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ACDC News – Issue 22-05

Posted on May 23, 2022 by Kevin Wiggins

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Rural worries about new Postal Service delays

We have added a news item from Daily Yonder addressing the possible impacts of recent-approved delays in mail shipments by the U.S. Postal Service.

Since early October, the USPS has been authorized to delay shipments of first-class mail – letters, bills, tax documents, and the like. Deliveries that “normally took three days now take upward of five days.” The change helps address the rising expenses of the Postal Service. However, author Kristi Eaton reports, “Advocates and researchers who study the postal system continue to worry about the effect the changes will have on rural America.”

You can read more about this rural information issue here.

Checking her career interest in full-time ag freelancing

Agricultural journalist Sabrina Halvorson “decided to spend a year as a full-time freelancer to see what I could learn from that.” Since the 1990s she had freelanced on the side of a full-time job. As her year ended recently, she reported on her experience to Agricultural Communicators Network/AAEA members in the ByLine newsletter. Among the freelancing tips she offered:

Don’t wear yourself out. “Work is only part of life.”
Find the spices (topics) you like.
Find someone to be your cheerleader

You can read her report, “Finding balance in freelancing,” here.

“Making the case for ugly produce”

How should the fresh produce industry communicate about off-shaped carrots and other vegetables? A report of this title in The Packer trade periodical addresses the question. Findings of new university research suggest the produce industry should avoid simply treating them as ugly, inferior food that should be worthless.

“Explaining the value of misshapen vegetables –that they are as healthful as their picture-perfect counterparts and buying them reduces food waste – could help improve sales of ‘ugly’ produce,” said senior study author Brian Roe.

You can read the report here.

Recent recognition in rural community journalism

A North Carolina family with seven decades of outstanding public service has received the 2021 Tom and Pat Gish Award. This award is sponsored by the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues based at the University of Kentucky.

Thompson-High family has owned the twice-weekly News Reporter in Whiteville, North Carolina, since 1938. Since then, it “has continued to show courage, integrity and tenacity by holding accountable local public officials – especially those in the criminal justice system – despite significant financial adversity, reader and advertiser boycotts, personal attacks and threats against family members’ lives, and taking smaller profits to better serve its readers, but always looking ahead.”

You can read more about this honored community journalism here.

Is there growth in gardening?

In this COVID era, “the seed aspect is definitely an angle that the business journalist should look at when reporting on this topic.” So advised Kenechi Anigbogu in a recent article from the National Center for Business Journalism. He offered several possible approaches for covering it in any part of the world:

Look at the seed retailers to examine trends they are noticing
Talk with a horticulturist based in your area of coverage
Check the rise of food prices because consumers may look to gardening as a means of beating inflation

You can read the article 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 6-9, 2022

“Culture, Color, Creativity.” Annual Institute of the Cooperative Communicators Association (CCA) in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Information: https://www.communicators.coop/professional-development/cca-institute/

June 12-14, 2022

“Reimagined: ACE and all that jazz.” Annual conference of the Association for Communication Excellence in Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Life and Human Sciences (ACE) in Kansas City, Missouri. Information: https://aceweb.org

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.com

July 20-24, 2022

International Society of Weekly Newspaper Editors. Conference in Louisville, Kentucky. Information: https://iswne.org/annual_conferences

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

An Irish blessing

We close this issue of ACDC News with an Irish blessing:

“May the face of every good news

And the back of every bad news

Be towards us.”

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 welcomed 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

ACDC News – Issue 22-04

Posted on April 18, 2022 by Kevin Wiggins

Click here for a printer-friendly pdf of this issue

Journals and journal editors – guardians of the agricultural sciences

This enduringly important perspective appeared in a 1982 Rural Sociology article we added recently to the ACDC collection. Researchers William Lacy and Lawrence Busch used national surveys of agricultural journal editors and agricultural scientists in 13 disciplines to examine the role of professional journals in research. Survey results also revealed the criteria that authors and editors use in submitting and selecting articles for publication. Findings reinforced the vital roles that editors play in the agricultural research process.

You can read the article abstract here via ResearchGate or request the full article pdf.

No Till Farmer magazine recently celebrated a “triple crown”

Mike Lessiter, president of Lessiter Media, reports that the celebration featured:

60 years since the first commercial no-till plots in Kentucky
50 years since his father, Frank Lessiter, launched this magazine to serve information needs of farmers who use no-till and strip-till methods
30 years since the first National No-Tillage Conference

The celebration also featured a “Museum of No-Till History” – 2,064 square feet of vertical displays at the recent conference in Louisville, Kentucky. Displays included more than 500 photos, 40 factoids and 50-plus charts and illustrations. “Once we were looking for it, every place we turned yielded more historical discoveries…”

You can view the Museum boards here.

Seven biggest ethical issues facing the agricultural industry

We are adding to the ACDC collection a 2019 posting in the ethics hotline, Ethical Advocate. It identified seven ways to improve agricultural ethics in the U.S. They addressed issues such as safety of food, treatment of animals and use of chemicals.

