Welcome to the first 2013 issue of ACDC News.
We hope you will enjoy and find value in a new year of research, updates, and perspectives from the Agricultural Communications Documentation Center based at the University of Illinois.
You have more resources than ever to find and use. The ACDC collection now totals more than 38,000 documents from around the world. BibLeaves, a new online search system, makes your searching easier and more powerful. And ACDC staff members enjoy helping you search and find the information you need about all kinds of communications related to agriculture (broadly defined) – anywhere – and from latest to earliest .
Thanks for your interest and encouragement.
And special thanks to those who contributed news, documents, thoughts and suggestions last year. As readers and users, you are the most important partners in developing this unique resource for strengthening agriculture-related journalism and communications, globally. We welcome the opportunity to work with you during 2013.
Top 10 food trend predictions for 2013.
Writing in Supermarket News , Phil Lempert recently identified these 10 major trends to watch in the food industry during the year ahead:
- Snacking and mini-meals
- Men in the supermarket and kitchen
- Evolution of frozen foods
- The impact of Millennials
- Smart home, smartphone
- Breakfast becomes the most important meal of the day
- The story behind our food
- The economy—new proteins
- Sustainability—we stop wasting food
- The Boomer reality of diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease
You can read his report at: http://supermarketnews.com/center-store/2012-food-trends-watch
What a good agricultural journalist does in reporting news.
It is not the job of a farm news broadcaster or agricultural journalist to be an “advocate” in reporting news, said Cyndi Young-Puyear in a recent column we have added to the ACDC collection. She is farm director and agricultural operations manager for Brownfield Network, largest agricultural radio network in the U.S. She noted that the topic of journalistic integrity has come up recently in conversations among her peers.
The reason, she explained, is that an outspoken few have listened, read and/or viewed the work of an agricultural journalist, deemed it unfavorable to agriculture, and thrown some mud at the reporter’s name. She argued that:
- Balanced reporting doesn’t merit condemnation.
- Agricultural news reporters serve agriculture best when they cover the entire news story.
Check with us at docctr@library.illinois.edu if you wish to read her column in Illinois AgriNews. Also, please send us your thoughts about the role of agricultural journalists today and alert us to documents we should be sure to have about this topic in the ACDC collection.
Food and water are currently the top global agricultural issues, as seen by international agricultural journalists.
A Delphi survey during 2011 among executive members of the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists revealed more than 50 finalist global issues. Three of the seven issues cited most often related to food. Three involved water:
- Producing enough food to feed a growing population
- Water quantity
- Food safety
- Water management
- Food security
- Water quality
- Development of new production methods
Researchers Laura Kubitz, Ricky Telg, Tracy Irani and Owen Roberts also identified domestic agricultural issues in the 20 countries represented in this survey. In addition, findings revealed information sources used by agricultural journalists. They also contained suggestions about ways to educate journalists about global and domestic agricultural issues.
You can read a topline report of this survey at: http://www.centerpie.com/?p=3651
“I am still confused about what development should look like.”
That said, Lakshmi Eassey followed with this thought after spending time with a family in the village of Madava, India:
“…instead of focusing on what rural India should be learning and doing, perhaps we should focus instead on what it can teach us.”
Thousands of documents in the ACDC collection support the soundness of that grassroots listening-and-sharing approach to agricultural and rural progress – in any nation.
You can read the blog posted by Eassey at:
http://projectgroundswell.com/2010/09/14/debunking-development-in-rural-india
Effectiveness of indigenous media for rural marketing today.
A recent article in Canadian Social Sciences examined the extent to which small and medium businesses are using indigenous communications strategies for rural marketing in Nigeria. They found businesses actively using local proverbs and songs, local languages, drums and town criers in their advertising. Businesses promoted sales at local dances and shows. They carried out personal selling at village squares and local festivals.
Researcher Chris Chukwueah concluded that indigenous media are indispensable tools for promoting business and marketing practices in Nigerian rural communities. He suggested they can work well with modern information tools.
What benefits and potentials do you see indigenous media offering elsewhere? In what forms and combinations? What indigenous media are you using, or might you use, in your rural communications programming? Send your examples and thoughts to us at docctr@library.illinois.edu .
You may get other ideas from this journal article at:
http://cscanada.net/index.php/css/article/view/j.css.1923669720100606.025/1229
Communicator activities approaching.
- January 18, 2013
Deadline for proposals for professional development sessions to be presented at the 2013 ACE/NETC conference in Indianapolis, Indiana USA, June 11-14, 2013. This joint international conference involves the Association for Communication Excellence in Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Life and Human Sciences (ACE) and the National Extension Technology Conference (NETC). See conference information at: https://www.aceweb.org/professional-development/133-2013-annual-conference.html For proposal information: https://kstatedce.wufoo.com/forms/2013-acenetc-proposal-submission - January 21, 2013
Deadline for research papers to be considered for presentation at the 2013 ACE/NETC conference. These will be presented during a session of the ACE Research Special Interest Group. For information, contact Prof. Karen Cannon at kcannon2@unl.edu . - February 28, 2013
Annual meeting of the Agricultural Relations Council (ARC) in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma USA. Information: http://www.agrelationscouncil.org - April 17-18, 2013
“Forging New Frontiers.” Annual conference of the National Agri-Marketing Association (NAMA) in Kansas City, Missouri USA. Information: http://www.nama.org - June 1-5, 2013
“Sound ideas.” Annual Institute of the Cooperative Communicators Association in Nashville, Tennessee USA. Information: http://www.communicators.coop - July 13-14, 2013
InfoAg 2013 Conference (leading event in precision agriculture) in Springfield, Illinois USA. Information: http://www.infoag.org
And encouraging word on shaking the world.
We close this issue of ACDC News with a thought from Mahatma Gandhi. It came to our attention recently while visiting the website of a university in India.
“In a gentle way, you can shake the world.”
Best wishes and good searching.
Please pass along your reactions, suggestions and ideas. Feel free to invite our help as you search for information. Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter @ACDCUIUC . And please suggest (or send) agricultural communications documents we might add to this unique collection. We welcome them in hard copy (sent to Ag Comm Documentation Center, 510 LIAC, 1101 S. Goodwin Avenue, Urbana, IL 61801) or in electronic format sent to docctr@library.illinois.edu
2013-01-11