Jody Heemstra

Welcome back, everyone, to Coffee with COJO. And today we have another special guest with us and I will let her introduced herself. Well, hello, this is Jody Heemstra and I graduated with an agricultural journalism major. I put an emphasis on radio, but that was way back in May of 1998. So I've been doing news, radio news, broadcast news for over 25 years now. Wow. You've been sticking with it? Yeah. There was a couple of years that I straight off the path for a little bit, but.

Well, we can talk about that later. It's obviously I'm back, so. Yes. So Hobo Week is this upcoming weekend when we're recording. Are there any special memories you have? Yes. You and the Hobo Day celebrations. You know, there's just always so much activity and enthusiasm and so many things to do. And, you know, the parade is always fantastic. And, you know, you always want to win the football game. And seeing everybody in blue and gold and in the stands and cheering all of that stuff is fun.

Yeah, we're having a great football season this year. Have you been keeping up with any of the games? I've been seeing some scores and a lot of happy Jack's fans that that I know. So hopefully we keep rolling and end the season in Texas. Coming home with the trophy again. That would be fantastic. That would be great. And based on how India's season is going, who lost against U.S., they might not even get to join us this year.

That's my hope, at least. You know, as long as we come home with the trophy, I guess they don't care who's on the other side of the field. That's fair. So you talked a little bit that you had a break from broadcasting. So you tell us your professional journey post-graduation. I started my professional journey after graduation in Millbank, South Dakota. It's a little radio station comedy and small town radio, you know, obviously a very intense local focus.

I, you know, spent hours chatting with the local sheriff's office and police departments and this up at the high school, in the middle school and the Catholic school and city council meetings and school board meetings and different things like that.

And with the agriculture background that I had and going for the ag journalism degree, I, of course, put an emphasis on agriculture any time I could from crop conditions to talking to farmers after a storm went through or just how's harvest look in your house planting going, you know, things like that. I was there for about a year and a half and then.

Following that, I had a small stay at a station in Sioux Falls and a small stay at the station in Iowa and then ended up in Watertown for about 13 years working at Cato Radio there. And that, I think is really where I, I grew. I feel like I grew up in radio there and really solidified my my love for the industry, my love for agriculture, radio in particular.

And just. Networking and being out and being at the meetings and talking to the producers and talking to the kids for its achievement days are at an FFA event or, you know, different things like that. That was that was a lot of fun doing that. I started in Watertown doing regular news, so to speak. You know, the city, the school, the county, those types of court docket, you know, that kind of stuff.

And upon the retirement of the then farm director, I was given the opportunity to be the first woman farm director for KW and held that role for I think it was about eight, eight or nine years, something like that, while I was there and then had an opportunity to work in Grand Forks, North Dakota, with the Red River Farm Network, a regional agriculture news network covering North Dakota, South Dakota and Minnesota was kind of their South Dakota.

Liaison connections are still got to maintain conversations with a lot of the producers, a lot of the ag organizations, the newsmakers, the stakeholders that I had been chatting with through my career as farm director at Watertown.

I then had the opportunity to work for the State Department of Agriculture for a couple of years as the communications person there back when it was still just the South Dakota Department of Agriculture did that for a couple of years and gained some great connections and insights into state government and how things work there and how to communicate in a politically charged environment. And then now have been at DRG Media Group CG effects and stations in PIR for just over six years now.

Wow. You've gotten to do a little bit of traveling within the Midwest. Absolutely. I like the choice of politically charged communication. That was pretty delicate. You got to showcase your public relations skills there. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's it's definitely a different feel being on that side, being the one writing the news releases and being the one getting interviewed instead of doing the interview. It was definitely a different, different feel to it.

I still had the opportunity to, like I said, chat with many of the ag stakeholders still, you know, did a little bit of traveling, learned a lot about the South Dakota State Fair, which was fantastic. I learned a lot about wildland fire in South Dakota, those folks and the work they do, forestry, you know, just a lot of different parts of the ag industry that I thought I maybe kind of knew a little bit about but really didn't know much about at all.

