January 2004 – Page 2 – Funk Library

ACDC News – Issue 04-11

Posted on January 31, 2004 by Elizabeth Ray

On the lagging access to broadband in rural U.S.

“The incredible growth of Internet access across the country has been fairly even between urban and rural areas,” according to an October 2003 report that we have added from The Main Street Economist. “Growth in broadband use, on the other hand, has been far less even. From 2000 to 2001, high-speed connections grew 9.4% in urban areas but just 4.9% in rural areas. Currently, less than 5% of towns with up to 10,000 residents have access to broadband. And areas that are both small and remote rarely have access to high-speed services.”

The author described several new technologies that may serve as alternatives to traditional wire lines.

Reference: On the “Database Search” page of this web site, use a title search (Update on rural broadband) or author search (Abraham) for the full citation. The article was posted on: www.kc.frb.org

Insights of agricultural editors needed more than ever.

“The developments in biotechnology only skim the surface of the revolution that is occurring in information,” said Martin Maleska of Primedia Inc. at the National Agri-Marketing Association (NAMA) conference in Kansas City, Missouri, during April. “With the proliferation of information, what’s needed more than ever is the insight of knowledgeable, experienced people, such as our agricultural magazine editors, to help provide insight to our readers as to what that information can mean to them and how they can best use it.”

Elsewhere in the report, editors of some Primedia agricultural magazines offered brief perspectives on the adoption of biotechnology in agriculture.

Reference: Use a title search (Commentary: biotech advantages) or author search (Brandon) for the full citation. The commentary was posted on: http://deltafarmpress.com/news

What triggers the media.

Some stories about food safety and other public health risks “take off” spectacularly in the media. In a book chapter about understanding responses to risk, Peter Bennett cited nine “media triggers” that have been identified by research. Situations that raise questions of blame may be the most important among them, he said.

Reference: Use a title search (Understanding responses) or author search (Bennett) for the full citation.

Ag radio for Afghan farmers.

Radio remains the most popular and effective means of communications throughout Afghanistan. More than 80 percent of Afghan livelihoods are derived from agriculture. So now, after restrictions of recent years, radio stations of that nation are looking to agricultural programming to help achieve food security, improve nutrition and boost incomes. We have added to the ACDC collection a report of a recent workshop on agricultural journalism for radio reporters in Afghanistan.

Reference: Use a title search (Ag radio reaches out) for the full citation. Posted on: www.usaid.gov

Testimony to the extension concept.

L. Mishra, former dean of extension education in India, shared these enduringly timely insights in a 1997 Journal of Extension Education article that we added recently to the ACDC collection:

Extension education lives in villages not in the college campus.
Extension believes in the group approach and joint effort to achieve goals.
A piece of successful extension work acts as a “spark plug” with radiating effect.
Extension lives in the heart of people.

Reference: Use a title search (Glimpse of past) or author search (Mishra) for the full citation.

The time is ripe

To ensure that women in developing countries can enter the information age, according to an international study for the U.S. Agency for International Development. In a 120-page analysis, authors Nancy Hafkin and Nancy Taggart examined gender aspects of the Digital Divide. They identified ways in which new information technologies can improve the lives of women and their families through employment opportunities, political empowerment, reduced isolation and other benefits.

Reference: Use a title search (Gender, information technology) or author search (Hafkin) for the full citation. The study was posted on: www.usaid.gov

Bringing communications literature into the agriculture mainstream.

Day by day, year by year, communications is gaining visibility and focus within the body of agricultural literature. We are pleased to report that the Agriculture Network Information Center (AgNIC) now includes an “agricultural communications” subject area.

AgNIC is a collaborative alliance involving the National Agricultural Library of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, land-grant universities and associations. It seeks to provide access to quality agriculture-related information and resources by the Internet. Several years ago AgNIC approved our proposal to establish and maintain an agricultural communications subject area, with the Ag Com Documentation Center as a key resource. The University of Illinois, as partner site, provides primary support for this subject area.

Take a look at “AgCom on AgNIC” www.agnic.org via the search option, using the term “communications.” It features more than 120 live links to sources of information about agricultural communications. And it is a work in progress. We welcome your reactions and suggestions – and your cooperation – in helping users gain easier and greater access to research and other information about the communications aspects of agriculture.

Recognizing contributors.

The ACDC web site now features communicators who have contributed personal collections to the Center during the past 23 years. Through biographical sketches on individual pages, you can learn about the careers of nine contributors. This project began during March and will continue as we gather information to recognize those who are serving their profession in this important, enduring way.

Reference: Go to the “Our Collection” page and use the live links to visit pages that feature individual contributors.

A salary review

In closing, here is a question for those interested in the communications programs of U.S. agriculture colleges.

Question: What salaries did agriculture college editors receive in 1920?

Please forward your estimate of average salary level to docctr@library.uiuc.edu. We will report the answer in a future issue of ACDC News.

Communicator activities approaching:

June 20-24, 2004
“ACE’s High in Nevada.” 2004 International Meeting of the Association for Communication Excellence in Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Life and Human Sciences (ACE) at Lake Tahoe, Nevada USA.
Information: www.aceweb.org

June 23-24, 2004
Agricultural Communications Summit, held in conjunction with the ACE convention (above). The summit will provide an opportunity for facilitated discussion and planning to position the profession for success in the preparation of tomorrow’s agricultural communicators.
Information: www.ag-communicators.org

June 23-26, 2004
Summer meeting of National Association of Farm Broadcasters (NAFB) in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Information: Pam Jahnke at 608-441-3746.

July 18-21, 2004
NRECA Marketing and Communication Excellence Conference in Columbus, Ohio USA. Sponsored by the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association for electric cooperative marketers, communicators and member services staff.
Information: www.nreca.org

Best regards and good searching.

Please pass along your reactions, suggestions and ideas for ACDC. Feel free to invite our help as you search for information. And please suggest (or send) agricultural communications documents that we might add to this unique collection. Send

hard copies to:
Ag Com Documentation Center
510 LIAC Library
1101 S. Goodwin Avenue
Urbana, IL 61801
or electronic copies to: docctr@library.uiuc.edu

June 2004

ACDC News – Issue 04-10

Posted on January 31, 2004 by Elizabeth Ray

On the lagging access to broadband in rural U.S.

Join your colleagues at the Agricultural Communications Summit, held in conjunction with the 2004 ACE International Meeting in Lake Tahoe, NV, on June 23 and 24. The summit will provide an opportunity for facilitated discussion and planning to position the profession for success in the preparation of tomorrow’s agricultural communicators. For more information, visit www.ag-communicators.org

Crop producers use more than a scientific framework

In deciding how to face severe plant disease outbreaks and economic stresses.

