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“Media need to treat every day as Earth Day”
The climate crisis is an emergency that demands urgent, sustained attention and action – not a fleeting mention once a month, according to a recent article by Julie Hollar. She was writing on the website of Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR), a media watchdog group based in New York City.
“Any further delay in concerted anticipatory global action on adaptation and mitigation will miss a brief and rapidly closing window of opportunity to secure a livable and sustainable future for all.”
You can read the thought piece here.
First of the 2022 articles in JAC
Four new research articles appear in the first 2022 issue of the Journal of Applied Communications. You can read them online, along with four papers delivered at the most recent conference of the Association for Communication Excellence in Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Life and Human Sciences (ACE).
- “Persuasive effects of metaphors regarding gene-editing in agriculture” by Nellie Hill, Courtney Meyers, Nan Li, David L. Doerfert, and Venugopal Mendu
- “Characteristics and motivational factors of American equine journalists” by Zoe B. Bowden, Ricky W. Telg, and Lisa K. Lundy
- “Influence of message theme on consumer perceptions of lab grown meat” by Kellie Kubacak, Courtney Meyers, Hannah L. Ford, Nan Li, and Lindsay Kennedy
- “Labs and landscapes virtual reality: Student-created forest conservation tours for informal public engagement” by Whitney Stone, Jamie Loizzo, Jacqueline Aenlle, and Peyton Beattie
You can read the articles here.
Potential of social network analysis: A case study involving organic food
We recently added a research report about the potential value of social network analysis in understanding consumer perceptions of organic food. An international team of researchers compared the results of 14 studies carried out by using standard research methods with those based on 344,233 posts by 73,380 Instagram users.
Both approaches identified four key areas as factors important to consumers buying organic food: (1) health consciousness, (2) ecological motives, (3) taste, and (4) hedonism.
You can read the journal article by open access for individual use here.
Recognizing a new collection
Sincere thanks to retired communicator Chris Scherer for alerting us to his collection of professional books. Copies of some are already in the University of Illinois Library. However, more than half involve communications related to agriculture and we had not been aware of them. So we are reviewing the books we don’t have and preparing citations for the ACDC database and search system. As a result, online visitors will soon be able to identify and gain access to detailed agricultural communications information otherwise difficult to find.
Books in the new Chris Scherer Collection feature excellent information for professional journalists and communicators as well as researchers, students and others. Subjects range across writing, layout and design, trends in advertising and public relations, and the history of women in journalism.
Check with ACDC Associate Jim Evans if you would like to learn more about this collection – or if you have agricultural journalism and communications materials for which you might like to find a home.
Record-high worry about hunger
“One year after the coronavirus pandemic upended Americans’ lives and caused an economic crisis, worry about hunger and homelessness in the country eclipsed concerns about 13 other national issues for the first time. The 55% of U.S. adults who say they personally worry ‘a great deal’ about these consequences of poverty marks an eight-percentage-point increase since last year and the highest in 20 years of measurement.”
We recently added this Gallup news item to the ACDC collection. You can read further details about recent results of annual Gallup Poll research here.
Communicator events approaching
Uncertainties of the COVID-19 health issue continue to prompt flexible event planning. Here are plans of which we are aware, with contact information you can use for details.
June 21-23, 2022
Agricultural Relations Council (ARC). Annual meeting in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Information: https://agrelationscouncil.org
June 27-July 3, 2022
“Smarter farming and food production for green and sustainable growth.” 2022 World Congress of the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists (IFAJ) in Vingsted, Denmark. Hosted by the Danish Food and Agricultural Journalists.
Information: https://ifaj2020.dk
July 16-20, 2022
“On point.” Agricultural Media Summit in Raleigh, North Carolina. Sponsored by the American Agricultural Editors’ Association (AAEA), Connectiv Agri-Media Committee, and Livestock Publications Council (LPC).
Information: https://agmediasummit.co
July 20-24, 2022
International Society of Weekly Newspaper Editors. Conference in Louisville, Kentucky. Information: https://iswne.org/annual_conferences
September 21-22, 2022
Professional Development Workshop sponsored by the Cooperative Communicators Association (CCA) in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
Information: communicators.coop/professional-development/workshops/
October 10-12, 2022
National Agri-Marketing Association (NAMA). Fall conference in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Information: https://web.nama.org/events/2022-fall-conference-402/details
November 16-18, 2022
National Association of Farm Broadcasting (NAFB). Annual conference in Kansas City, Missouri. Information: https://nafb.com/events/nafb-convention
From misery freed
We close this issue of ACDC News with an epitaph by Oliver Goldsmith:
“Here lies poor Ned Purdon, from misery freed,
Who long was a bookseller’s hack.
He led such a damnable life in this world
I don’t think he’ll wish to come back.”
Offering information and best regards
ACDC is a resource for you, so please feel free to invite our help as you search for information. You are welcome to follow us on Twitter @ACDCUIUC. And please suggest (or send) agricultural communications documents we might add to this unique and valued international collection. We welcome them in hard copy (sent to Ag Comm Documentation Center, 510 ACES Library, 1101 S. Goodwin Avenue, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL 61801) – or in electronic format sent to acdc@library.illinois.edu