So that was that was a great opportunity, you know, a fun experience. But it's nice to be back here in good old fashioned traditional broadcast radio for sure. Finalized that that's where you want to be. So it's great to try those new experiences. Absolutely. You know, you don't know if you you know, unless you try. And it was you know, it was fun. It was worth it. You stayed around the Midwest.

Can you tell us a little bit about where you were originally from and what got you interested in agriculture journalism? I grew up on a diversified dairy farm about halfway between Sioux Falls and Mitchell went to high school at Bridgewater. Back then, it was just Bridgewater High School was very active in showing by horse and forage as I got older.

Of course, in the high school FFA, I've said my entire life joining FFA was the best thing I did for myself in high school as far as learning speaking for each too,

but primarily FFA for its. I was more into the showing of the animals than the speaking parts, and FFA was more of the speaking parts, but teamwork and coordination and, you know, working together and the value of connections and camaraderie, you know, those sort of things, FFA, their things, FFA teachers without obviously teaching, they're just things you learn, you pick up, had the opportunity to be the first ever female president of the Bridgewater FFA chapter, which was quite an honor.

There was a lot of women ahead of me that could have done that job and many followed after me, but I just happened to be the one that broke the ceiling there. So that was kind of kind of an interesting, fun experience. And, you know, I spent a lot of time in the dairy barn helping dad, you know, milk the cows or we were out on a good old fashioned John Deere a tractor or a 730, you know, with no cab and, you know, out in the field cutting hay or raking hay or baling and things like that.

And I guess I just credit it to my dad because there was always a radio in the milk room. There was always a radio on on the tractors, whether they had a cab or not. There was always a radio. Dad would get the radio that you could bolt onto the fender of the old tractor. And it was there was just always a radio on. You maybe couldn't change the channel. And it got a little staticky sometimes, but there was always a radio.

To keep you company. And when he got one that did AM or FM, that was a big deal back in those days. Like, well, I can listen to FM radio too. But it was just always there. And I didn't really realize that until I started thinking in high school, when they start asking you the What do you want to be when you grow up? Questions Seriously and did a Shadow Day in the Sioux Falls ads KXAN Radio back then with Ben and Patty and that just kind of that sealed it.

Time was with them was so much fun and had an opportunity to spend some time with a radio station in Norfolk, Nebraska for a week while staying with my older sister and brother in law down there. Another fantastic experience are just opportunities and reminders about why, you know, why traditional radio, why this is important, why we do what we do and. Yes. That's just that's kind of what brought me there, I guess. Sounds like a good foundation to be building off of.

Yeah, I sure try. You know, like, I know a little bit about horses, a little bit about cattle, a little bit about a lot of things, you know. And that's part of the fun, I think too, is I am by no means an expert in anything. And that's not my job. My job is to be a vessel for the expert to get their information out to the the producers or the parents in the school district or the citizens of, you know, the town they're living in, whatever the case may be.

Whatever we're talking about that particular day, you know, that's I ask the questions. It may seem like an obvious question or a silly question, but I ask the question because I, you know, always think there's somebody out there that's wondering and they want the answer. So I ask the question, but I ask and always ask so that the experts, the person I'm interviewing is the star of the show.

The less I, I say, the better, because I'm there to chat with and share the details and the information and expertise of the person I'm traveling with. Sounds like you treat your job as a public service to others. You're very focused on the servant side and you're not there for yourself, but there to help everyone else around you. Exactly. And that's part of the responsibility of traditional over the air radio stations, AM, FM, you know, all of us, the FCC requires us to be there.

We are here to serve the public. We keep files and details of information on how we're doing that, addressing various community needs, concerns, things like that. But it is very much a service that I enjoy being. Being a part of during COVID really brought to light just how valuable our traditional media are.