One cited issue involved the sharing of information – for instance, warning a fellow farmer of a parasite or pest issue versus letting a problem ruin a farm. “Sharing information to help each other helps the entire industry and the world as a whole.”

You can read the brief article here.

Required food labeling information – not all offered online

Findings of a recent research report in Public Health Nutrition indicated that information provided regularly to consumers in conventional food retail settings in the USA is not being uniformly provided online. For example, required details about nutrition and allergens were present, conspicuous and legible for an average of only 36.5% of the food and drink products surveyed. Researchers concluded that “at a minimum, the entire required nutritional information panel should be made conspicuously and immediately visible and legible under ordinary purchase conditions online.”

You can read the 2021 article here.

Update on what food is “natural”

The 2021 Food and Health Survey by the International Food Information Council (IFIC) showed that one-third of Americans regularly buy foods and beverages because they are labeled as “natural.” Also, most Americans said they view a product labeled “all natural” as healthier than a product that is not, even if they have the same Nutrition Facts label.

“But does ‘natural’ really mean what we think it means?” IFIC explains that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) “…considers ‘natural’ to mean that nothing artificial or synthetic has been put into a food that wouldn’t be expected to be there.” The definition “is not meant to address food production, processing or manufacturing methods. Nor is it indicative of a food’s nutritional or health benefit.”

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) regulates meat, poultry and egg products – but not shell eggs. It considers a natural meat and poultry product as “containing no artificial ingredient or added color and is only minimally processed.”

The IFIC report suggests to food shoppers, “…remember that there is no formal definition for the term and head for the Nutrition Facts label for details about its healthfulness. Just because it’s ‘natural’ doesn’t mean it’s healthier.”

You can read the full article 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 6-9, 2022

“Culture, Color, Creativity” Annual Institute of the Cooperative Communicators Association (CCA) in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Information: https://www.communicators.coop/professional-development/cca-institute/

June 12-14, 2022

“Reimagined: ACE all that jazz.” Annual conference of the Association for Communication Excellence in Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Life and Human Sciences (ACE) in Kansas City, Missouri. Information: https://aceweb.org

June 27-July 3, 2022

Information: https://ifaj2020.dk

July 16-20, 2022

Information: https://agmediasummit.com

The most important part

We close this issue of ACDC News with a thought from Sallie Tisdale in “Travel guide to the end of life.”

“Few of us communicate really well. We think explaining ourselves is key, but listening is the most important part.”

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

ACDC News – Issue 22-03

Posted on March 15, 2022 by Kevin Wiggins

Click here for a printer pdf of this issue

120 Years and Counting

Congratulations to Successful Farming magazine staff members as they observe 120 years of serving families who make farming and ranching their business.

The December 2021 issue noted that founder Edwin T. Meredith launched SF in 1902. “He was given the deed to a failing newspaper as a wedding gift with a note attached: ‘Sink or swim.’ … “We’re proud to uphold the tradition of serving American farmers and ranchers with every issue.”

The University of Illinois Library and those of us in ACDC are pleased to help preserve and make those issues available for historical research, as well as document the life and influential career of Meredith as publisher and U.S. Secretary of Agriculture.

Access to and use of libraries and the internet among ag academics and extension workers in South Africa

We recently added an article about this topic in the February 2022 issue of Library Philosophy and Practice. Researchers selected a sample of extension workers and agriculture academics from the University of Zululand to address this matter.

Findings revealed that internet facilities were not adequate in extension offices in rural areas, leading to minimum use of them. Also, most extension workers did not have access to library facilities and seldom used them as information sources. Academics used the internet regularly. They had high access to libraries but made little use of them.

The authors offered suggestions for improving access and use of both information sources.

You can read the e-journal article here.

Changing rural community journalism in areas of declining population

A survey of county commissioners, chamber of commerce executives, and journalists in western Kansas (U.S.) examined perceptions and attitudes toward change in a region of declining population. Findings reported by David Guth in the Journal of Applied Journalism and Media Studies showed a strong preference for locally generated news content and a belief that rural journalists should be both objective and community boosters.

“There was skepticism towards the Internet as a source of local news.”

You can read this article here.

Environmental impacts of U.S. food waste

We are adding to the ACDC collection a recent report from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) about the environmental impacts of food loss and waste. More than one-third of the food produced in the United States is never eaten, according to the analysis. And food waste is the “single most common material landfilled and incinerated…”

According to the report, each year U.S. food loss and waste embodies, for example:

140 million acres of agricultural land, an area the size of California and New York combined.
9 trillion gallons of blue water, equal to annual water use of 50 million American homes.
779 million pounds of pesticides
14 billion pounds of fertilizer

You can read the full EPA report here.

How ag media are covering soil conservation practices

A University of Wisconsin research team recently completed a study of online news stories about soil conservation in the four most-read agricultural print media outlets in Wisconsin. Researchers focused on 10 soil conservation practices and examined 68,401 stories in those periodicals between 2002 and 2020.

Practices of tillage agriculture, manure management, and grazing appeared most often. During recent years, numbers of stories about other practices such as cover crops grew significantly. Extension and the federal government were cited most frequently in stories.

