Inside Root River Current: Our Ag & Water Connection

UPPER MISSISSIPPI RIVER VALLEY – One of the longest stretches of transportation, wildlife habitat and outdoor recreation – the Upper Mississippi River’s shoreline, floodplain forests and scenic attractions – is easily overlooked as being ‘part’ of our region. Still, the nearly 100 miles of river between Lake Pepin at Lake City, Minn. and the Minnesota/Iowa border at Reno Bottoms is key to our economy, our environment and our culture.

Root River Current partners with a variety of reporters, writers and organizations to bring you content that advances its goal of ‘Building Community Through Storytelling’ in Southeast Minnesota. One of those is the Mississippi River Basin Ag & Water Desk – and one of its Upper Midwest reporters is Madeline Heim.

Heim shared her thoughts on journalism and the Ag & Water Desk’s reporting on regional issues during an area gathering this spring. Michael Crowe, Operations Manager, Ag & Water Desk, says, “The longer you go in this business of journalism, the more you realize the most important work comes not from speaking, but listening. At the Ag & Water Desk, one way we embody that is by directly engaging with the communities we cover.”

According to Crowe, “Reporter Madeline Heim has a great example of that. She spoke at a community gathering, sharing insights about her reporting process and recent stories. This is an important commitment to transparency in a time of distrust and rampant misinformation. Here’s Maddy.”

Fair and accurate mindset

At the beginning of March, I got the chance to share my reporting and the work of the Ag & Water Desk at an event celebrating the legacy of Wisconsin conservationist Aldo Leopold.

I spoke to about 40 people at The Nature Place, a scenic spot at the edge of the La Crosse River Marsh in western Wisconsin. We talked about some of my recent stories, the mission of the Desk to bring environmental news to a bigger audience, and what a healthy relationship with the news looks like today.

Reporter Madeline Heim speaking this spring at The Nature Place in La Crosse. (Ag & Water Desk photo)

I usually joke at the start of my talks that there’s a reason I work for a newspaper and not a TV station, and it’s because I’m better at writing than presenting to a crowd. But even if I have to battle a little stage fright, I love getting opportunities like this. 

Too often, journalists assume that people understand how journalism works behind the scenes. It’s about the same level of understanding I have of what doctors do – sure, I know they perform surgeries and make people feel better, but I don’t know much about the specifics of the job.

After many years, wild rice is returning to the backwaters of the Upper Mississippi River.
(Ag & Water Desk photo by Madeline Heim)

In these polarizing times, as trust in media declines, it’s critical to explain how I do my job: that a story starts with a news event or tip, that I interview a variety of sources who can present different perspectives, and that the story goes through a thorough fact-check before it’s published, for example.

My hope is that the more readers understand our process,

the more they can trust us to report accurately and fairly about the issues that matter most to them.

I was excited to chat with folks after my presentation about the environmental issues they follow and how I can better cover them. And I’d love to keep the conversation going. 

If you have a question or comment about my Ag & Water Desk reporting or writing, or a story you think I should tell, I’m all ears!  (Madeline Heim can be reached via email here.)