Virtual Expert: Larry Dreiling

Larry Dreiling of High Plains Journal won first place in the Internet Breaking News category in the 2004 AAEA Writing Awards Program.

The planning stage: Please give some background on why you chose the story topic that won your award. What gave you the idea for that topic? What were your goals when you began to plan the story?

I didn't choose the topic. I was assigned to cover the annual Wheat Industry Conference and Trade Show and write a "blog" on it. The key was to cover the breaking news at the conference for people who could not attend.

The fact gathering stage: How did you choose the people to interview for your story? What were your primary sources of information? Did you use the Web? How and where did you conduct interviews? Did you do the interviews face-to-face, phone, or email, and which is best? How did you get information and good quotes from your sources? How did you determine whom to interview, and when did you know that you had done enough interviewing/researching?

Primarily, I covered the meetings, using what background I had on the subject matter to make the stories clearer. By being alert and knowing a bit of the subject to begin with, I had a good idea of what to cover.

The writing stage: Why or how did you choose the story lead? Did you outline the story or organize the general flow ahead of time, before you began to write? What writing style did you choose, and why? How many re-writes did you do? How did you choose sidebar stories? Did you have an editor or colleague review your story, offer suggestions, look for holes in your reporting? How do you check facts?

The order of the story was by the time. As breaking news, you have to concentrate on the important and leave behind the unimportant. There wasn't any time for rewrites.

How did you begin your career? What advice do you have for those just graduating in ag comm? What does it mean to be a member of AAEA? How do you maintain a high standard of ethics in your writing and your career?

I started out as a broadcast journalist in 1977, but decided that print would be more fulfilling. I had worked in small towns all my career and ag is a part of any small town newspaper or broadcast outlet. For the graduates out there, I'd say I hope you've sought out good internships beforehand. Internships are a real key to getting the first super-good job once you've graduated.

As a former AAEA president, I can say that membership is among the best things I ever did for my career. It has helped me make contacts in the industry. Through AAEA's membership in IFAJ, I've traveled to places I never would have imagined right out of college. It's been an amazing career so far and AAEA has definitely enriched it.

Maintaining an ethical standard isn't all that difficult when you remember two little rules: Be truthful. Be fair.