“It is clear that educators who assume that all farmers make decisions through a scientific mental causal mode are likely not correct in that assumption,” concluded the authors of a recent article in Agriculture and Human Values.

Minnesota producers who took part in this study also used institutional and spiritual frameworks to decide about diversifying their cropping systems. “Institutional” frameworks involved basing decisions more on personal experience or the experience of relatives and peers than on science. “Spiritual” frameworks involved, for example, considering crop rotations within the biblical context of letting the ground rest.

Reference: Use a title search (Farmer perspectives on cropping) or author search (Corselius) for the full citation.

Connecting with telecom in Africa

And without financial support from telecom companies, international development agencies or local authorities. A countrywide network of tele-based information centers (telecenters) in Ghana relies, instead, on a business model.

A recent case report in Telecommunications Policy described how these centers focus on the currently most profitable service – telephony. Many of the centers complement the revenue from the telecenters by combining several types of businesses, such as su-su (a type of informal banking service), renting of videocassettes, gift shops and restaurants. In a region poorly served by telecommunication services, telecenters are helping local communities gain access. The report described five kinds of impact on the communities involved.

Reference: Use a title search (Tele-centres as a way) or author search (Falch) for the full citation.

As information systems become more centralized.

Nearly 25 years ago Daryl Hobbs, a rural development specialist, examined implications of increasingly centralized information systems (e.g., media, education). He observed, “When viewed in the context of increased centralization of decision making…a consequence is that people become better and better informed about matters over which they have less and less control.” As a corollary, he said, people increasingly lack information about local matters they can control.

“A few years ago in a small Iowa community, an attempt was being made to identify community problems through interviews with residents. One of the most frequently identified problems was that of drug abuse. Those in charge of the project were curious and began seeking information about the extent of drug abuse. They found that none of the local authorities could recall any cases. It then occurred to the project leaders that perhaps community residents were extrapolating to the local situation from frequent national TV public service announcements concerning drug abuse.”

Hobbs encouraged the use of community self-studies that involve local residents in all phases of doing the survey.

Reference: Use a title search (Community perspective) or author search (Hobbs) for the full citation.

Consumer attitudes toward COOL.

Here are some of the documents we have added about results of recent U.S. consumer surveys regarding country-of-origin labeling of food:

“Country-of-origin labeling of beef products: U.S. consumers’ perceptions.” Paper presented at the 2003 FAMPS conference on food labels, Washington, D.C., March 2003. http://johnson.senate.gov/legispage/COOLBeefProducts-Consumers.pdf
“Grocery shopping preferences: point-of-origin.” Report prepared by the Division of Marketing and Development, Florida Department of Agriculture, January 2003. http://www.nfu.org/documents/legislative/cool/florida_survey_2003v2.pdf
“National Farmers Union survey: consumer attitudes on COOL.” Survey conducted by Penn, Schoen & Berland Associates, Inc., Washington, D.C., January 2004.http://www.nfu.org/documents/legislative/cool/2004/cool_poll_jan2004.pdf
“Food from our changing world: the globalization of food and how Americans feel about it.” Report of a national survey as part of a multi-state land-grant university project on the consequences of globalized agricultural and natural resource systems, February 2003. http://sasw.chass.ncsu.edu/global-food

Even one person out there – better than a thousand signs.

The headline of an article in Birdscapes caught our eye: “Blue vest, a smile, and a small brown bird.” It turned out that the article described how a volunteer docent in a blue vest and straw hat was helping protect a tiny endangered bird, the western snowy plover, on California’s central coast. Docents learned outreach techniques to help them inform beach goers of the importance of staying clear of the birds’ nesting area in the dunes.

“I was amazed at the positive response we got from the public,” said the Wildlife Refuge manager on site. “Even one person out there, greeting the people, answering their questions, and addressing their concerns, is better than a thousand signs.”

Reference: Use a title search (Blue vest) or author search (Stockton) for the full citation. The article was posted on http://library.fws.gov/birdscapes/fall03/wetensp.html

Compelled to tell farmers what they should do

“The important issue is that some agricultural scientists feel compelled to tell farmers what they should do,” observed Andrew Hall and Silim Nahdy in an analysis of efforts in Uganda to strengthen agricultural research. They found disappointing results in national efforts to involve farmers in research projects. Four problem areas appeared:

Researcher/farmer power relationships
The professional identity of scientists
The skill base and available human resources
Perceptions concerning the validity of research methods (e.g., on-farm trials)

Authors noted “the tendency of institutionalized science to perpetuate these problems” that are not unique to Uganda.

Reference: Use a title search (New methods and old institutions) or author search (Hall) for the full citation.

How to build trust.

We close this issue of ACDC News with a comment by George Gaskell during a recent presentation on risk perception and genetically modified foods. He expressed the thought at an international conference organized by the European Commission in Brussels, Belgium.

“…trust…is not built by working on the other – it has to be earned by working on oneself.”

Communicator activities approaching:

June 12-15, 2004
“Run for the Gold.” 2004 Institute of Cooperative Communicators Association (CCA) in Louisville, Kentucky USA.
Information: www.communicators.coop

July 25-28, 2004
“Spring Break This Summer.” Agricultural Publication Summit involves members of the Livestock Publications Council (LPC), American Agricultural Editors’ Association (AAEA), American Business Media – Agri-Council (ABM), Agricultural Relations Council (ARC) and National Agricultural Communicators Of Tomorrow (ACT). Meeting in Tampa, Florida.
Information: www.ageditors.com

Best regards and good searching.

hard copies to:
Ag Com Documentation Center
510 LIAC Library
1101 S. Goodwin Avenue
Urbana, IL 61801
or electronic copies to: docctr@library.uiuc.edu

May 2004

ACDC News – Issue 04-09

Posted on January 31, 2004 by Elizabeth Ray

Journalists as instant experts – in any subject.

Conrad Smith, author of Media and Apocalypse, took that notion to task after finding poor media coverage of complex disasters such as forest fires, oil spills and earthquakes. The root of the problem appears to be twofold, he concluded:

In the education of journalists, which deals primarily with routine stories.
In the professional culture of journalism which perpetuates customs that interfere with good reporting and encourages the notion that any journalist can quickly acquire expertise in any subject.

“There will always be a need for generalists in journalism,” Smith said, “but as science and technology become more complex there will be increasing need for specialized reporters to translate those complexities into lay terms.” This notion speaks directly to potentials (and challenges) facing professional communicators who understand complexities of the agriculture/food enterprise.

