Help on reorganizing beats

For regular readers of the leadership tips, I apologize for the long lag between tips. I haven't taken the summer off, but have been busy on a variety of projects with which I won't bore you. I also haven't seen anything about leadership that made me decide that I needed to drop everything and tell you about it. If you spot interesting pieces dealing with leadership, send me a link and I'll share it. This piece by Poynter's Butch Ward, about reorganizing beats, finally prompted me to action. If you do reorganize beats in your newsroom, you might also consult these older resources or suggest them to reporters starting on new beats:
* Reorganization help from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
* My "Mastering Your Beat" handout.
* My "Beat Basics and Beyond" course for News University:

Among the things that have kept me busy this summer are the first three API Our Readers Are Watching seminars, subsidized by a grant from the Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation. Aly Colón of the Poynter Institute has joined me in presenting two-day ethics seminars for newsrooms in Hickory, N.C., Blair, Neb., and Spokane, Wash. Future seminars are scheduled at the Houston Chronicle and Florida Times-Union. If you want to bring one of these low-cost seminars to your newsroom, email me or give me a call at (703) 715-3300. Whether you bring us to your newsroom or not, you might find the handout for our session for editors helpful.