KNOCKING DOWN THE PINS

The pin-trading craze apparently is alive and well in Atlanta--except among the reporters and editors of the hometown paper. At the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, where about 300 editors, writers and photographers are working to put out the daily Olympic editions, the paper’s trading pin is being sold for $5.

Each staffer was given one of the pins, triangular in shape, with the five Olympic colors--black, red, yellow, green and blue--forming the border, the paper’s insignia in the middle. When some reporters asked for additional pins to barter, they were told there would be no staff discount.

An unofficial survey in the main press center found none of the pins being sold.

At the Winter Games in Lillehammer, Norway, two years ago, the paper gave away its pins.