Especially, of course I default to radio there, but because we were immediately, immediately in the first, you know, beginning of, you know, the pandemic when, you know, everybody's trying to figure out who's what, where and who can be required to go to work immediately, radio broadcasters were immediately essential workers.

They're going to work. And so that kind of, you know, severe weather and things like that had, you know, drilled in the importance of what we do to we throughout the years and various other topics as well.

But COVID is the most recent thing that really made it hit home about the importance of the job we do and how many people are still listening and still value and still wanting to know what's going on and trusting their local radio and local media outlets versus some of the shenanigans and things that happen at more of the large regional and national levels.

The mainstream folks, I don't know how they get away with doing what they do, but I would be fired quite quickly if I did my job like some of them somedays and and I should be. My basis is factual, unbiased. It is not an op ed. This is not an editorial. This is not an opinion piece. I really, really strive hard to, regardless of any personal thoughts, I have to be right down the middle and just say, this is the fact and this is the fact.

There you go. Now you folks decide what you want to do or believe with that information. Yeah, You talk about managing your personal bias, which is definitely something that's disgusting. Classes. What recommendations or what have you found that works for you to manage your personal bias when you're interviewing someone or sharing the facts?

I try very much to just be cognizant of my own personal bias and be careful about how I ask questions so as not to show that bias as best as I can to keep that in the background. Don't be afraid to repeat a question if you're not quite sure how they answered or if you think I might ask that too. Trying to influence an answer to come out one way or another. Kind of like some poll questions people get. You know, sometimes you can tell they're obviously weighted to solicit some sort of answer.

I try absolutely not to do that. Try to stay. I used to say up the middle, because there's, you know, one side or the other. Now there's many sides. So I still try to stay in the middle. It was told very early in my career by a news director that is a dear friend and mentor. David Jay Law was incredible and hope he and his lovely wife are enjoying retirement. But he said if both sides are mad at you, you're doing it right.

Or so both sides are thinking. You're for the other guy. You're doing it right because they obviously think you're not for them. And so I guess I've just kind of always tried to stay in the middle like that and just provide once again the service. I'm. I'm. Medium for getting out the information. And the people I am talking to, they are the experts.

I like that. That piece of advice of if you don't have both sides, either with you or against you, someone's obviously thinking you're leaning one way to look at it. And there's always going to be folks, you know, you've got your extremes on any topic. It does. It doesn't matter, you know, and the extreme folks will think you're this for this side or that side or the other things, and you can't let that part of it bother you too much. But stick with your core values.

Know what your core values are, what you are willing to do, how far you're willing to put yourself out there, how far you're willing to maybe push the edges of a topic and and stay true to that. You mentioned quite a few people in that section as well as previous questions we've talked about who have helped you and supported you or guided you.

Can you talk a little bit about how networking has helped you and any specific instances that you didn't expect them to be helpful, but they ended up bringing a new light to how you saw your job? Interesting. It's been a lot. There's been a lot of interviews over the years and a lot of friendships and camaraderie built throughout the years.

I would say most recently, folks that really still influence what I do, especially on the agriculture journalism side of things had the opportunity to visit with Max Armstrong, well-known national broadcaster, more than once. Max is fantastic, stellar, stellar broadcaster, always has a great insight to provide. The National Association of Farm Broadcasting is an organization that I've been active in for 15 years plus now.

At this point in the networking and relationship building, there has been just incredible because, you know, a lot of us are we're one person. It's a one person newsroom. We're sitting here by ourselves trying to be all things and do all things.

And so having folks that you can talk to you that you know, relate to how it's going, what you know, what's happening in your day, that sort of thing is always, always beneficial, you know, just the networking and who you know and who knows you and making it clear with your work that you enjoy what you're doing and you are doing it with a purpose for providing the information folks need for their daily lives,

you know, whether it be weather, financial issues or, you know, any number of topics that way, it's just over the course of time you just meet so many people and you can walk to so many places.