Reference: Use a title search (Media and apocalypse) or author search (Smith) for the full citation.

Front doors locked, shades drawn.

That is how Mark Stober recently described most agribusiness companies these days. He argued in Strategic Agribusiness Review that most agribusiness firms are “laboring under the foolish pretense that if they open up, someone will steal their great ideas and make off with their customers. What hogwash!”

A Harvard Business Review article that examined businesses as ecosystems triggered Stober’s comments. The authors suggested that business ecosystems are kept viable by keystone firms that continually try to improve the health of the entire system by creating and sharing value (money, ideas, other) with their business partners. A keystone company is focused outward and system-wide. “Agribusiness is woefully short of keystones,” Stober observed.

Reference: Use a title search (Commentary on how agribusiness) or author search (Stober) for the full citation. The commentary was posted online at: www.strategicagreview.com

Big gap between saying and doing.

Researchers found a big gap recently when they used several methods to study knowledge level, attitudes and behaviors involving food safety. They (1) surveyed a sample of 100 caregivers of children in Hartford, Connecticut, (2) made 10 in-depth household observations of food safety behavior and (3) conducted two focus groups.

Even though 97 percent of survey participants reported washing their hands with soap and water before preparing foods, only 1 of the 10 participants in the household observations actually did so.

Reference: Use a title search (Food safety knowledge) or author search (Bermudez-Millan) for the full citation. An abstract of the article in the Journal of Food Protection was archived March 22, 2004, at: http://131.104.232.9/fsnet-archives.htm

Three dimensions of public relations – not one.

Firms, industries and organizations often think of public relations mainly in terms of attempting to influence public attitude and opinion in ways favorable to their interests. However, Stuart Rich of the University of Oregon emphasized two other vital dimensions in his introduction to a conference about public relations for the timber industry. They included:

Gaining an understanding of public attitudes and opinions toward your industry.
Taking those attitudes and opinions into account in managing your companies.

The use of all three dimensions plays out into public involvement that, he said, can be constructive rather than destructive.

Reference: Use a title search (Public relations in an era) or author search (Rich) for the full citation.

Problems with Internet video access.

When A.M. Van Der Zanden and Bob Rost surveyed master gardeners in Oregon they found that 80 percent who completed their training in 2001 owned or had access to a computer. Ninety-three percent of those had access to the Internet. However, only 37 percent were able to view a 1.17-MB video clip via the Internet. Problems reported:

Extremely long download times (as much as 1 hour and 28 minutes)
Software not installed
Software not compatible

Reference: Use a title search (Internet video access) or author search (Rost) for the full citation.

Communicating when the power is off and pressure is on.

“Eye of the storm” is the title of a case report that we added recently to the ACDC collection from the Cooperative Communicators Association newsletter. Jim Krut of Adams Electric Cooperative in south-central Pennsylvania identified six communications lessons learned through the devastation of a hurricane that hit the area late last year. “Just like lemons and lemonade,” he noted, “our communications team learned some valuable lessons from this destructive storm.”

Reference: Use a title search (Eye of the storm) or author search (Krut) for the full citation.

Ah, the wonders of headlines.

How could we keep from passing along these examples from “So you want to be a journalist? Obviously, headlines about food are among those that provide eye-catching news.

“Kids make nutritious snacks”
“Typhoon rips through cemetery – hundreds dead”
“Chef throws his heart into helping feed needy”
“War dims hope for peace”

Do you have other examples to share – especially headlines involving food, agriculture, natural resources or rural affairs? We’d appreciate getting them.

Communicator activities approaching:

May 24-27, 2004
“Education and Extension for Multi-Function Agriculture.” Annual conference of the Association for International Agricultural and Extension Education in Dublin, Ireland.
Information: www.aiaee.org/2004.htm

June 10-12, 2004
“Red, White and Bluegrass.” Annual seminar of American Horse Publications in Lexington, Kentucky USA.
Information: www.americanhorsepubs.org

June 12-15, 2004
“Run for the Gold.” 2004 Institute of Cooperative Communicators Association (CCA) in Louisville, Kentucky USA.
Information: www.communicators.coop

Best regards and good searching.

hard copies to:
Ag Com Documentation Center
510 LIAC Library
1101 S. Goodwin Avenue
Urbana, IL 61801
or electronic copies to: docctr@library.uiuc.edu

May 2004

ACDC News – Issue 04-08

Posted on January 31, 2004 by Elizabeth Ray

Journalists as instant experts – in any subject.

Conrad Smith, author of Media and Apocalypse, took that notion to task after finding poor media coverage of complex disasters such as forest fires, oil spills and earthquakes. The root of the problem appears to be twofold, he concluded:

In the education of journalists, which deals primarily with routine stories.
In the professional culture of journalism which perpetuates customs that interfere with good reporting and encourages the notion that any journalist can quickly acquire expertise in any subject.

Reference: Use a title search (Media and apocalypse) or author search (Smith) for the full citation.

Front doors locked, shades drawn.

Reference: Use a title search (Commentary on how agribusiness) or author search (Stober) for the full citation. The commentary was posted online at: www.strategicagreview.com

Big gap between saying and doing.

Even though 97 percent of survey participants reported washing their hands with soap and water before preparing foods, only 1 of the 10 participants in the household observations actually did so.

Reference: Use a title search (Food safety knowledge) or author search (Bermudez-Millan) for the full citation. An abstract of the article in the Journal of Food Protection was archived March 22, 2004, at http://131.104.232.9/fsnet-archives.htm.

Three dimensions of public relations – not one.

Gaining an understanding of public attitudes and opinions toward your industry.
Taking those attitudes and opinions into account in managing your companies.

The use of all three dimensions plays out into public involvement that, he said, can be constructive rather than destructive.

Reference: Use a title search (Public relations in an era) or author search (Rich) for the full citation.

Problems with Internet video access.”

Extremely long download times (as much as 1 hour and 28 minutes)
Software not installed
Software not compatible

Reference: Use a title search (Internet video access) or author search (Rost) for the full citation.

Communicating when the power is off and pressure is on.

Cliff Ganschow, chairman of AgriStar Global Networks, closed his recent comments to the U.S. Federal Communications Commission with that thought. His presentation emphasized the increasing importance of high-speed information and services to producers and the companies with which they do business. He also traced the development of AgriStar programming and reported some user experiences with it.

Reference: Use a title search (Eye of the storm) or author search (Krut) for the full citation.

Ah, the wonders of headlines.

How could we keep from passing along these examples from “So you want to be a journalist?” Obviously, headlines about food are among those that provide eye-catching news.

