ... ?”