Interview: Alan Hahn, New York Knicks Beat Writer

Step into the media room at Madison Square Garden, hang out courtside during pregame, or in the New York Knicks locker room afterwards and you'll find Alan Hahn in his element. Actually, at 6-6, you can't miss the Knicks beat writer for Newsday who covered hockey and the New York Islanders for seven seasons before crossing over to the hardwood. And now as the Knicks undergo an extreme home makeover after two tumultuous seasons with Isiah Thomas on the sidelines, Hahn is simply ready "to get back to covering basketball". Can you blame him? In Five Questions, Hahn talks about the daily dramatics of covering the toughest beat in the league, tension between the media and the Knicks organization, almost being killed for a story he wrote, his trusty "The Knicks Fix" blog, and how the newspapers biz will survive these trying times.

Can you best describe what the last two seasons on the Knicks beat have been like for you?

It's been a reporter's dream and a beat writer's nightmare. On one hand you have an endless supply of stories and issues to write about - never a dull moment. But on the other hand, you are spending so much time dealing with peripheral issues and off-the-court stuff that, quite frankly, the actual basketball coverage is lost in the process. I think I might have spent a total of one month that the game stories and off-days focused on basketball and strategy and advancing games. That was in March 2007, when the Knicks made a little bit of a run and - for a day - sat in the eighth playoff spot in the East. But, of course, another distraction was thrown into the mix when James Dolan decided that was a good time to give Isiah Thomas his contract extension. The rest, as they say, is history.

What are you looking forward to the most on the beat next year: an improved media policy, new management in the front office - and on the sidelines - or a revamped roster?

I could say an improved media policy, but in my view that would include massage chairs and sushi at the press table. Since that's not going to happen, I think it will just be refreshing to deal with new management, which you would expect would lead to a new atmosphere at the Garden. I would just like to get back to covering basketball, talking basketball and writing about the rebuilding process of this franchise. There are always going to be off-the-court issues that come and go, but not nearly with the frequency that the previous regime seemed to produce. I'd like to have less rhetoric to hear and more candor, which is what Donnie Walsh is supposed to be all about.

I think there is a lot of healing to be done between this franchise and its fan base and, of course, the media. There was so much mistrust built up between the team and the media that wasn't all Isiah Thomas' fault, but he certainly didn't do anything to smooth things over. It is a different animal here in New York than any other place. You can't play one paper over the other, as they tried to do here for years. You can't play favorites with certain reporters who aren't as critical as others.

The media policy thing is only an issue if the Knicks continue to make it one. This franchise rarely, if ever, allows players to talk one-on-one with reporters or meet with a reporter off-site for a story. They do this to control things because it could get out of hand with so many requests to meet with players. But if you have five beat writers who regularly travel with the team, they should be given more access than those who do not. If our newspapers are spending the money to travel, we should have better access.

There is such a fraternity amongst NBA beat writers. And I know that is true in New York. But you are also in stiff competition to break news and get the story out first. How do you navigate that fine line? And do you think the any of the players really read what you write?

There is a fraternity of sorts, but I think there is also - at least in New York - a greater sense of competition. For the most part it is respectful and understood. You can have beers after a game with a guy who kicked your butt on a story that day. It's part of the job. What makes some relationships tougher than others to maintain is when the person who beat you on the story mocks you in print or grandstands (i.e. that maddeningly pretentious "As The Post first reported"). Or when a reporter shoots down a story in another newspaper because a team official told them to. Bad form.

We can be friends, but we don't work together on stories. We do work together on issues such as access or treatment. I look at it as if we're a typical family (at times there are seven of us in the same place, on the road as many as five). We fight and argue all year. We have days where we hate one and love the other and then hate that one and love the one we hated. Just how it goes.

In the end, we're human beings with a job to do. You respect the guys who work hard and separate the job from the personal relationship. With so much time on the road together, you can't help but have to have some kind of a relationship. As for the players, they'll all say they don't read and I might believe them. But you know they have friends who read. And those friends will make sure to tell them if someone rips them. Other players read everything. Hey, I think you shouldn't write something that you wouldn't say to the guy's face. So if I do write something tough on someone, I have no problem talking it out with a player the next day. That has happened to me a few times in my career.