“Kids make nutritious snacks”
“Typhoon rips through cemetery – hundreds dead”
“Chef throws his heart into helping feed needy”
“War dims hope for peace”

Do you have other examples to share – especially headlines involving food, agriculture, natural resources or rural affairs? We’d appreciate getting them.

Communicator activities approaching:

June 10-12, 2004
“Red, White and Bluegrass.” Annual seminar of American Horse Publications in Lexington, Kentucky USA.
Information: www.americanhorsepubs.org

June 12-15, 2004
“Run for the Gold.” 2004 Institute of Cooperative Communicators Association (CCA) in Louisville, Kentucky USA.
Information: www.communicators.coop

Best regards and good searching.

hard copies to:
Ag Com Documentation Center
510 LIAC Library
1101 S. Goodwin Avenue
Urbana, IL 61801
or electronic copies to: docctr@library.uiuc.edu

May 2004

ACDC News – Issue 04-07

Posted on January 31, 2004 by Elizabeth Ray

“It’s a jungle out there.”

So read the headline of an environmental journalism piece we added recently to the ACDC collection. Writing in Columbia Journalism Review, Kevin Carmody traced trends in coverage of environmental issues “in an age of backlash.”

“At a time when well-financed interests are working hard to manipulate the public policy debate over the environment, coverage of the issue has been cut sharply at many news outlets, especially broadcast.”

Reference: On the Database Search page of this web site, use a title search (Jungle out there) or author search (Carmody) for the full citation.

How newspapers cover controversy about food irradiation.

Results of a content analysis of the New York Times and Des Moines Register newspapers (1992-2000) led researcher Hong-Lim Choi to conclude:

“In the news coverage of irradiation, journalists unconsciously have relied on powerful sources and they have been pressured by organizational constraints, therefore these powerful sources and constraints strongly come into play in constructing new reality in the food irradiation discourse.”

Reference: Use a title search (Framing of an agricultural controversy) or author search (Choi) for the full citation.

Abandon expert approaches.

Robert Huesca came away with that perspective after his analysis in Bolivia of a reporteros populares program in which local citizens served as radio reporters. His findings, published in Gazette journal, led him to conclude:

“The implications of taking a more situationally focused approach to participation development is that communication behaviors – of researchers, trainers and media practitioners – are conceptualized as an integrated part of social life, rather than as a distinct set of professional skills. …researchers, trainers and practitioners must abandon expert approaches to media practice and turn to involvement processes.”

Reference: Use a title search (Participation for development) or author search (Huesca) for the full citation.

A helpful overview of rural extension services, worldwide came into the ACDC collection recently.

Produced by Jock R. Anderson and Gershon Feder of the World Bank, this concise review ranged broadly over rural extension, an enterprise that involves at least 800,000 official extension workers and billions of dollars each year. The review dealt with history, trends and policy issues involved in aspects such as:

The role of information and extension in rural development
Types and models of extension services
Public financing and administrative support of extension
Impact and economic return of extension programming

“There is clearly much yet to be done in bringing needed extension services to the poor around the world,” the authors concluded. “But investors need to be cautious in designing and adjusting public extension systems if they are not needlessly to re-learn the lessons of the past.”

Reference: Use a title search (Rural extension services) or author search (Anderson) for the full citation. The report was posted online at: http://econ.worldbook.org.

Thanks for a journal series.

We express special appreciation to Professor Dorothy Jenkins of Louisiana State University for contributing 10 volumes of a journal that has not been available for review here. Southern Rural Sociology, official journal of the Southern Rural Sociological Association, holds special interest for us. These contributed volumes, for example, provided 17 communications-related research articles relevant to the ACDC collection.

Reference: Use a “journal” search (Southern Rural Sociology) to identify the documents added from this series.

Media efforts to mock/exploit rural America?

We have added to the ACDC collection several recent news report about efforts by rural interests to oppose another “reality” television show being proposed by CBS Television. “Last year, CBS quietly dropped plans to create ‘The Real Beverly Hillbillies’ after a national campaign of rural and urban groups, members of Congress, labor unions, and thousands of individuals said the show would mock rural Americans.”

This time UPN (a firm owned, along with CBS Television, by Viacom) is proposing “Amish in the City.” It would “take Amish teens to the city, tempt them with contemporary culture and technology, and televise their struggles to maintain their religious faith.” Information about some of the communications efforts to resist this show is available on www.ruralreality.org Rural Realities is a coalition organized by friends of the Amish Community in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.

Reference: You can identify ACDC documents related to this issue by conducting a cross-search of subject terms such as: religion television.

Relaxing the turkeys with Gregorian chants and dawn choruses.

New research in communicating with animals is examining sounds that turkeys find serene and soothing. National Farmers Union, Britain, recently sent 300 turkey farmers a CD with 10 tracks – a “Turkey Top 10” – asking producers to help determine what types of sounds soothe turkeys and what sounds disturb them. Early results suggested that Gregorian chants and a dawn chorus of bird sounds were the biggest hits. “They keep the flocks quiet.”

“No one is going to read 4 days of stories that end up with one enormous ‘Huh?’ There needs to be a flow and a direction to a series, a point of view. I organize my stories around viewpoint; it helps me select the topics I am going to cover and how I am going to present them.”

Reference: Use a title search (Reporting on the changing science) or author search (Blum) for the full citation.

And on that “note,” shouldn’t we close with a piece of poultry wisdom?

The ACDC News reader who shared it remembers its use in communications workshops with extension staff members.

The codfish lays a million eggs,
The little hen but one.
But the codfish doesn’t cackle
When her noble deed is done.

So we praise the artful hen,
The codfish we despise;
Which clearly shows to thinking ones
IT PAYS TO ADVERTISE.

Communicator activities approaching:

April 18-20, 2004
Spring meeting of North American Agricultural Journalists (NAAJ). Events take place at U.S. Department of Agriculture/Agricultural Research Service facilities in Beltsville, Maryland, and Washington, D.C.
Information: http://naaj.tamu.edu/meetings.htm

April 30-May 1, 2004
Annual meeting of Turf and Ornamental Communicators Association (TOCA) in Seattle, Washington.
Information: www.toca.org

June 12-15, 2004
“Run for the Gold.” 2004 Institute of Cooperative Communicators Association (CCA) in Louisville, Kentucky USA.
Information: www.communicators.coop

Best regards and good searching.

hard copies to:
Ag Com Documentation Center
510 LIAC Library
1101 S. Goodwin Avenue
Urbana, IL 61801
or electronic copies to: docctr@library.uiuc.edu

April 2004

ACDC News – Issue 04-06

Posted on January 31, 2004 by Elizabeth Ray

On “The Archers” – an enduring rural radio program

A Financial Times (London, England) article that we added recently to the ACDC collection featured Graham Harvey, agricultural counselor to ” The Archers.” It is “the country’s most-loved soap opera about life in the shires,” having aired on the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) network since 1950.

