Virtual Expert: Cherry Brieser Stout

Cherry Brieser Stout of Prairie Farmer magazine placed first in the Human Interest 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?

As a wise journalism teacher used to instruct me, "Write about what you know." As a lifelong equine enthusiast, I never pass up the chance to write a good horse story. It might take me a while to write it though. That was the case with the Christmas pony. The idea for the story came via a longtime acquaintance, a farmer named Rock Katschnig. A few years ago, Rock told me a cute story about a friend's search for a Christmas pony for his daughter. I filed away the idea for a December story, but didn't get around to following up on it for almost two years. In November '04, I called Rock to pick his brains about the incident and to help open the doors for an interview with his friend. The lesson here is to follow up on story leads and check your files routinely for those yet-to-be-written gems.

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 interviewed the two farmers mentioned in the story. The first time I contacted the farmer with the Christmas pony, he was working in his shop and the reception on his cell phone was poor. We scheduled a second interview at a time when he was more relaxed and prepared to talk. My familiarity with horses and knowing a mutual acquaintance helped make for an easygoing, natural interview. We discussed a photo shoot, but opted instead for a photo from the family album of his daughter receiving the pony on Christmas Eve.

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?

A shorter lead would be better, but I do like the parallel beginning and ending. The lead also sets the stage for a fairly straightforward, chronological account of a farmer's plan to find a Christmas pony for his daughter. I tried to let the story write itself and used quotes as much as possible. The quotes help give it a voice and a sense of the farm characters.

This piece had several re-writes. I kept writing until I felt it had the right tone. I e-mailed a check copy of the story to the sources, a procedure that's typically skipped in the daily grind of the newspaper world, but is standard practice at Farm Progress publications. The checking process revealed that the daughter's name was Emilee, instead of Emily, as I first assumed. Prior to publication, two other editors read the story.

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 as a farm writer on a daily newspaper, which is a good training ground for a monthly farm publication. After five years as a newspaper journalist, I applied for a writing position with an ag agency in a big city. As part of the interview process, I was asked to write an article for Prairie Farmer. Turns out the agency job was all wrong for me, but the article was well received by Prairie Farmer and got me in the door for an interview with the publication. As for AAEA, it's invaluable to be part of a group that encourages professional improvement.

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

Be an avid reader of ag publications, along with at least one good daily newspaper (The Wall Street Journal is hard to beat), a weekly news magazine and try to catch the morning or nightly TV news. Keeping in step with current events will provide large and small insights into your understanding of agriculture and how it fits within the bigger picture.