Early on I made some mistakes and had to learn from them -- one time I had half the Islanders wanting to kill me - but you endure through those times by believing in yourself and the job you are doing. It also helps to have a good sense of humor. Self-deprecating humor. Players will be mad from time to time, but they usually get over it. Unless you were completely irresponsible. Then it's on you.

It seems hating on "blogs/bloggers" is the new black, particularly with Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban brief "blogger" ban during the regular season, and more recently with author Buzz Bissinger versus Deadspin's Will Leitch. As a beat writer (who has a blog himself), what is your thought on "bloggers" - or even more independent basketball websites - covering the league?

I don't mind bloggers at all. In fact, though I don't get paid any extra for writing my blog (The Knicks Fix, read religiously by "Fixers" everywhere) for Newsday, I enjoy it a great deal. To me it's a connection with fans and also an opportunity to comment on issues or offer observations that would not make it into the newspaper. Some beat writers use the blog as an extension of their coverage -- a place to dump all of the minutia that doesn't make it into the paper. I see it as a place for discussion and opinion and going deeper into things -- a feature, a trend or a hot topic -- on a level with the die-hard fans who already know the facts. In the paper, you have to explain everything because you can't assume every person who reads your story knows a great deal about your team.

But on your blog, you can safely assume that you are addressing die-hards. And, with that in mind, if you don't bring knowledge, you will be called out! As far as unaffiliated bloggers go -- those who are not beat writers -- we're in a new world. I don't feel threatened by bloggers, but I do feel they should hold themselves and what they write to the same standard I hold my work. What I mean is, don't make crap up. There are enough people in our business who try to get away with loose facts and heavy speculation. The internet can be a dangerous place to start a rumor, because if one media outlet picks it up it can turn into a brushfire. That's no way to get credibility. You can get it with solid insight and instinct, strong opinion and accurate perception. In other words, if you blog, you are a journalist.

If you write on a blog just so you can tell people you have a blog about the Knicks but fill it with inane rants and biased opinion, you're a glorified bulletin board poster. There is a major, major difference. To be accepted in our business, credibility goes a long way. Notoriety makes you irrelevant.

I don't know if one day all NBA teams will start giving press credentials to bloggers. I think there is still a fine line because how would it stop anyone from creating a "blog" and then demanding a free ticket to the game? I think you either have to be established -- with a solid, consistent following -- or affiliated with a major news company. But compared to when I started in the business -- the internet was just getting started -- a blog certainly gives you a voice and a place to show off your skills as a writer, reporter and, overall, journalist.

Last one for you. How does it feel to work for James Dolan (the New York Knicks owner, whose Cablevision recently purchased Newsday)? And in all seriousness, how do you cope with knowing the current cutbacks and layoffs occurring in the newspaper biz these days?

Mr. Dolan is a fine owner. And that's all I have to say about that. :) But as for the business, we're in a major transition period. We talked about bloggers and that is a big part of the change that is taking place. Newspapers -- sports sections, mainly -- have to find ways to utilize the internet. I think we do a great job of it at Newsday and I might argue we have the best web-based sports section in New York.

We have stories, columns, blogs, video, polls, photo galleries; everything you could need. We update our site with fresh content throughout the day and now have staff writers who submit stuff exclusively for the web. What has yet to be figured out is how to profit as much on the web as we do with ads in the paper.

I personally don't believe newspapers will ever be totally dead. People need something tangible to read and, quite frankly, a BlackBerry or iPhone is too small to navigate through a website of stories. As long as there are commuter trains, there will be newspapers. But it's the content that, to me, will change. With the internet and ESPN and sports talk radio, et al, newspapers are not the place the die hard fan goes to get the final score from last night. So instead it's up to the newspaper to continue to be the source of hard news, of solid, in-depth features and of insightful commentary. The one thing about the newspaper is that you know the writer is with the team every day. You know the writer -- well, most -- can deliver you information not only accurately and clearly, but in an entertaining way. As long as you are a good read, you will have readers. That's why I think people in our business had better put a focus on the writing side and the command of English and, of course, having a "voice" in their writing. This is NOT as easy as it looks.

Anyone can tell me if my team won or lost a game and why. But it takes talent to make someone want YOU to tell them and not anyone else. Not sure if I made myself clear with that, but that's how I feel.

Good writers will always have an audience.