How To Get Fully Immersed in Writing for Ag
By Greg Horstmeier, ACN Member and Editor-in-Chief and Digital Newsroom at DTN
We asked Greg Horstmeier how he helps new creators and writers transition into writing for Ag. Here is his advice for new Ag communicators.
“The first thing any budding agricultural journalist needs to understand is that the career they are stepping into is unique in journalism. That’s important for someone just out of college, and perhaps even more so for someone who may be coming to this business from another area of journalism or communications. How is it unique?
This isn’t simple B2B trade journalism. Because of the nature of farming-that it is a living as well as a lifestyle in every sense of those words-farm reporting often takes the reporter to places that our colleagues in construction or industrial or medical journalism likely never go.
We don’t just interview in offices. We’re in our source’s living rooms, at their kitchen tables, and sometimes even sleeping under their roof.
Because farmers work where they live, we show up when they’re at their best, and sometimes their worst, as humans. We can be witnesses to incredible acts of bravery, kindness, and celebration. We also can have notepads and cameras present when regretful things happen. And our humanity will wrestle with our professional responsibility to report the truth.
Realize this often isn’t “straight reporting” either. Most of us are not just regurgitating events or describing scenes and leaving it to the reader to cull the chaff from the wheat. We’re increasingly expected to analyze, prioritize, and lessen the time it takes readers to make an informed decision that is critical to their business, their families, or both. As small as the world is today, you won’t long be an anonymous byline. You’ll know fairly quickly when readers think you’ve served them well, and know even faster when they think you’re leading them astray or are working counter to their world.
What else would I share with the new Ag journalist, or anyone thinking of becoming one?
Talk to farmers. Do so as often as you can, for as long as you can. We are required to talk to a lot of people in this business; corporate experts, scientists, and advisors of one stripe or another. None are more critical to your understanding of what is important to farmers, however, than are farmers themselves.
That said, don’t believe everything you’re told. Farmers are a critical source, but they’re far from infallible. Like anyone they can be wrong, and the fact that you quoted them accurately is no excuse for passing along bad information. The same goes for subject experts or anyone you interview. Experts make mistakes. I can’t tell you how many times a veteran weed scientist said “glufosinate” when he or she meant “glyphosate”, or vice versa. The less you know about a subject, the more questions you should ask and the more people you should triangulate information with. Any embarrassment you may feel by appearing to lack knowledge on the front end will pale in comparison to the fallout when you let inaccurate information reach the public.
Check your opinions at the farm gate, but keep that claim check handy. Listen with a neutral mind, and gather information from all relevant corners, but don’t be afraid to enlist your insights and experiences when creating the final product. A good editor can help you know when to use them and when they might be clouding your work.
Balanced reporting does not mean allowing both sides to spout nonsense with impunity. Your readers don’t have time for that, and passing along nonsense helps no one except the spouters of said nonsense. Learn what’s important to pass on, and what to ignore. Ask others when you aren’t sure.”