You can read a summary report 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 the contact information you can use for details.

March 30-April 3, 2022

Annual conference of the Society of Environmental Journalists (SEJ) in Houston, Texas. Information: https://conference2022.sej.org/agenda

June 6-9, 2022

Annual Institute of the Cooperative Communicators Association (CCA) in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Information: https://www.communicators.coop/professional-development/cca-institute/

June 12-14, 2022

“Reimagined: And all that jazz.” Annual conference of the Association for Communication Excellence in Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Life and Human Sciences (ACE) in Kansas City, Missouri. Information: https://aceweb.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.com

What we really need

We close this issue of ACDC News with an insight from poet R. M. Ryan:

“What we really need are poems to polka to.”

Offering information and best regards

ACDC News – Issue 22-02

Posted on February 15, 2022 by Kevin Wiggins

Click here for a printer-friendly pdf of this issue

Record number of journalists behind bars

A 2021 global prison census revealed that the number of reporters jailed for their work hit a global record of 293, up from 280 in 2020. We noted this news from the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

“It has been an especially bleak year for defenders of press freedom … China remains the world’s worst jailer of journalists for the third year in a row, with 50 behind bars. Myanmar soared to the second slot after the media crackdown that followed its February 1 military coup. Egypt, Vietnam, and Belarus, respectively, rounded out the top five.”

You can read the report here.

“So, yes, the risks are higher out there”

Another article about risks facing rural journalists has been added to the ACDC collection. Posted at philippinereporter.com, it involved an interview with Patricia Evangelista of the Rappler digital media company, based in Manila, Philippines. Evangelista was honored as the Marshall McLuhan Fellow at BoniFest 2019.

Asked about the risks she and other journalists face for reporting events or issues that are political, she replied: “There are risks. I think, though, that the risks at least for people like me are not as terrible as for people out in the provinces reporting without the support of news agencies. Rappler has my back. If something happens to me, they will be there. But for all the journalists out in the provinces who are fighting the good fight they don’t have what we have. So, yes, the risks are higher out there and it’s them we have to look to…and thank for what they do.”

You can read this Q/A piece here.

He really captured the uniqueness of radio

The recent passing of respected farm broadcaster Lee Kline highlights his special skills in capturing the inherent features of rural media. His broadcasting career with WHO Radio, Des Moines, Iowa, spanned 64 years. A two-time recipient of the Oscars in Agriculture Award for excellence in radio, he also received dozens of other honors from agricultural organizations and associations. He was known for “his warm interviewing style, natural curiosity, recording of unique sounds, and an ability to prompt heart-felt stories from farmers, families, business people, celebrities, and politicians.”

Across the years, we have gathered into the ACDC collection examples of Lee’s exemplary broadcasting skills. Some are in the form of program segments on audio cassettes in three volumes (2000-2002). They include unique sounds such as talking birds, old fiddlers, auctioneers, storytellers, jumping tractors, Iowa mockingbirds, riding in a glider, and the Perry popcorn lady. Examples also feature his award-winning Oscars in Agriculture entries.

Let us know here if you would like to learn more about his career and/or arrange to hear some of his creative work.

Feedback about the proposed FDA traceability rule

We have added to the ACDC collection a report from the fresh produce industry about record-keeping regulations proposed recently by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). It came last month from a diverse team of food safety and quality assurance leaders. In their analysis, members emphasized that a “one size fits all approach to traceability will not work for this industry.” Their insights touched on all sectors of the fresh produce supply chain – from the grower-shipper to the distributor, retailer and foodservice provider.

You can read the report online here.

“How to sell good international stories”

Veteran Brazilian journalist Luis Vieira recently offered several recommendations for freelancers to use in marketing international stories with a specific focus in the agriculture sector. Among them:

Don’t be afraid of pitching these international stories
Start by pitching stories for which you have good angle, considering your professional profile
Remember that editors assess the quality of your report as well as the potential interest of readers
Keep a close eye on current trends and activities in countries in which you have the most interest

You can read this item in the Ag Communicators Network AAEA ByLine newsletter 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 the contact information you can use for details.

February 18, 2022

Deadline for posters to be presented at the ACE annual conference in Kansas City, Missouri, June 12-14, 2022.

Information: Cara Lawson at cara.lawson@oregonstate.edu

February 18, 2022

Deadline for outstanding theses and dissertations to be recognized at the ACE annual conference in Kansas City, Missouri, June 12-14, 2022.

Information: Garrett Steede at gsteede@umn.edu

March 30-April 3, 2022

Annual conference of the Society of Environmental Journalists (SEJ) in Houston, Texas. Information: https://conference2022.sej.org/agenda

June 6-9, 2022

Annual Institute of the Cooperative Communicators Association (CCA) in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Information: https://www.communicators.coop/professional-development/cca-institute/

June 12-14, 2022

Annual Conference of the Association for Communication Excellence in Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Life and Human Sciences (ACE) in Kansas City, Missouri. Information: https://aceweb.org

June 27-July 3, 2022

Information: https://ifaj2020.dk

July 16-20, 2022

“On the point.” Ag Media Summit in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Information: https://agcommnetwork.com/unveiling-the-theme-and-logo-for-ag-media-summit-2022

Levels of loving

We close this issue of ACDC News pondering a touching (and perhaps thought-provoking) verse that came to our attention recently:

“St. Mullen of Carlow loved animals so much that he

not only rescued a wren that had been swallowed by a cat,

but also rescued a fly that had been swallowed by the wren.”

