Dear readers,

The old notion “nature abhors a vacuum” is about physics, but it can apply to what’s happening with most high schools in the InterMountain Education Service District.

As the East Oregonian and Hermiston Herald reported online Friday, the local ESD devised a way for high schools in its service area to pay for a reporter to cover sports. The group hired Annie Fowler, former EO sports reporter, who she said she can’t wait to get back in the swing of fall high school sports.

Photos are a big part of sports reporting, and in this case it could come down to community photographers providing the goods.

Fowler, of course, is a veteran sports reporter and can deliver the goods.

The deal has some big gaps — Hermiston, Pendleton and Baker high schools are not participating. And this experiment raises some questions: How independent can Fowler be? Who edits the content before it goes public? Can a coach or athletic director make her change language in her work?

But this is an interesting model to pay for high school sports coverage. Maybe other communities could take from this model and find a way to cover local sports. And because this is public money, the EO and others can pick up the reporting. We’ll sort out how to get those stories on our websites — it still takes real people to do that.

The EO and its related publications are hopeful this goes well. We’re also open to finding a way to partner with other ESDs and schools for sports coverage if the opportunity comes along.

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Phil Wright is the managing editor of the East Oregonian.