Harvey shared his perspectives on the Archers and other featured families in a changing world – tenant farmers, organic farmers, corporate-minded farmers and others. His analysis also extended to reasons that prompt urban listeners to remain actively interested in rural people, conditions, issues and trends.

Reference: Use a title search (Field marshall) or author search (Smockum) for the full citation.

Does ACDC actually include literature about rural soap operas and such?

You bet. In Britain, “The Archers” series (above) is a major channel for rural-urban understanding. And early this year we added the report of a member survey involving the National Horseshoe Pitchers Association. The membership profile revealed a strong rural dimension and results of the survey by Bill Tedrick emphasized organizational communications and member decision making.

From our perspective, the recreational aspects of rural communicating can be as worthy as economic, operational and other aspects. Whenever you see such literature, please pass it along or alert us to it at docctr@library.uiuc.edu

Reference: Use a title search (Spirit of friendly competition) or author search (Tedrick) for the full citation.

Coverage of development news “neither significant nor encouraging”

That is how D.V.R. Murthy described results of a 1995 content analysis of four India newspapers. Development news accounted for only four to eight percent of the total number of news items published. Coverage of development news on the front page was negligible in all four newspapers.

Agriculture, health and transportation were main themes covered within that small sliver of the news hole.

Reference: Use a title search (Developmental journalism) or author search (Murthy) for the full citation.

Gardening — Fun? Drudgery?

It seems that Americans consider gardening one of their favorite leisure-time activities. Results of Harris Polls between 1995 and 2001 consistently show gardening among the top five leisure-time activities mentioned, according to a report that we added recently. Other favorites include reading, TV watching, spending time with family/kids and fishing.

Reference: Use a title search (Reading, tv, spending time) or author search (Taylor) for the full citation. The document was posted online at www.harrisinteractive.com

Beefs about USDA information management.

A commentary published in the New York Times earlier this year examined how the U.S. Department of Agriculture is handling a “dual, often contradictory mandate:”

promote the sale of meat on behalf of American producers
guarantee that American meat is safe on behalf of consumers

Commentator Eric Schlosser expressed concerns about the Department’s promotion- and industry-oriented emphasis in its public information about Mad Cow disease discovered in the U.S. Other concerns involved disease testing policies, meat recall powers and the role of lobbying interests.

Reference: Use a title search (Cow jumped over) or author search (Schlosser) for the full citation.

When you want to involve local influential groups

In your communicating, here are key principles for doing so. Thanks to John Woods, education/communication specialist of Chemonics International, for providing a paper that described guidelines for enlisting the support of such groups in a nutrition education program. The 10 guidelines apply well beyond that specific program:

Start with only one group
Think like each group thinks
Groups must be adopters themselves
Tailor the package to fit their needs and interests
Do not give them too much information at once
Emphasize the advantages to them in becoming involved
Serve them in a “helping role”
Follow up with them
Learn from them
Give them recognition

Reference: Use a title search (Basic recommendations for motivating) or author search (Woods) for the full citation.

A “rambling mess of scientists arguing and contradicting each other”

That is how Deborah Blum recently described investigative science reporting that lacks focus. “People call this the he said, she said phenomenon or sometimes the talking heads dilemma,” Blum continued in her book chapter, “Reporting on the changing science of human behavior.”

Reference: Use a title search (Reporting on the changing science) or author search (Blum) for the full citation.

Agricultural attachés becoming communications specialists

An article in AgExporter featured U.S. agriculture’s eyes and ears abroad – the agricultural attachés of the Foreign Agricultural Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture. Reporter Linda Habenstreit described what they do, what they have accomplished since their inception in 1919 and what lies ahead for them.

Thomas Hamby, former agricultural minister-counselor was quoted as observing: “I see attachés evolving from nuts and bolts agricultural technicians to communications and public relations specialists, who must understand and confidently represent U.S. agricultural interests abroad.”

Reference: Use a title search (FAS attachés) or author search (Habenstreit) for the full citation. The article was posted on:www.fas.usda.gov

Sorting through — a cautionary note for communicators.

“Where is the life we have lost in living?
Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge?
Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?”
(T.S. Eliot in Two Choruses from the Rock)

Communicator activities approaching:

April 14-16, 2004
“Make Your Mark.” 2004 Agri-Marketing Conference and Trade Show in Kansas City, Missouri.
Information: www.nama.org/amc

April 30-May 1, 2004
Annual meeting of Turf and Ornamental Communicators Association (TOCA) in Seattle, Washington.
Information: www.toca.org

Best regards and good searching.

hard copies to:
Ag Com Documentation Center
510 LIAC Library
1101 S. Goodwin Avenue
Urbana, IL 61801
or electronic copies to: docctr@library.uiuc.edu

March 2004

ACDC News – Issue 04-05

Posted on January 31, 2004 by Elizabeth Ray

On “The Archers” – an enduring rural radio program

A Financial Times London, England) article that we added recently to the ACDC collection featured Graham Harvey, agricultural counselor to “The Archers.” It is “the country’s most-loved soap opera about life in the shires,” having aired on the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) network since 1950.

Reference: Use a title search (Field marshall) or author search (Smockum) for the full citation.

Does ACDC actually include literature about rural soap operas and such?

You bet. In Britain, “The Archers&quto; series (above) is a major channel for rural-urban understanding. And early this year we added the report of a member survey involving the National Horseshoe Pitchers Association. The membership profile revealed a strong rural dimension and results of the survey by Bill Tedrick emphasized organizational communications and member decision making.

Reference: Use a title search (Spirit of friendly competition) or author search (Tedrick) for the full citation.

Coverage of development news “neither significant nor encouraging.”

Agriculture, health and transportation were main themes covered within that small sliver of the news hole.

Reference: Use a title search (Developmental journalism) or author search (Murthy) for the full citation.

Gardening — Fun? Drudgery?

Reference: Use a title search (Reading, tv, spending time) or author search (Taylor) for the full citation. The document was posted online at: www.harrisinteractive.com/harris_poll

Beefs about USDA information management.

A commentary published in the New York Times earlier this year examined how the U.S. Department of Agriculture is handling a “dual, often contradictory mandate:”

promote the sale of meat on behalf of American producers
guarantee that American meat is safe on behalf of consumers

Reference: Use a title search (Cow jumped over) or author search (Schlosser) for the full citation.

