ACDC Newsletter

Text mining and competitive analysis of social media in the food industry

A recent issue of the International Journal of Information Management featured use of text mining in competitive analysis of social media used by the three largest firms in the pizza industry.

Results led the researchers to observe, “As more and more businesses established a social media presence, it becomes necessary for companies to monitor their own social media presence as well as that of their competitors.”

They offered four recommendations for companies interested in monitoring social media and developing strategies for competitive analysis. You can view the article here .

 Sampling of new agricultural communications research in JAC

The Journal of Applied Communications serves as a major source you can use to keep up with current research in agricultural communications. Here are sample topics addressed in the final issue of 2014:

“Productive pinning: a quantitative content analysis determining the use of Pinterest by agricultural businesses and organizations” by Jessie Topp, Scott Stebner, Lana A. Barkman, and Lauri M. Baker.

“The critical target audience: communicating water conservation behaviors to critical thinking styles” by Laura M. Gorham, Alexa J. Lamm, and Joy N. Rumble.

“Exploring agriculturists’ use of social media for agricultural marketing” by Danielle White, Courtney Meyers, David Doerfert, and Erica Irlbeck.

“An examination of the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists’ involvement in agriculture knowledge mobilization” by William Nelson, David Doerfert, Courtney Meyers, Matt Baker, Cindy Akers, Masaru Yamada, Teruaki Nanseki, and Owen Roberts.

“Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association members’ preferred sources of animal health information” by Patrick R. Allen, Traci L. Naile, Tom A Vestal, and Monty Dozier.

You can read these and other recent JAC articles on their website .

Ag comm students learning through field study

The Academic Interest Group of the Association for Communication Excellence (ACE) recently published a case report about a 2013 study-away experience for agricultural communications students.  Courtney Meyers, faculty member at Texas Tech University, reported how she and Shannon Arnold of Montana State University took 22 students to Washington, D.C. for a week.  They offered seven tips for organizing and carrying out a study away experience.

You can read the report on their WordPress site .

Who is tweeting what about nanotechnology?

A recent web metric analysis of more than 24,000 tweets on nanotechnology found individuals more active than the official channels/representatives of scientific institutions and organizations.  Researcher G. A. Veltri also found nanotechnology not so much an object of conversation on Twitter as a channel of diffusion for the new technology.

Most of the tweets involved news of nanotechnology events or applications for medical research and consumer goods. Veltri found little emphasis placed on resources to understand the science and technology involved and relatively little tweeting (15%) about concerns and opposition to nanotechnology.

You can read this article in the journal, Public Understanding of Science , here .

Saturday mail loss stings worst in small towns

Tonda Rush, CEO of the National Newspaper Association, makes a case for maintaining Saturday delivery of mail. In a recent commentary, Rush emphasizes the special importance of newspapers published and delivered on Saturday in small towns.

“The Postal Service says the public supports dropping Saturday delivery.  But whether the public is aware of the risks to the economy, particularly in small towns, is debatable.  For most, the mail is taken for granted, even in a world where texts and e-mails have long since overtaken mail’s immediacy.  Mail still supports more than $1 trillion in economic activity, according to a biennial study of the Envelope Manufacturers Association. And mailers pay for USPS, not the general public.”

You can read the commentary on the National Newspaper Association’s site .

Need a reference about food and drink?

If so, you may find just the information you need in The Diner’s Dictionary: Word Origins of Food and Drink . It was written by John Ayto and published by Oxford University Press (Second Edition, 2012).

From the term “Abernethy biscuit” to “zwieback,” the 405 pages feature a rich and global gastronomical stew of engaging descriptions and histories.