Offering information and best regards

ACDC News – Issue 22-01

Posted on January 12, 2022 by Kevin Wiggins

Click here for a printer-friendly pdf of this issue

“There’s no journalism on a dead planet”

Corporate media owners are killing local newspapers, reported Sophia Reuss in a 2019 issue of Briarpatch magazine. “You have to humanize [climate change] and you have to humanize it on a local level, and that’s where the paper comes in.”

She emphasized that when a local media ecosystem functions well, communities are often afforded more direct participation in the public process. Her report cited two case examples of citizens’ activist efforts in Canada using local media with impact.

You can read the article here.

How advanced text mining techniques “could help address critical issues in food and nutrition sciences”

We have added a recent journal article about using advanced digital text mining on social media to improve food production, food safety, and human nutrition. It was published in Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety.

The authors provided an overview of the data sources, computational methods, and applications of text data in the food industry. They illustrated applications of text data analysis with respect to food safety and food fraud surveillance, dietary pattern characterization, consumer-opinion mining, new-product development, food knowledge discovery, food supply-chain management, and online food systems.

You can read the abstract and learn how to purchase the article via IngentaConnect.com here. Or confer with us at acdc@library.illinois.edu

Rural News Network set to launch in 2022

A new journalism consortium addressing “the most critical issues confronting America’s rural communities” will launch in 2022. Fern Siegel announced the introduction recently via Mediapost.com. Rural News Network will be part of the Institute for Nonprofit News (INN) and already is addressing two topics:

Water justice in the rural West
Economic issues in indigenous communities

INN includes more than 350 nonprofit and nonpartisan news organizations dedicated to public service. Rural News Network will address specific rural issues, using 60 independent INN-member newsrooms serving communities across 30 states.

You can learn more about this consortium and the initial projects here.

“Expanding broadband in the black rural south”

A recent 36-page report of that title has been added to the ACDC collection. Written by Dominique Harrison, it was published October 6 by the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, Washington, D.C. It focused on needs and potentials for broadband in 152 rural counties with populations that are at least 35 percent African American. Among the findings:

38% of the African Americans in that area lack home internet access, compared with 18 percent of all Americans, nationwide.
Access is either not available or they lack the financial means to purchase service.
Expanding broadband can help improve employment, incomes, education, and health care in that area.

You can read the report here.

How to interview a “dud”

“Unfortunately, not every person we interact with has the radiant, outgoing personality of a cooperative communicator,” observed Editor Mark Johnson in the Cooperative Communicators Association e-newsletter, CCA Connect. “Usually, we can either deal with these types quickly and move on or avoid them altogether. But what happens when we are tasked with interviewing a dud?”

“Don’t give up until you give it the old college try,” he advised. And he offered five tips about how to do so. You can read the item 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.

February 13-14, 2022

National Agricultural Communications Symposium in conjunction with the annual meeting of the Southern Association of Agricultural Scientists in New Orleans, Louisiana. Information: https://www.saasinc.org

February 18, 2022

Deadline for posters to be presented at the ACE annual conference in Kansas City, Missouri, June 12-14, 2022.

Information: Cara Lawson at cara.lawson@oregonstate.edu

February 18, 2022

Deadline for outstanding theses and dissertations to be recognized at the ACE annual conference in Kansas City, Missouri, June 12-14, 2022.

Information: Garrett Steede at gsteede@umn.edu

June 6-9, 2022

Annual Institute of the Cooperative Communicators Association (CCA) in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Information: https://www.communicators.coop/professional-development/cca-institute/

June 12-14, 2022

Annual Conference of the Association for Communication Excellence in Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Life and Human Sciences (ACE) in Kansas City, Missouri. Information: https://aceweb.org

July 16-20, 2022

“On the point.” Ag Media Summit in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Information: https://agcommnetwork.com/unveiling-the-theme-and-logo-for-ag-media-summit-2022

On revealing secrets

We close this issue of ACDC News with a bit of ever-timely Old Farmer’s Advice which Paul Hixson kindly shared with us:

“Lettin’ the cat outta the bag is a whole lot easier than puttin’ it back in.”

Offering information and best regards

ACDC News – Issue 21-12

Posted on December 13, 2021 by Kevin Wiggins

Click here for a printer-friendly pdf of this issue.

When it’s OK to say “I don’t know”

“Leading your company with decisiveness can seem like the way to go,” Amy Sowder of The Packer observed in a recent article. “It’s strong. Firm answers can encourage employees to feel confident and secure in their company. Employees need assurance, especially in these uncertain times.”