You know, I'll use the state fair as an example. You know, just over the years you meet people and, you know, various commodity organizations, folks that are the president of their board for a year or two or something like that, and you've interviewed them and you just kind of maintain that connection and you just always talk. And so you go places and even just random randomly chatting.

I can't tell you how many times I've gotten a news tip news lead or just a completely awesome news story, whether it be serious or fun or somewhere in between, just because somebody was just chatting with somebody and they happen to mention something, I'm like, What? Tell me more about that. You know, do be willing to talk about that. Can we do an interview? Don't be afraid to ask.

As quite often people are going to be surprised that you're interested in what they're talking about that way, thinking it can be. It's a big enough deal to be a news story.

You know, a lot of feature stories have come about that way, which has been, you know, a ton of fun being able to, you know, chat with the parents of a young man who got a specialized wheelchair because a South Dakota Department of Transportation coworker is a super mechanical kind of guy and was just able to just put something together. He knew what the boy needed and put something together.

I mean, stories like that, they just keep you going, you know, on the there's frustrating days and political stuff can be draining and other things. You know, we've had some awful tragedies around this area, this this past year that I've had to report on. And those those are hard. They're they are not fun. But you just you go back to the networking, the people, the talking, the ideas, and it just it brings you back.

Yeah, I think that's great advice to share, to have that group of people to lean on when you are having difficulties or just sharing something that's going well too. Most definitely, yeah. I and I have a network of fellow radio and television news broadcast folks from all over the States, and we've been sharing stories and sharing. You know, it started out with a phone call and sending audio down the phone line and faxing a script to them, and it's evolved.

To writing stories and, you know, sending them to each other via email. So whether it be Yankton, Brookings, Watertown, Sioux Falls, Sturgis, here in PIR Vermillion, you know, Aberdeen, there are local news folks. You know, again, because we're one person. Traditionally for most of us. And our job, again, is to provide service to the public, help the public, provide them with the information.

And while we're all competing for the same advertising dollars, which Stephanie definitely we are, it just makes us all sound better and serve our public better when we're sharing information with each other. And, you know, for instance, Senator John Thune, there'd be no reason to take up his time with 15 different interviews about the same subject.

So one of us, you know, being on his schedule and having an interview and being able to talk with him and then writing the story and disseminating that out to the rest of us is just helps with limited amount of time for all of us. You know, we're all sharing the information and making the best use of our time that we can. You know, that kind of networking and and camaraderie is is the you can't put a price on that.

That's great. Do you have advice for students currently in school and how to start building those different connections? You know, I think of like you students now and just think you're already on it, more so than we ever were, you know, when I was still in school. And, you know, even in the last ten years, you folks have grown up on social media, immediate messaging and instant gratification and being able to communicate.

You're making connections and building relationships with people you've never even met. Just because it's easy to do over the various social media platforms. I really think you folks are light years ahead of where we started as far as making those connections and always take the time to introduce yourself to someone in your field. Whether it's a long conversation or a short one you've at least met. You can touch base. You just don't know when that you know down the road.

It may be something that, you know, you're looking to try something new or they'll they're looking for a new employee and they think, you know, I chatted with Ana from SDSU and she was really bright. I liked the vibe I got from her. I want to call her and see if she's interested. You just don't ever know how things are going to turn around and come back to you. It was it was through the networking that I had done with South Dakota AG and Rural Leadership and the various ag commodities.

That is what brought me from Grand Forks to appear to work for the State Department of Agriculture. So like I said, keep those connections, foster them. You'll have a good sense of, you know, especially which, you know, special tier direction you want your career to go. You'll have a sense of, you know, which folks are going to be most aligned with that and would have maybe the most knowledge and opportunity to pay attention.

Talk to them. Don't be afraid to reach out after you've had a conversation. If you've gotten a business card from them in one way or form or another. However, business cards are done now these days. Do you know some are an actual card, some are a QR code now, different different ways. But don't be afraid to reach out afterwards. You know, a day or later that day or a couple of days later, drop the email and say, Hey, I really enjoyed chatting with you.