Helping you scout for information you can use

Your busy schedule may not permit you to review dozens of sources for information about the communications aspects of agriculture in all its dimensions.  You track sources in your special area of interest. Beyond that, you can rely on ACDC staff members to watch for other information that may serve you. For example, here are a few of the wide-ranging journals from which we have recently gathered information for the ACDC collection:

• Media, Culture and Society
• Public Understanding of Science
• Biological Conservation
• Beef Issues Quarterly
• Development in Practice
• Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics
• Appetite
• UN Chronicle
• Journal of African Media Studies
• Ryerson Review of Journalism
• College English

Communicator activities approaching

April 14-17, 2015
“Growing Greatness,” Agri-Marketing Conference, National Agri-Marketing Association (NAMA), in Kansas City, Missouri.
Information: http://www.nama.org

April 26-28, 2015
Annual meeting of North American Agricultural Journalists (NAAJ) in Washington, D.C.
Information: http://www.naaj.net/meetings

April 27-May 1, 2015
Annual conference of the Association for International Agricultural and Extension Education (IAIEE) in Wageningen, The Netherlands.
Information: http://www.aiaee.org/index.php/upcoming

April 27-29, 2015
“Washington Watch” of the National Association of Farm Broadcasting (NAFB) in Washington, D. C.
Information: http://www.nafb.com/events/washington-watch

 Pet detective at work

We close this issue of ACDC News with another award-winning entry in the 2014 Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest. The English Department of San Jose State University sponsors this online competition in bad opening sentences to imaginary novels.  This agriculture-oriented entry from Howie McLennon of Ontario, Canada was named winner in the “Vile Puns” category:

“ Pet detective Drake Leghorn ducked reporters at the entrance to the small hobby farm and headed down to the tiny pond where a lone goose was frantically calling for her mate and he wondered why – when so many come to look upon the graceful mating pair – why would someone want to take a gander?”

You can read other honored entries in the 2014 contest at http://bulwer-lytton.com

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, Room 510, 1101 S. Goodwin Avenue, Urbana, IL 61801) or in electronic format sent to docctr@library.illinois.edu

Six steps for maintaining agricultural journalism standards

Kevin Smith, chairman of the National Ethics Committee of the Society of Professional Journalists, offered six solutions for agricultural journalists when he spoke at an ethics session of the 2014 Agricultural Media Summit:

• Make sure the American Agricultural Editors’ Association Code of Ethics is distributed extensively in the agriculture community.
• Make sure journalists understand it and read it. … Talk about it. …Make it a living document that drives discussions. … The worst way to use a code is after the fact.
• Share it with advertisers, their marketing departments, and PR people. PR people have codes of ethics as well.  Show it to the publisher, ad director, study it. Discuss it.
• Look at what other journalism groups are saying.  Leverage their positions.
• Produce real life case studies.  Help one another out by sharing cases and how they were resolved. Create a repository for these cases, so others can access.  Don’t hide names, be honest.
• Resist temptations from news peddlers at every turn. Start with AAEA convention.  Make no promises, keep relationships professional. Explain roles of advertising and editorial often to advertisers and the public.

You can read the AAEA Code of Ethic for members here.

You can read AAEA Ethics Case Studies and the AAEA Affiliate Code of Ethics here.

“Rethinking the United Nations for the networked world”

That is the title of a report about new approaches being planned for the United Nations, which observes its 70 ^th anniversary in 2015.  These approaches will change critical aspects of how the UN responds to complex global challenges to peace, prosperity, and sustainable development.

Effective communications is prominent among these driving forces for change:

• An increasingly vast array of transnational networks consisting of non-governmental organizations, foundations, academics, corporations and private citizens.
• A global communications platform that radically drops transaction and collaboration costs, enabling non-state actors to self-organize and cooperate to address global problems.

You can read the 47-page report here .

German consumers are less aware of nanotechnology – and media coverage of it is falling

A comparison by the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment revealed that consumers became generally less aware of the term nanotechnology during the five-year period, 2008-2012. This trend occurred as the range of potential uses for nanotechnology in foods expanded rapidly.

“The number of articles in the German media mentioning nanotech has fallen steadily since 2007, however, from an average of 806 articles a year from 2000-2007 to just 496 in 2012.”

You can read this FoodNavigator.com news report here .

The Viking in the Wheat Field – adventure in “big picture” agri-reporting

Susan Dworkin’s skill in gathering complex agri-science information and revealing it understandably to non-scientists shines brightly in this book we added recently to the ACDC collection.

It features Bent Skovmand, a Danish scientist who headed the wheat gene bank of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) from 1988-2003. He preserved, multiplied and categorized one of the world’s most comprehensive collections of wheat genetic resources. After he left CIMMYT he became director of the Nordic Gene Bank, now called Nordgen, which manages the so-called Doomsday Vault where millions of essential crop seeds have been deposited in case of catastrophe.