However, speakers in a COVID-19 Environment session of the 2020 United Fresh Washington Conference also emphasized that sometimes it’s better to tell your employees that you don’t know. For example:

Remaining silent until you have an answer for your next step during a crisis can cause employees even more stress.
Silence may make employees think their leaders don’t care.
Have a plan for when you don’t know.
Make space for employees to talk, to ask questions, and to hear updates from you.

You can read this brief and ever-timely article here.

“Reinforcing the rural status quo” in a river system

Media coverage of health and politics involving Australia’s largest river system came under review in a recent article in the journal, Environmental Communication. Researchers conducted a critical discourse analysis of rural radio coverage of issues in the Murray-Darling River system. In particular, they analyzed national coverage in the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) “Country Hour” program. Findings prompted them to note a “constrained range of discourses…largely due to journalists assigning framing power to a limited group of elite agricultural and political sources and legitimating their ideological positions especially through the program presenters’ contextualizing commentary.” They also noted “some significant absences – the voices of people who live in the Basin, including First Nations and others with environmental concerns.”

“As scholars who desire to be actively participating subjects in a global environment, we take up (Arjun) Appadurai’s invitation to imagine a time soon when the Murray-Darling will be heard on its own terms, not only on Australia’s rural airwaves, but throughout the land.”

This article is available for purchase from the publisher. You can read the abstract and get details about how to purchase the article from the publisher here. Feel free to check with us at acdc@library.illinois.edu for help.

Where the produce industry is missing the boat on consumption

How is consumption of fresh fruit and vegetables not increasing at record margins each year? Alex DiNovo, president of DNO Produce group of companies, Columbus, Ohio, asked that question in a recent issue of The Packer.

“We need a concise, unapologetic, and perhaps even edgy approach to marketing ourselves as an industry,” he suggested, perhaps along the line of what the milk industry did. It began the Dairy Checkoff program nearly 40 years ago, forming an organization to grow consumption and trust through promotion, research, and nutrition education. “…as an entire industry, we are far more powerful than on a commodity-by-commodity basis.”

You can read the commentary here.

Small-town newspapers and heinous crimes

We recently added a journal article that examined the role of small newspapers when bizarre and shocking crimes are committed locally. The study by Kristy Hess and Lisa Waller focused on three towns in regional Australia “that have been represented in metropolitan and international news media as ‘dead zones’ after shocking crimes.”

Findings indicated that while small newspapers lack the power to overturn negative media representations of their communities they do have the authority to instruct their readership in how to respond to the events themselves and the negative representations by big media.

You can read this article, “The Snowtown we know and love,” in Rural Society here.

Scholars need to address rural health care ethics more rigorously

We recently added a 2006 research report about this subject in the American Journal of Bioethics. The research team members based that conclusion on their review of health care literature focused on rural America between 1966 and 2004. They identified 55 publications that specifically and substantively addressed rural health care ethics. Only seven (13%) were original research articles; most were descriptive summaries of research and general commentaries.

This article is available for purchase from the publisher. You can read the abstract and get details for full access here. Feel free to check with us at acdc@library.illinois.edu for help.

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.

January 28, 2022

Deadline for research papers to be presented at the annual conference of the Association for Communication Excellence in Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Life and Human Sciences (ACE) in Kansas City, Missouri, June 12-14, 2022,

Information: Shannon Norris at norriss@nmsu.edu

February 13-14, 2022

February 18, 2022

Deadline for posters to be presented at the ACE annual conference in Kansas City, Missouri, June 12-14, 2022.

Information: Cara Lawson at cara.lawson@oregonstate.edu

February 18, 2022

Deadline for outstanding theses and dissertations to be recognized at the ACE annual conference in Kansas City, Missouri, June 12-14, 2022.

Information: Garrett Steede at gsteede@umn.edu

June 12-14, 2022

Annual Conference of the Association for Communication Excellence in Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Life and Human Sciences (ACE) in Kansas City, Missouri. Information: https://aceweb.org

July 16-20, 2022

“On the point.” Ag Media Summit in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Information: https://agcommnetwork.com/unveiling-the-theme-and-logo-for-ag-media-summit-2022

A year-end toast

We close this year-farewell issue of ACDC News with an Irish toast:

“May the roof above us never fall in,

And may we friends gathered below

Never fall out.”

Offering information and best regards

ACDC is a resource for you, so please 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 and valued international collection. We welcome them in hard copy (sent to Ag Comm Documentation Center, Room 510, 1101 S. Goodwin Avenue, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL 61801) – or in electronic format sent to acdc@library.illinois.edu

ACDC News – Issue 21-11

Posted on November 10, 2021 by Kevin Wiggins

Click here for a printer-friendly PDF of this issue

The lost art of being a food merchant

We have added to the ACDC collection a recent article about creativity and training needs in the produce departments of food stores. Veteran food executive Mike O’Brien emphasized the need to deliver a positive, unique, and memorable experience for shoppers.