Just wanted to say thanks. You have a great day. You know, it doesn't have to be complicated, but it helps cement their knowledge and memory of you into their world. And like I said, those connections come back well, whether you're expecting them to or not. So if you ever feel like you're behind, just know that Jody thinks world light years ahead. Yes. And any connections you have can be useful. And it's not as complicated as it seems.

Yeah, exactly. You know, you know, I went to a professional development session not that long. Is. Feels like not that long ago. It was probably longer ago than what I think. But when part of the conversation was we were talking about ways of communicating. And literally part of that session was how good old fashioned actual face to face verbal conversations are still one of the most important things you can do.

And I think with radio now, especially media, especially the mainstream media, which I don't even like to call a lot of the media, I think what we do with the charged environment we have on so many different topics, whether it be race or politics or immigration or any of those any of those topics. I truly believe that what we as local news broadcast journalists say and do now is more important than it has ever been. In history, we still pride ourselves in facts and caring about our audience.

And words matter. Word selection matters. Voice inflection matters. And with websites and social media and all that stuff now, too, you have to spell things correctly. And you have to, you know, grammar and punctuation are a thing now, too, Whereas maybe when I started in radio, all I had to do was be able to pronounce it the right way and we were good to go. But now you add the prints and the visual and all of that to it too.

But it still comes down to just the importance of of the facts and providing the information that, you know, your local area, your local people want to know. But also, remember, you're one person. You can't be everywhere. You can't do everything. You cannot get them all being them, all being stories. You don't have to like it that you are one person and can't be everywhere and can't get them all.

But you're one person. Keep that in mind too, because work life balance and mental health are also very important. We talk about some some hard topics sometimes, so don't be afraid to take that time. You need to let yourself unwind and unplug too. I think that's great advice. There's a lot of times I find myself too, wishing I could do it all and be everywhere at once. And keeping in mind that even in the professional world you can't do everything.

Just kind of stay focused on what you can do. And that's hard. It's a hard lesson to learn, and it's something I still work with, work on every day. So that is great advice and Jody is a great person to be sharing this with us. In 2021, she was the recipient of the Tom Brokaw Award, which is recognizing excellence in broadcasting, especially in the areas of electronic journalism and public affairs.

So Jody has been recognized not only at a local level, but also on a larger scale for all the great work she has done. Thank you. Yeah, that was quite an honor. A total surprise to me when when I received that a few years ago. But a really super, you know, wonderful. It's not very often that, you know, the positive or the the thank you type thank you type situation comes your way and in media or in life in general.

So when it does it's it's always special. Yeah. We appreciate you being here with us today. I want to say thank you formally. You deserve it. Before we head out here, is there any last advice you would like to share with students or any stories you would like to share? Oh, you know, I've especially through the the farm broadcasting side of things, but the regular, quote unquote, regular local news beat as well. I have had the opportunity to chat with so many people.

I mean, there's the hard news things that you have to do. But getting to chat with, you know, in interview one on one, the U.S. DEA, Farm Service Agency administrator, he's from South Dakota. You know, having the opportunity to just sit down with with Zach Juneau and just chat. U.S. AG Secretary Tom Vilsack, super personable guy. You can just sit and visit. Talking to the first year marriage kid, dual county Ford Achievement.

There's one year in Clear Lake. This kid had a little calf and he was adorable and was interviewing him. And the calf leaned its head over and kind of pushed on him and he put his hands up and gave the calf a high five with his hand. And he's like, did it to the calf and the calves ear. And he's like, He just gave me an ear. Fine. That's what we do. That's how we show. We're excited. An ear five. Okay. You know, it's you just don't know who you're going to talk to in a day.

And you may think you have your stuff planned out for the day and then something comes up and you got to be willing to roll with it. This podcast is the property of the School of Communication and Journalism at South Dakota State University, which reserves all rights to its use. Music by Cody M Johnson and Tyler Addison. James is licensed through AP Music.