Virtual Expert: Linda Smith

Linda Smith of Top Producer magazine was awarded first place in the Economics & Management category in the 2006 AAEA Writing Awards Program.

The planning stage: Why/how did you choose the topic? What were your goals going into the story?

We increasingly have been hearing about commodity funds' impacts on the ag futures markets. Yet our readers knew little about the funds (and neither did we), so we were thinking about doing some investigation into who they were, where the money was coming from, what their trading practices were, etc.

Then a colleague mentioned Jim Rogers and his book "Hot Commodities." A profile of Rogers seemed like the perfect way to bring the story to life and give it luster. I read the book and set up a meeting with Rogers in New York City and visited him on a scorching August morning - conducting the interview while he rode his stationary bike in a third-floor greenhouse that's part of his townhouse overlooking the Hudson River. It must have been well over 100 degrees and he was dressed in sweats - right down to his hands. Eccentric millionaire? Yes.

All our profiles aim to have business take-home in them, whether the subjects are best-selling authors, CEOs of major agribusiness firms or successful producers. Certainly, his outlook for a coming agricultural boom would have take-home and an impact on producers, but I wanted to help farmers learn more about the funds and their day-to-day effects on the markets.

Fact-gathering: How did you find/choose sources? Did you interview face-to-face, phone, e-mail, and which works best? Do you record interviews? Any tips for getting good quotes? When do you know it's time to stop researching?

I embarked on intensive Internet- and phone-based research into all aspects of funds and their effects. I stopped researching when my mind felt like a giant mud pit!

Next came sorting out what I could and could not work into the story. Two things I posted to our "Web Extra" section at www.ToProducer.com were a description of the different "flavors" of funds and a link to the Harvard study that helped commodities become mainstream investments. A lot more fell on the cutting room floor.

I tried to bring Rogers to life (though most of the in-person color hit the floor) yet deliver plenty of take-home for our farmer readers.

Practical matters:

Getting good quotes: Find sources who are well-spoken! Let them talk - a lot. Often the best quote comes after you've started to say goodbye.

Writing heads/subheads/leads etc.: My favorite trick is to look for a colorful phrase in a quote from my main sources. Otherwise, I jot down images, colors, metaphors, etc. When I'm really desperate, I ask my teen-aged son, who is interested in marketing, for ideas (often derived from movies or music).

I tend to outline at least in my head and sometimes on paper, the progression of the story. Then I do an "interview dump," typing in much more than I need. That's followed by tightening up. Either following the full dump or the first cutting, my editor reads and critiques. Then a check copy goes to sources, and the artist receives everything for layout. Finally, most stories go through another tightening up in the layout stage.

I do like sidebars because they give you another chance to catch a reader's eye and to break up a long article.

Background/professional development:

I often joke that I became a journalist by accident. My degree was in teaching secondary school English. As a student teacher, barely turned 20, teaching junior high students, and being a quick learner, it didn't take long for me to figure out that wasn't what I was going to be doing full time.

Leveraging the English part of the background, I looked for a job proofreading, copy editing, etc. and landed one as an assistant in the Crops Department at Farm Journal. It wasn't too long before Gary Reynolds asked if I wanted to try some writing. Economics and marketing were really catching on at the time and that's where I focused. I took courses at the Wharton School (of business) to develop the theoretical background and got the farm piece on the job.

Ag journalists are a great bunch of people and we are lucky to be writing for a great bunch of people, too. Sharing perspectives and tips with AAEA members is always useful and a pleasurable experience. The association has had some excellent speakers and self-improvement sessions, as well. And when judges take the time to honestly critique your work, you can learn a lot from your entries.

I'd like to encourage our younger and newer members to use the membership list to find e-mails and phone numbers and to feel free to contact any of the more experienced members when they aren't sure how to get past a hitch, deal with writer's block, etc.