“It comes down to trust, empowerment and education,” he said. “Many supermarkets find that letting their people get creative is a key part of the puzzle, so nurturing a company culture that supports a beyond-the-basics approach is essential. … It is somewhat of a lost art in today’s fast paced world of data, low price and lack of labor.” Automating and executing by corporate dictum “won’t get you what you really want…”

You can read his suggestions here in this Produce Market Guide article.

Hold government, other players accountable with investigative agricultural reporting

Journalists in the agriculture sector should do all they can to hold regulators, policy executives and private-sector players accountable for transparency, efficiency and development of the sector. So advised Ini Ekot while speaking to agricultural reporters and editors on “Investigating the Agricultural Sector” at a three-day intensive training in Abuja, Nigeria. The Premium Times Centre for Investigative Journalism organized this program.

Participants also learned of existing constitutional empowerment for journalists to hold leaders accountable in African countries such as Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Gambia.

You can read this 2019 article in Guardian Nigeria here.

News deserts and ghost newspapers: Will local news survive?

“This report is the fourth on the state of local news produced by the Hussman School of Journalism and Media at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. It measures what has been lost, while also assessing what must be done if we are to nurture and revive a vibrant news landscape in the third decade of the 21^st century.” Penelope Muse Abernathy, Knight Chair in Journalism and Digital Media Economics, authored the 121-page research report (2020).

You can read the report here.

Simplistic journalism and rural America as a scapegoat

“There are ways for the industry to support better and more incisive reporting on rural communities.” So reported Sarah Jones, a staff writer for New York Magazine, in a 2019 article we have added from Dissent Magazine. Decrying fabricated, stereotyped reporting about rural people and matters, she suggested that journalists “take steps to ensure that rural communities are empowered to tell their own stories.”

You can read the article by open access here.

Potentials and limitations of citizen journalism initiatives

Researchers Kalyani Chadha and Linda Steiner explored this timely topic through a case study involving rural and tribal communities in central India. The citizen journalism enterprise, CGNet Swara, was initiated to act as a bridge between those communities and professional news outlets. Findings revealed “failure to ‘bridge’ the citizen-professional divide and to position the experiment in terms of the larger public sphere” as a force for democracy.

You can read the article in Journalism Studies by open access from the publisher 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.

November 17-19, 2021

“Harvesting News for Rural America,” Convention of the National Association of Farm Broadcasting (NAFB) in Kansas City, Missouri.

Information: https://nafb.com

February 13-14, 2022

National Agricultural Communications Symposium in conjunction with the annual meeting of the Southern Association of Agricultural Scientists in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Information: https://www.saasinc.org

June 12-14, 2022

Annual Conference of the Association for Communication Excellence in Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Life and Human Sciences (ACE) in Kansas City, Missouri.

Information: https://aceweb.org

Pondering the future of agricultural journalism

We close this issue of ACDC News with an observation we enjoyed and appreciated from Betsy Freese when she was executive editor at Meredith Corporation in Des Moines, Iowa:

“I would like to see a robot try to do what I do.”

Offering information and best regards

ACDC News – Issue 21-10

Posted on October 14, 2021 by Kevin Wiggins

Click here for a printer-friendly PDF of this issue

When Lightning Ridge lost its newspaper

Local residents of that rural Australian town lamented their loss of The Ridge News and experienced a fragmenting, less-vibrant public sphere, according to a recent article in the Australian Journalism Review.

Researchers Marco Magasic and Kristy Hess used a two-month focused ethnographic study to explore people’s media-related practices following the closure of the town’s only newspaper in 2015. While social media are considered to have partly filled a news void, the loss led to growing complacency among individuals about political affairs, especially in local government.

You can read the abstract and learn how to buy the article via IngentaConnect.com here. Or confer with us at acdc@library.illinois.edu

“How should journalists cover climate change?”

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Elizabeth Kolbert asked that question in a Nieman Reports article we added to the ACDC collection recently. Her take on answering the question:

“It’s a very hard issue to cover because it is everything. It’s every aspect of how we live. Its causes are ubiquitous, and its effects are ubiquitous. There are no great stories. Climate change has never really been a good story and won’t ever, on some level, be a good story. I applaud everyone covering climate now if for nothing else, trying to make people think about how we are going to cover this issue.”

You can read this article here.

Role of NGOs in building connections and belonging among refugees in Colorado meatpacking industries

“Unsettled belonging in complex geopolitics” is the title of a 2021 article we have added from the Sustainability journal. A seven-person research team from three universities used data analysis and interviews to examine how “multi-scalar geopolitical processes shape processes of refugee resettlement and refugee labor in Colorado meatpacking industries. They found that non-governmental organization (NGO) employees, “many of whom identify as foreign-born and/or refugees, work to build connection and belonging among refugees in challenging resettlement environments.”

You can read the article by open access here.

What “sustainability” means to U.S. fruit and vegetable growers

Growers of produce in the U.S. most often think of three things when they consider sustainability:

Essential long-term viability (61%)
Natural resource stewardship (58%)
Being able to pass the farm on to another generation (58%)

That finding came from a recent Sustainable Insights survey by The Packer periodical. Editor Tom Karst observed that the three considerations can be summarized with one theme – “keeping the farm for the long run,”

You can read this brief research summary here.

