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 ... ?”

So that’s what happened, of course, when Melissa Stagnaro left us recently. And it’s exactly what she did when Tyler Murphy left months before, and she latched on to the police/fire/court beat. As per custom, I take the reporters’ needs and desires into careful consideration and then put them exactly where I want them. Most times, they’re happy about that.

I think that’s the case with our current team, joined this week by our newest cub reporter, Shawn Magrath. In divvying up these assignments, it occurred to me that we don’t always share that information openly with the reading public, which is silly. Although you can figure it out pretty easily, you really should know who covers what in case you have a news tip or story idea you’d like to give to a reporter directly.

So, without further ado, I give you our current Evening Sun beat structure, in order of seniority:

Pat Newell: Yeah, like that one’s going to change. Pat’s been covering all things Sports expertly for over a decade and a half. No one’s rocking that boat. You can reach Pat at pnewell@evesun.com, 337-3078, or follow him on Twitter ... @evesunpat.