When you want to involve local influential groups

Start with only one group
Think like each group thinks
Groups must be adopters themselves
Tailor the package to fit their needs and interests
Do not give them too much information at once
Emphasize the advantages to them in becoming involved
Serve them in a “helping role”
Follow up with them
Learn from them
Give them recognition

Reference: Use a title search (Basic recommendations for motivating) or author search (Woods) for the full citation.

A “rambling mess of scientists arguing and contradicting each other.”

Reference: Use a title search (Reporting on the changing science) or author search (Blum) for the full citation.

Agricultural attachés becoming communications specialists.

Reference: Use a title search (FAS attachés) or author search (Habenstreit) for the full citation. The article was posted on: www.fas.usda.gov

Sorting through — a cautionary note for communicators.

“Where is the life we have lost in living?
Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge?
Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?”
(T.S. Eliot in Two Choruses from the Rock)

Communicator activities approaching:

April 14-16, 2004
“Make Your Mark.” 2004 Agri-Marketing Conference and Trade Show in Kansas City, Missouri.
Information: www.nama.org/amc

April 30-May 1, 2004
Annual meeting of Turf and Ornamental Communicators Association (TOCA) in Seattle, Washington.
Information: www.toca.org

Best regards and good searching.

hard copies to:
Ag Com Documentation Center
510 LIAC Library
1101 S. Goodwin Avenue
Urbana, IL 61801
or electronic copies to: docctr@library.uiuc.edu

March 2004

ACDC News – Issue 04-04

Posted on January 31, 2004 by Elizabeth Ray

“Mad cow” stirs news and views from interest groups.

It was easy to see competing interest groups offer divergent views after the discovery of a case of “mad cow” disease in the United States. Three examples from many:

The Center for Consumer Freedom (supported by the food industry, restaurants and interested consumers) expressed concern that “radical social activists” would exaggerate the risk of this discovery and use it to “steer Americans toward organic meat.”
www.consumerfreedom.com
“Organic beef – it’s what’s safe for dinner!” announced a news release from an organic beef marketer. “Organic beef is the safer option for families concerned abut Mad Cow Disease.” Posted December 31, 2003, on http://131.104.232.9/fsnet-archives.htm
“Organic Trade Association reminds consumers that organic beef is a smart choice.” Posted January 5, 2004, onhttp://131.104.232.9/fsnet-archives.htm

Want to find more about “mad cow” communicating?

On the “Database Search” page of this web site, you can find dozens of other articles, reports and consumer survey summaries about it. Conduct “Subject” searches and cross-searches, using terms such as:

“mad cow”
diseases beef
“food safety” beef
attitudes beef

Lots of agricultural advertisements

If you are interested in agricultural advertising you may be pleased with a rich resource that could well be new to you. Recently, we added two interesting links through the ACDC web site:

Agricultural advertising collection. Thousands of ads featuring agricultural equipment, dairy products, chemicals, farm papers and other agricultural themes are part of the D’Arcy Collection at the University of Illinois. This collection, maintained by the Communications Library, includes almost two million original advertisements published between 1890 and 1970.
Agricultural advertising exhibit. See 20 images of agricultural and food advertisements in the University of Illinois Advertising Exhibit. The exhibit, organized within 17 subject themes, features advertisements selected from the D’Arcy and Woodward Collections.

Reference: See these sites on the “Useful Links” page of this ACDC web site.

Needed: more than hard-systems thinking.

There is no holistic planning of the rural telecommunications system in terms of rural development, according to a study by T.N. Andrew and D. Petkov.

“The planning process and techniques used are very much based on the assumptions of systems engineering and hard operations research,” they observed. They called for more consideration of “softer issues such as cultural diversity, ownership of the system and user inclusivity, negotiations with multiple stakeholders and a firm grasp of socio-economic issues” that are “just as important as hard technological issues.”

Reference: Use a title search (Need for a systems thinking approach) or author search (Andrew) for the full citation.

For example, look at the adoption of rural telephony

Claude S. Fischer found a strong “human agency” in his analysis of the diffusion of the telephone in rural and urban areas of the U.S. between 1900 and 1920.

Farmers loudly demanded this new technology, he found, even when vendors said it was inappropriate for them. “They demanded it vociferously enough to build it themselves, to adopt it at a higher rate than did the ‘natural’ market of city-dwellers, and later to pester the major telephone companies through the regulatory commissions and politicians. And they insisted on using it in their own way, to meet their own needs, be it for gossip or banjo concerts, rather than fit ‘appropriate’ uses.” In 1920, more American farm families (39 percent) had telephones than did town families (33 percent or less).

Reference: Use a title search (Revolution in rural telephony) or author search (Fischer) for the full citation.

Rural ruckus over radio station ownership rule

A recent article in the Wyoming Tribune-Eagle (Cheyenne, Wyoming) examined the debate that has arisen since the Federal Communications Act eased restrictions on radio station ownership.

“…the biggest impact of concentration of radio station ownership is not in the major metropolitan markets,” the Center for Public Integrity was cited as saying. “…it is far greater in smaller communities in rural areas.”

Other sources described advantages of greater concentration in station ownership. Among them was an executive of Clear Channel Communications Inc., which now owns about 1,200 stations nationwide.

Reference: Use a title search (Radio station ownership rule) or author search (Lowell) for the full citation.

New GMO musical

How about dining on a fishikin – a creature that looks like a fish, but tastes like a chicken? Or adopting a de-Cat – a kitten that does not claw, meow or shed? A “fantastical, quirky world where all things are scientifically possible” is featured in an original musical play in Canada about the perils of genetic modification. It is a creative approach to communicating about biotechnology.

According to a report in the Ottawa Citizen, playwright Michael Larrass was inspired to write the play through his volunteer work with Food Action Ottawa. Timothy Piper composed the music.

Reference: Use a title search (Genetic science offers something to sing about) or author search (Lawson) for the full citation. The article was archived (December 17, 2003) at http://131.104.232.9/agnet-archives.htm

“Back off the hi-tech lingo.”

That advice to agricultural scientists came from agricultural journalist Tom Bechman in a recent issue of Prairie Farmer magazine. “Otherwise, how will we ever know when they find something really important?”

He was referring to new terms popping up in research studies – terms such as “ionomics” and “proteomics.” Bechman observed to his rural readers, “Let’s hope universities and USDA don’t forget about your everyday world, the world where you struggle to make a profit with today’s technology.”

