Virtual Expert: Lon Tonneson

Lon Tonneson of Dakota Farmer won first place in the Editorial Opinion 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 keep story files and keep stuffing newspaper articles, letters and other things into it. A press release on the Open Fields legislation was the spark for the editorial. The files gave me a good starting point for research.

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 checked with the Senator Conrad's offices after the press release came out. I read the bill, reviewed the Web site and Googled the words.

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?

I make a wagon wheel outline -- main point surrounded by the other points I want to try to include. For an editorial, I pound out a first draft to get the passion -- what set me off to start with -- then I go back and rewrite eight or nine times. I let it sit a day if the deadline allows and then go back and polish it. A copy editor then looks at it before it goes to production.

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 in newspapers -- the college paper, then weeklies. The pay was so bad at weeklies I freelanced to help make ends meet. It led to a job offer. AAEA offers some professional training and is a good place to meet other people in the business. ItÅfs important to always try to improve your interviewing, reporting and writing skills. Ethics: Whether I write a news, new-product or a crop production article, I keep in mind that someone may take some action based on what they read. They may buy a product or change a management practice. I try to make sure that I donÅft mislead them.

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

Get involved in journalism outside the classroom -- college newspapers, magazines, yearbooks, freelancing, etc. It makes the courses more relevant and gives you a jump-start on real world experience.