Do you know what it is like to meet a celebrity?

We Pulitzer Prize winner Art Cullen. He is an owner and writer for The Storm Lake Times and also the author of the book, Storm Lake.

When faced with the opportunity to meet someone with notable status it is imperative that you make the most of the opportunity. You have to ask the right questions, laugh at all the jokes, and make a connection if you can. Meeting Art Cullen was great.  It was wonderful hearing his political drive and his take on agriculture. Cullen started his investigative writing, which led him to the Pulitzer, with a search for clean water. He followed a lawsuit between The Des Moines Water Works, a water plant in Des Moines, and tillage districts in Northwest Iowa (notably the Storm Lake area). I think what made this story such a commitment for Cullen is that he grew up in a farm family. He knows what it takes to manage land and produce yield that is going to provide for the family. As a citizen he also knows what clean water means. It is a balance of responsibility and accountability.

While being with Cullen I should’ve taken the to question about how he fights against the negative stereotypes that come along with journalism. As a journalist what you write as a news story cannot be incorrect. Incorrect or unsupported defamatory statements cannot be published and if it is a newspaper could lose its credibility and face very serious implications like a law suit or jail time for the journalist. When listening to him speak I trusted a lot of what he was saying and valued his opinions because of his professions. He has the sources and the evidence he needs to validate what he says. I speculate the most challenging part of his job is be balanced reporter and making sure that other writers at his newspaper do the same. In a community where there is such a diverse population of citizens how do you know you’re incorporating concerns or news that directly affect those communities.

So much goes into journalism and it is a tough job. It is art that has to be mastered and I am confident that Art Cullen has done that. The platform that he has been placed on is further being used to spread the word of things that impact all of Iowa, the state of water quality, something that he proves to be passionate about.

Journalism is given a bad rap these days, and it unfair to all of the writers out there who work diligently on their craft. Journalist and writers like Art Cullen prove that fair honest news reporting still happens. Education in journalism is necessary to be a good active citizen and knowing what good practices looks and sounds like is the best way to judge trusted news sources.