Impact of government promotion of agricultural exports in Nigeria

Findings reported in the first 2021 issue of the African Journal of Economic Review revealed a significant positive short- and long-run impact of government-sponsored promotion of agricultural exports in Nigeria. Findings by researchers also highlighted the need to be selective in the choice of export promotion strategies.

You can read this article 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.

October 15, 2021

Deadline for submitting professional development papers and sessions at the 2022 National Agricultural Communications Symposium (above). Information from Annie Specht at specht.21@osu.edu

October 22, 2021

Deadline for submitting posters at the 2022 National Agricultural Communications Symposium (above). Information from Shuyang Qu via squ@iastate.edu

October 26-28, 2021

Annual Conference of the Agricultural Relations Council in Richmond, Virginia.

Information: https://agrelationscouncil.org/agricultural-relations-council-annual-meeting

November 17-19, 2021

“Harvesting News for Rural America,” Convention of the National Association of Farm Broadcasting (NAFB) in Kansas City, Missouri.

Information: https://nafb.com

Another twist on life

We close this issue of ACDC News with thanks to veteran agricultural writer Fred Myers. Responding to an insight we cited from Will Rogers in the August issue, he shared with us another “good twist on life.” It also came years ago – from steamy entertainer Mae West:

“You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.”

Offering information and best regards

ACDC News – Issue 21-09

Posted on September 13, 2021 by Kevin Wiggins

Click here for a printer friendly PDF of this newsletter.

Create theater in the produce department

That’s the advice of Brian Dey, senior merchandiser and natural stores coordinator for wholesaler Four Seasons Produce based in Pennsylvania.

“Create theater, create opportunity, and create sales!” he urged in a 2020 issue of The Packer. He shared two examples of theatrical flair in the produce department. One involved “a big display of fabulous fungi” to celebrate National Mushroom Month. The other was a SugarBee apple extravaganza featuring a SugarBee mascot that greeted and interacted with customers.

“…customers walk away from a great promotion with new insight, product knowledge and a desire to come back for more fun and events at your stores. Another significant benefit is that events like this help strengthen relationships with your wholesalers and their vendor partners.”

You can read the article here.

Advice for delivering effective science communication

It comes from Sam Illingsworth, a professional science communicator in the Faculty of Science and Engineering at Manchester Metropolitan University, United Kingdom. His 2017 review in the journal, Seminars in Cell and Development Biology, presented practical advice for developing, delivering, and evaluating effective science communication initiatives.

It involved “event logistics, suggestions on how to successfully market and advertise your science communication initiatives, and recommendations for establishing effective branding and legacy.”

You can read the article here.

Helping indigenous communities bridge the lingering digital divide

Native American country has largely been ignored when it comes to internet infrastructure, Jessica Douglas reported in the April issue of High Country News. By the end of 2018, only about one-half of tribal lands in the lower 48 states had high-speed Internet access, according to the Federal Communications Commission. However, increased government attention is helping tribes gain opportunity for solutions. A recent report from the national Institute for Local Self-Reliance includes two key features, which Douglas described in her article:

A case study of four indigenous nations as they constructed their own internet service providers
A comprehensive list and map of all the tribally owned broadband projects in Indian Country

You can read “Bridging the digital divide” on pages 7-8 by open access here.

The press and agricultural news: Looking back nearly 80 years

We recently added to the ACDC collection a 1942 article entitled, “The press and agricultural news.” It was published in The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science with William A Sumner, professor of agricultural journalism at the University of Wisconsin, as author.

“There is no question that news of agriculture does now concern everybody,” he noted in introducing the subject. “…Even the most casual survey of newspapers, periodicals, or radio programs reveals a surprising volume of agricultural news.” Sections of his brief historical review feature:

Early agricultural news
Government interest in agricultural news
The first news releases
Influence of Extension workers
The volume of agricultural news
Change in subject matter
A.A.A. (Agricultural Adjustment Act) and the news
Tomorrow’s agricultural news

You can read the article by open access here.

Consumer attitudes, trends, and habits involving food safety

The International Food Information Council provides a 2020 snapshot of perspectives about food safety in a probability sample of 1,000 U.S. adults.

You can review a concise 24-page visual summary of findings 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.

September 29-30, 2021

Professional development virtual workshop of the Cooperative Communicators Association (CCA). Information: https://communicators.coop/professional-development/workshops

October 4-6, 2021

“Something’s Brewing,” Fall Conference, National Agri-Marketing Association (NAMA) in St. Louis, Missouri. Information: https://www.nama.org/fall-conference.html

October 8-11, 2021

ScienceWriters2021 of the National Association of Science Writers will take place as a hybrid event with an in-person gathering in Boulder, Colorado, and virtual experiences in the weeks surrounding it.