Skovmand understood that the struggle to preserve the world’s harvest had to have a public. “The power to communicate the impact of plant genetic resources activities is essential,” he insisted.

Reference: Susan Dworkin (2009) The Viking in the Wheat Field . New York: Walker & Company.

You can read a sample review of it here .

You can find a copy at a library near you via WorldCat .

New professional development fund for agricultural journalists and communicators in Canada

Congratulations to the Canadian Farm Writers Federation (CFWF) for establishing a fund to support professional development of agricultural journalists and communicators in the organization. Applications for the first (2015) awards were due by December 31. Recipients will use awards to strengthen their attributes, abilities and skills as agricultural journalists/communicators. They will do so through research, educational programs, conferences, workshops, exchanges and other activities.

We in ACDC look forward to serving this effort by helping applicants identify topics of interest and supporting research components of projects selected.

Words to banish during 2015

Nearly one-half of the words being called for banishment during 2015 may hold special interest for those involved in food, reporting, and communications.  They are in the 2015 List of Banished Words, assembled at Lake Superior State University in Michigan through feedback from word watchers.  This annual list features words and phrases that “should be banished from the Queen’s English for mis-use, over-use and general uselessness.” Among the words to be banished during 2015:

Foodie

Hack

Takeaway

Friend-raising

Skillset

You can review the complete list and comments from contributors here .

Communicator activities approaching

What it takes to make change in a society

We close this issue of ACDC News with an insight expressed by Solange Lusiku Nsimine, editor and publisher of Le Souverain newspaper in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. She received the 2014 Courage in Journalism Award from the International Women’s Media Foundation.

“At the top it takes willpower, [but] at the base it takes courage.”

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, Room 510, 1101 S. Goodwin Avenue, Urbana, IL 61801) or in electronic format sent to docctr@library.illinois.edu

Welcome to the first 2015 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 41,000 documents from around the world.  BibLeaves, our hard-working online search system, makes your searching easy and powerful. And ACDC staff members enjoy helping you, your associates or students find information you need about all kinds of human communicating related to agriculture (broadly defined) – nearly anywhere – and from latest to earliest.

Thanks for your interest and encouragement

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 to strengthen agriculture-related journalism and communications, wherever you live and work.  We welcome the opportunity to serve and cooperate with you during 2015.

At the same time, we do not wish to impose on your time and interests.  Please let us know at docctr@library.illinois.edu if you prefer not to be informed of new issues of ACDC News.

2015, here we come – with a first sample of research, news, views, ideas and events.

New survey on food decisions and consumer trust

“Cracking the code on food issues: Insights from moms, millennials and foodies” is the title of a new report from the Center for Food Integrity. Findings were based on an online survey completed in September among 2,005 respondents who reflect the general U.S. consumer population. The survey identified trusted sources and information-seeking patterns as a guide for communicating effectively with consumers about food

You can read the full 2014 CFI Consumer Trust Research Report here .

“Can we call it smart data instead of big data?”

Charlie O’Brien, senior vice-president of the Association of Equipment Manufacturers, offered that framing suggestion in a recent issue of the AEM periodical, Ag Executive Advisor . He observed that “big data” conjures up an immense mountain of bits and bytes coming from the farm to increase production. “It also may invoke thoughts of Big Brother, with fears of who may get their hands on some of this data.”

“Wouldn’t ‘smart data’ be a more appropriate term?” he asked. “The data, by design, is used for decision-making. … So let’s build the electronic bridges between the data clouds and build the right security measures so that farmers are comfortable releasing their data for select uses.  And let’s build the right standards around the data formats…”

You can read this commentary in the December 2014 issue here.

New resources about Africa Lead II

Thanks to Kathy Alison of Training Resources Group for alerting us to new resources about Africa Lead II, the USAID’s primary capacity-building program in sub Saharan Africa. It is working to help realize goals of Feed the Future by “building the capacity of champions, institutions and stakeholders to develop, lead and manage the structures needed for African-led agriculture transformation.”

The program has a new website and new quarterly newsletter. They provide program reports (by country), result stories, “Champion’s Corner” videos, and other resources.

You can learn more about these resources for African-based agricultural development here .