Reference: Use a title search (How much science) or author search (Bechman) for the full citation

Over the 25,000 mark

It is a special pleasure to report that the ACDC collection now contains more than 25,000 documents, all identifiable through online searching. We topped that mark on February 13 and are headed toward new levels in efforts to serve. The total, large as it looks to those of us who have assembled it, is actually modest. We are learning that communications aspects of the agriculture/food enterprise, globally, are much more extensive, documented and vital to societies than was apparent when agricultural communications faculty members here at the University of Illinois began this collection effort.

Communicator activities approaching:

March 12-19, 2004
World Congress of the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists in South Africa. The Congress starts in the north (Mabalingwe Nature Reserve) and ends south in Cape Town.
Information: www.agriwriters.org.za

April 14-16, 2004
“Make Your Mark.” 2004 Agri-Marketing Conference and Trade Show in Kansas City, Missouri.
Information: www.nama.org/amc

April 30-May 1, 2004
Annual meeting of Turf and Ornamental Communicators Association (TOCA) in Seattle, Washington.
Information: www.toca.org

Best regards and good searching.

hard copies to:
Ag Com Documentation Center
510 LIAC Library
1101 S. Goodwin Avenue
Urbana, IL 61801
or electronic copies to: docctr@library.uiuc.edu

February 2004

ACDC News – Issue 04-03

Posted on January 31, 2004 by Elizabeth Ray

U.S. public lukewarm toward farming and agriculture?

Only 52 percent of U.S. adults hold a “very” (17 percent) or “somewhat” (35 percent) positive view of farming and agriculture, according to an August 2003 Gallup Poll. Most others (27 percent) in the national sample said they felt “neutral.”

Reference: On the “Database Search” page of this ACDC web site, use a title search (Gallup Poll, August 2003) for the full citation.

On obesity and the strategy of trial lawyers.

A growing public debate about obesity in Americans prompted Pierce Hollingsworth to comment in a recent issue of Food Technology magazine. He described four “time-tested elements” of a strategy that trial lawyers might be expected to use. Public communicating is central to them:

Create a villain
Establish the economic cost
Promote any supporting medical research
Advance the notion of industry malice and deception

Reference: Use a title search (Power, policy, politics and fat) or author search (Hollingsworth) for the full citation.

Obesity statistics are seriously flawed

According to the Center for Consumer Freedom, a Washington-based organization supported by the food industry, restaurants and interested consumers. A CCF news release that we added recently to the ACDC collection identified several problems involving commonly cited statistics about obesity of Americans. Among them:

Data indicating that 61 percent of Americans are overweight or obese reflect a change of definition in 1998 by the U.S. government. The redefinition re-classified 39 million Americans as “overweight.”
Statistics attributing 300,000 U.S. deaths annually to excess weight are based on inconclusive research. “…the data linking overweight and death…are limited, fragmented and often ambiguous.”

Reference: Use a title search (Obesity statistics) for the full citation. The release was posted online at: http://www.consumerfreedom.com/release_detail.cfm?pr_id=28

On reaching Iowa producers of apples and cider.

A 2002 mail survey by Andrew Zehr examined the communications needs and behaviors of apple and cider producers in Iowa. Results indicated that producers placed the greatest amount of trust in interpersonal information sources. “They trust institutional information sources slightly less while generally reporting a low level of trust in the media for food safety information.”

The study also measured the levels of exposure and attention to mass media messages about food safety within the context of apple growing and cider production. A third dimension tested whether the use of mass media resulted in a third-person effect on producers’ views about the general public’s level of worry concerning food safety issues.

Reference: Use a title search (Communication needs and behaviors) or author search (Zehr) for the full citation. The paper was posted online at: http://list.msu.edu/archives/aejmc.html October 2003.

Isolation has little impact on Internet subscription

According to results of an analysis of the demand for Internet service in rural and remote communities of Western Australia. Researchers Gary Madden and Grant Noble-Neal used survey data to estimate econometric subscription and use models.

They found that the need to communicate for work and educational purposes largely determined Internet subscription. Isolation had little impact, except the local isolation of farms from nearest towns.

Reference: Use a title search (Internet use in rural) or author search (Madden) for the full citation.

“What these people need is radio.”

A study reported recently in Technology and Culture traced the rise in popularity of radio in rural America during the 1920s and the portrayal of farmers in the general press and farm press during that time. Randall Patnode analyzed editorial and advertising copy in six urban daily newspapers and six major farm periodicals between 1922 and 1926.

Contrary to the common assumption that radio helped bridge the rural-urban gap, findings of this analysis suggested that radio:

Exaggerated the shortcomings of farm life
Supported the increasingly urban and modern way of life
Isolated and marginalized rural dwellers
Added to the distinctions between urban and rural life
May have accelerated the decline of the family farm

“Although hearing sounds over the radio in the early 1920s was astounding,” Patnode concluded, “the real revolution in radio was in the way it amplified existing social and cultural differences.” He observed that the “utopian proclamations attached to radio and other new technologies have less to do with the future than they do with our sense of past failures.”

Reference: Use a title search (What these people need) or author search (Patnode) for the full citation.

Practices that farmers must forget

Kevin Morgan and Jonathan Murdoch recently examined how knowledge is distributed within two kinds of economic networks:

Conventional food chain. It relies on intensive inputs, so tends to distribute knowledge toward input suppliers.
Organic food chain. It distributes knowledge back toward the farm as farmers must relocalize their understandings of the production process.

The findings, reported in Geoforum, led authors to conclude that farmers who wish to operate in the organic food chain “must forget many of the practices so characteristic of the conventional chain in order to (re)learn how to farm in an ecologically benign fashion … In the organic chain, we argue, farmers can once again become ‘knowing agents’.”

Reference: Use a title search (Organic vs. conventional agriculture) or author search (Morgan) for the full citation.

“Wal-Mart Factor” in the food chain

A recent article in Amber Waves (published by the Economic Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture) featured food marketing trends driven by consumer demand and aided by information technologies. A section on “The Wal-Mart Factor” described radio-frequency tracking systems, case-ready meats, animal welfare guidelines and other consumer-oriented marketing tools being introduced by the food industry.

Reference: Use a title search (From supply push) or author search (Martinez) for the full citation. The article was posted online at: http://www.ers.usda.gov/Amberwaves/november03/features/supplypushdemandpull.htm

Communicator activities approaching:

March 5-6, 2004
“AG.COMM.Inc.: the business of communication.” Professional development event for members of National Agricultural Communicators of Tomorrow (ACT). Hosted by the University of Arkansas ACT chapter in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
Information: http://cavern.uark.edu/depts/aeedhp/actweb/actworkshop/

April 14-16, 2004
“Make Your Mark.” 2004 Agri-Marketing Conference and Trade Show in Kansas City, Missouri.
Information: www.nama.org/amc

A communicator guideline

The wise young owl sat in an oak.
The more he saw the less he spoke.
The less he spoke the more he heard.
Why aren’t we like that wise young bird?

