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Changing strategies for communicating about climate
A research team writing in Energy Research and Social Science (2023) reported: “Research shows that multinational oil and gas companies have recently made a strategic shift away from outright climate denial to more nuanced discourses of climate delay.” In this article, authors analyzed tweets published by four companies to observe how they are communicating on their global Twitter accounts about the renewable energy transition.
“This pattern of communication – linking renewables to natural gas and promoting natural gas as part of their corporate response to climate change – suggests an evolution of fossil fuel companies’ strategic efforts to delay the energy transition and obstruct climate action.”
You can read the article here.
“Farmer identity, ethical attitudes and environmental practices”
That title heads a 2014 journal article we are adding to the ACDC collection. Authors reporting in Ecological Economics surveyed Missouri farmers to examine the relationship between the identity of farmers and their attitudes toward ethical issues affecting the environment. They found that a conservation identity, in contrast with a productivist one, is closely correlated with attitudes toward ethical environmental issues. However, they found an important interaction effect with one’s view about the future.
You can read this article by open access here.
Ecovillage as an alternative way of rural life: three case studies in Hungary and Slovakia
A 2018 article in European Countryside analyzed the concept and features of ecovillages and discussed the possible impacts and effects of the ecovillage movement on sustainable rural development. In conclusion, researchers observed: “We think…ecovillages have the potential to be real role models for other villages because our doubtful society needs an already working proof that it is possible to live in a more nature-friendly way…”
You can read this article here.
Issues in government use of social media for public relations in Indonesia
“…government public relations communications through social media has not been fully able to bridge the digital divide, especially in rural areas.” So reported a research team in a JKAP (Jurnal Kebijakan dan Administrasi Publik) article we are adding to the ACDC collection. Authors identified three problems in that effort:
- The pattern of communication involves opinion leaders
- Most feedback occurs indirectly, while ideally it should be direct
- The flow of information takes place in either one or two ways, in contrast with the ideal, which should be one step
You can read this journal article by open access here.
The future of artificial intelligence – A view from 40-plus years ago
Potentials of AI are commanding increased attention these days. The trend prompts us to mention a 1980 perspective from Claude W. Gifford. At that time, he was Acting Assistant Director for Publications and Special Programs in the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Here’s how he put it in a letter to a fellow agricultural communicator:
“Fortunately for your work and mine, someone will still need to find the information and string it out in words that give a clear meaning. That is, unless they invent human beings who think in electronic impulses, and who simply connect the computer to their cranial electrode and feed the computer blips directly into their brain disks. Then the fun will have gone out of this business. Until then, let’s enjoy it.”
Communicator events approaching
Here are event plans you may find helpful, with contact information you can use for details. We welcome suggestions or revisions for this calendar.
September 10-13, 2023
Annual general meeting of the European Network of Agricultural Journalists (ENAJ) in St. Malo, France.
Information: https://enaj.eu
October 6-10, 2023
“Science Writers 2023.” Annual meeting of the National Association of Science Writers (NASW) in Boulder, Colorado.
Information: https://www.nasw.org/
November 14-16, 2023
“Find yourself in Tassie 2023.” Australasia Pacific Extension Network (APEN) international conference in Launceston, Tasmania, Australia.
Information: https://apen.org.au/events/news
November 15-17, 2023
“Homecoming.” 80th Annual Convention of the National Association of Farm Broadcasting (NAFB) in Kansas City, Missouri.
Information: https://nafb.com/events/nafb-convention
Sensing the truth
We close this issue of ACDC News with a communications insight in “Letters from a self-made merchant to his son” by George Horace Lorimer:
“When the tongue lies, the eyes tell the truth.”
Best regards and wishes
ACDC is a deep and open resource for you, so please feel free to invite our help as you search for information, local to global. 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