Virtual Expert: Lisa Prater

Lisa Prater of Successful Farming magazine placed first in the Regular Column category in the 2005 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 learned about Little Hands on the Farm from a press kit I got from the Iowa State Fair, and thought it looked like a great exhibit. Originally, I planned to visit the exhibit and just take a few photos for an online slideshow.

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?

I saw a nice family waiting in line, introduced myself, and asked if I could tag along through the exhibit and take their photos. They agreed, and we were off. I followed them through all the Little Hands stations, taking pictures along the way and jotting down notes and quotes. There was really no formal interview - I just chatted with the family throughout the exhibit. The family had two young boys, as did I, so that was a good conversation starter.

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?

When I got back to the office, I picked the best photos and organized them in chronological order, then wrote a caption for each. I had such a positive experience that I decided to write a column to accompany the photos. I tend to write in a personal, conversation-like style, which worked well for this topic. I don't think I did any rewrites ... just reviewed the story for errors. I didn't think about it too much, and it just sort of came together. I didn't have any colleagues review the story, but did send a checking copy to the family.

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?

Although I didn't grow up on a farm, much of my family is involved in farming and ranching, and I now live on a small farm. I got my BA in Mass Communication from Grand View College in Des Moines, IA, then landed my first job as an assistant to the president of an advertising agency that specialized in ag-related clients. I was with the agency for five years, and my job evolved and changed over time. I wound up writing and doing some designing and programming for the agency's Web division, when the Internet was fairly new to most of us. I wanted to spend more time writing, and was hoping to get into the magazine business, when I stumbled across the position here at Successful Farming. The rest is history.

I didn't follow the traditional path to ag journalism, but I guess my advice would be not to expect to find the perfect job right out of the gate. I didn't go to college to be an administrative assistant, but that's the job I started with. I had a great relationship with my boss - he saw the potential for me to do bigger and better things, and allowed me to try just about anything I wanted. I got some experience under my belt, then was able to land the job I really wanted.

As far as maintaining ethics goes, you just have to follow your moral compass. It sometimes gets tricky when writing about advertisers, but as long as you're fair and look at both sides, you'll come out OK. It also helps to have good leaders in your company who can give you advice when you need it.

Any other advice for young people considering a career in ag communications?

Ag journalism is such a wide-open category. You can do anything from hard-hitting investigations to fun features, depending on your personality and writing style. Try as many different things as you can, and you'll find your niche. It's a good feeling knowing that some of the things you write actually help people, either by providing them with knowledge that will help them with their farm business, or by sharing human stories that they can relate to and draw strength from.