Best regards and good searching.

hard copies to:
Ag Com Documentation Center
510 LIAC Library
1101 S. Goodwin Avenue
Urbana, IL 61801
or electronic copies to: docctr@library.uiuc.edu

February 2004

ACDC News – Issue 04-02

Posted on January 31, 2004 by Elizabeth Ray

Who provided financial support for that research?

Americans would like to know the corporate connections of scientists quoted in news media, according to a national survey commissioned by the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI).

“According to the telephone poll of 1,026 randomly selected adults, 74 percent think reporters should disclose whether university scientists quoted in articles receive funding from companies that have a financial stake in the topic at hand.”

Reference: On the “Database Search” page of this ACDC web site, use a title search (Poll: science and money) for the full citation. A summary of survey results was posted online at: http://cspinet.org

Also – on disclosing the financial ties of authors in scientific journals

Some scientists have sent letters to hundreds of such journals urging them to strengthen their policies on disclosure of “potentially biasing conflicts of interest.” Concerns expressed in two CSPI releases (below) that we have added recently to the ACDC collection involve topics such as agricultural biotechnology, pesticides, intellectual property policies, chemical pollution, drugs and diseases.

“Scientists call on journals to disclose authors’ conflicts of interest:” http://cspinet.org/new/integrity_disclosure.html

“Journal editors urged to disclose conflicts of interest:” http://cspinet.org/new/200308211.html

Brock Center for Agricultural Communication featured

A recent article in The Tribune (San Luis Obispo, California) featured this center at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. The center, funded largely by a trust established by Cal Poly alumnus Jim Brock, helps create a bridge of communication between the agricultural industry, the media and the public. By giving hands-on experience to about 50 students a year, it also helps future agricultural communicators learn how to report agricultural news, take photos, work on special projects and coordinate events. In the article, Director J. Scott Vernon described how effective communicating serves the agricultural economy of California

Reference: Use a title search (California center gives students) or author search (Stevens) for the full citation.

Agriculture not on the radar chart of concerns in the U.S. public mind

At least, not for a national sample of U.S. voters asked to identify the “number one problem facing this part of the country today.” (September 2003) Less than one-half of one percent cited agriculture, farming and ranching as the number one problem. Higher on their lists: economy (25 percent), unemployment (9 percent), jobs (8 percent) and at least 22 other problems.

Reference: Use a title search (Battleground 2004 Survey) for the full citation. Let us know if you are interested in details and do not have local access to the survey report.

Trends in food advertising claims

Researcher Pauline Ippolito examined that matter by analyzing the types of health- and nutrition-related claims made in food advertising in U.S. magazines during a 20-year period. Her content analysis involved more than 11,000 advertisements that appeared between 1977 and 1997 in eight magazines. She analyzed findings in the context of changing Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulations for the use of terms such as “healthy.” Among the findings of her study:

“The share of food ads with “Healthy/Smart/Good For You” appeals fell by nearly 50 percent, compared with the level before a revised FDA standard was proposed.

Reference: Use a title search (Asymmetric information in product markets) or author search (Ippolito) for the full citation.

No such thing as the public opinion about biotechnology

Despite “a strong and natural desire for simplified summaries,” Baruch Fischhoff and Ilya Fischhoff have provided an insightful caution about doing so. In an article that we have added to the ACDC collection, they summarized attitude studies and came up with these suggestions:”

People distinguish among biotechnologies.
Different people have different views about biotechnologies.
People have limited knowledge about biotechnologies – and know it.
People have strong opinions about how biotechnologies are managed.
People have complex evaluative schemes – and respond to evidence.

These insights hold direct implications for professional communicators in their approach to planning communications programs related to biotechnology.

Reference: Use a title search (Opinions about biotechnologies) or author search (Fischhoff) for the full citation. The article was posted online at: www.agbioforum (V. 4, No. 3-4).

Can information and communication technologies be pro-poor?

Authors of a recent article in Telecommunications Policy answered their own question with a “No,” based on 20 years of cross-country evidence. They reported, “…historically, telecommunications rollout has had a positive and significant impact on increasing inequality and little impact on quality of life variables.” Their analysis provided preliminary confirmation that rollout has historically only benefited the wealthy. In addition, they cited emerging evidence that the Internet “also will be a force for income divergence.”

Reference: Use a title search (Can information) or author search (Forestier) for the full citation.

Professional activity approaching:

February 6-7, 2004
“Bioscience communications in agriculture and food.” ECOD-BIO workshop in Ghent, Belgium, for European bioscience communicators.
Information: E-mail Jonas De Backer at jonas.debacker.vib.be

February 14-18, 2004
Agricultural Communications Section of Southern Association of Agricultural Scientists (SAAS) meeting in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Information: www.saasinc.org

March 5-6, 2004
“The business of communication.” Regional Conference of Agricultural Communicators of Tomorrow (ACT) at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville.
Information: http://cavern.uark.edu

“The most effective risk communication tools.”

Researchers Sarah Wakefield and Susan Elliott explored the role of local information systems in communicating about environmental risks. Their findings, reported in Professional Geographer, revealed newspapers to be an inconsistent tool, especially in terms of helping citizens participate in environmental decision making. However, residents surveyed in the study reported that they consider face-to-face communicating with friends, neighbors and officials at public meetings as most credible

Authors concluded, “In the last analysis, then, people – not print – are the most effective risk communication tools.”

Reference: Use a title search (Constructing the news) or author search (Wakefield) for the full citation.

A lesson in crisis communicating.

We close this issue of ACDC News with a lesson in crisis communications, as related to food. It comes from The Farm That Blew Away, a book by Australian author Wilbur G. Howcroft:

A crusty old chap from Mirboo
Found a whopping big frog in his stew.
Said the waiter, “Don’t shout
And don’t wave it about
Or the others will all want one too.”

Best regards and good searching.

Please pass along your reactions, questions and ideas for ACDC. Feel free to invite our help as you search for information. And please suggest (or send) agricultural communications documents that we might add to this unique collection. Send

hard copies to:
Ag Com Documentation Center
510 LIAC Library
1101 S. Goodwin Avenue
Urbana, IL 61801
or electronic copies to: docctr@library.uiuc.edu

January 2004