Information: https://www.nasw.org/events/upcoming

October 8, 2021

Deadline for submitting papers to be presented February 13-14, 2022, at the National Agricultural Communications Symposium in conjunction with the annual meeting of the Southern Association of Agricultural Scientists in New Orleans, Louisiana. Information from Ashley McCloud-Morin via ashleynmccleod@ufl.edu

October 15, 2021

Deadline for submitting professional development papers and sessions at the 2022 National Agricultural Communications Symposium (above). Information from Annie Specht at specht.21@osu.edu

October 22, 2021

Deadline for submitting posters at the 2022 National Agricultural Communications Symposium (above). Information from Shuyang Qu via squ@iastate.edu

October 26-28, 2021

Annual Conference of the Agricultural Relations Council in Richmond, Virginia.

Information: https://agrelationscouncil.org/agricultural-relations-council-annual-meeting

November 17-19, 2021

“Harvesting News for Rural America,” Convention of the National Association of Farm Broadcasting (NAFB) in Kansas City, Missouri.

Information: https://nafb.com

No smile?

We close this issue of ACDC News with an enduring insight from Will Rogers:

“If you see someone without a smile – give him one of yours.”

Offering information and best regards

ACDC News – Issue 21-08

Posted on August 10, 2021 by Kevin Wiggins

Click here for a printer friendly PDF of this newsletter.

Meeting in the grove, virtually

Index Fresh, Inc., a worldwide marketer of avocados, has found that using an avocado grove as a setting for a virtual meeting breaks the ice during the time of COVID-19. It “has a completely different vibe than in a conference room,” according to a news article in The Packer.

“We can talk about new business opportunities, market trends or just simply how they’re doing because our customers are not just clients, they’re friends.” This “meeting in the grove” concept involves videos and photos from the company’s field department, provided in a relaxed environment.

You can read the article here.

News media sparing audiences the truth

We recently added to the ACDC collection a 2016 Journalism Studies article about the role of news media in constructing perceptions of nonhumans used for food, and their treatment. Researchers Natalie Khazaal and Nuria Almiron compared 60 articles from the New York Times (United States) and El Pais (Spain) during a two-year period using a critical discourse analysis. Results showed that “while both newspapers play a major role in concealing the nonhumans’ cruel reality, a distinction can be drawn between the crude speciesism of El Pais and the camouflaged, more deceptive style of the New York Times.”

You can read the article here.

Tribal nations against “one way” communicating

A recent article in High Country News describes efforts by 11 native Alaska tribes to be involved in the conservation and management of their ancestral lands. They submitted a July 2020 petition to the U. S. Department of Agriculture to create a “Traditional Homelands Conservation Rule.” It represents a new strategy in tribal nations’ ongoing efforts to hold the federal government to its legal responsibility to consult with them on projects that impact them.

“…these battles are not going away,” said one participant. “It is one of the divides, and there has to be bridges. … This will never change unless people are willing to talk to one another.”

You can read the article in the October 2020 issue here.

Sending useful agricultural safety signals

A new poster featuring hand signals for use around agricultural equipment has been added to this ACDC collection. The American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers developed it, with 11 signals to communicate and promote farm safety.

You can read it here.

They devised a game to teach environmental decision-making

We recently added to the ACDC collection a teaching game that can introduce the relationship between industry and the environment. It appeared in a 1995 issue of the journal, Teaching Geography. Authors Clare Brooks and Graham James of the United Kingdom described “The Green Factory Game,” which they had found successful throughout secondary school, and beyond.

Each player in the game manages a factory producing soap powder at a site located outside a large town near a main river. The winner is judged to have succeeded in creating the most environmentally-friendly company.

You can read the four-page description and retrieve the game pieces here.

Welcome, Rachel Riffe, to the ACDC

We are delighted to welcome Rachel Riffe as the newest graduate assistant in the Agricultural Communications Documentation Center. She is a candidate for a graduate degree in information sciences from the ISchool here at the University of Illinois.

Rachel earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communication from Berea College, Berea, Kentucky, where she gained experience in repair and cataloging at Hutchins Library. She has worked in billing and account setup for Aramark Financial Services.

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.

September 16-18, 2021

“Back in the Saddle,” Equine Media Conference of American Horse Publications Association in Irving, Texas. Information:

https://americanhorsepubs.org/2021-ahp-back-in-the-saddle-conference/

September 23-25, 2021

“Risky business.” National conference of the Canadian Farm Writers Federation in Windsor, Ontario. Information: https://cfwf.ca/

October 4-6, 2021

“Something’s Brewing,” Fall Conference, National Agri-Marketing Association (NAMA) in St. Louis, Missouri. Information: https://www.nama.org/fall-conference.html

October 8-11, 2021

October 26-28, 2021

Annual Conference of the Agricultural Relations Council in Richmond, Virginia. Information: https://agrelationscouncil.org/agricultural-relations-council-annual-meeting/

November 17-19, 2021

“Harvesting News for Rural America,” Convention of the National Association of Farm Broadcasting (NAFB) in Kansas City, Missouri. Information: https://nafb.com

With whom one should speak

We close this issue of ACDC News with a Danish proverb that offers advice about communicating. Julie Jensen McDonald included it in her published collection, Scandinavian Proverbs:

One should speak

little with others and

much with oneself.