Australian students produce animation for rural development in Timor-Leste

Animation is a key ingredient in a current project to help crop growers in Timor-Leste try new maize varieties developed by Seeds of Life and the Ministry of Agriculture. Final-year students at Charles Sturt University in Australia are preparing the animations that feature 12 key agronomic messages. They are working under the direction of Chris McGillion, a senior lecturer in journalism at the University.

You can read a brief report from the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research here .

Caution about staffing for social media

At a recent conference in France, business consultant Mike Greene explored two sides of a personnel dilemma facing food companies in their use of social media.

• Managers tend to be older and are not naturally with social media, so they stick to the media they know.
• However, food companies “should not just hire the first young person to show a bit of skill with social media.” Using it doesn’t make an expert. “…there are rules that work, and ways that work, and the right mix of video and imagery and content is really important to get successful social media.”

You can read a news report of his remarks and view a brief video interview here .

Distinguished service award to ACDC leader

Congratulations to Prof. Lura Joseph, manager of the Agricultural Communications Documentation Center.  She recently was awarded the Mary B. Ansari Distinguished Service Award by the Geoscience Information Society (GSIS). The award recognizes significant contributions in the field of geoscience information.

Throughout her career, Lura’s professional activity and research reflect an understanding and concern for bibliography, library collections, and geoscience information. This is in particular regard to geologic field trip guidebooks. She has been the chair and guiding force of the GSIS Guidebook Committee for many years, as well as a principal contributor to the American Geosciences Institute’s Geologic Guidebooks of North America Database. In addition, she has authored several book chapters, written numerous book reviews, and made presentations at conferences, institutes, and workshops around the country. In addition to serving as ACDC Manager, Lura also is a Content Access and Research Services Librarian here at the University of Illinois.

Communicator activities approaching

Check this dishonored food-and-diet writing

We close this issue of ACDC News with a recent example of remarkable food and diet writing.  It received “Dishonorable Mention” in the 2014 Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest, sponsored by the English Department at San Jose State University.  The international competition honors bad opening sentences to imaginary novels. So we share the entry submitted by Phillip Davies of Cardiff, U.K.:

“Finally after ninety-seven long days adrift Captain Pertwee was rescued, mercifully ending his miserable diet of rainwater and strips of sun dried Haddock which was actually far ghastlier than it sounded what with George Haddock being his former first mate.”

You can read other honored (and dishonored) entries in the 2014 contest at http://bulwer-lytton.com

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, Room 510, 1101 S. Goodwin Avenue, Urbana, IL 61801) or in electronic format sent to docctr@library.illinois.edu

Season’s greetings

All of us in the Agricultural Communications Documentation Center send special greetings and best wishes to you during this holiday season. We also hope you enjoy and find value in some of the research and professional insights coming into the ACDC collection as 2014 winds down.

Understanding the appeal of farmers’ markets

Findings reported recently in the International Food and Agribusiness Management Review shed light on who attends farmers’ markets and why. Here are a few highlights of research involving nearly 1,500 attendees at 16 farmers’ markets in Nevada and Utah:

• Consumers attended primarily to buy fresh produce, followed by social interaction.
• Those wanting mainly to buy fresh produce tended to be married females at higher income levels, persons with strong diet or health concerns, and those who are supportive of local farming and agriculture open space.
• Participants were not strongly motivated to buy ready-to-eat foods, packaged foods, arts and crafts.
• Those attending for social interaction tended to be unmarried males or larger families attending events.

You can read the research paper at: http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/handle/167905

Lessons from a PR disaster with Mary the Elephant

Have you heard of anyone hanging an elephant? If not, you may share our surprise and interest in an article we discovered recently by John Brummette in a 2012 issue of Public Relations Review . This case study highlights perils of the press agentry model of public relations, mixed with elements of animal welfare, crisis communications, and community trauma.

The story traces back to 1916 when the Carolina, Clinchfield, and Ohio Railroad Company “performed its civic duty by assisting an angry public in hanging a murderer in Erwin, Tennessee. The murderer, a two-ton circus elephant named Mary, was convicted, sentenced, and hanged from a railroad derrick for causing the death of her trainer in a horrific public spectacle.” This fascinating, instructive story holds enduring lessons from the infancy of the public relations profession.

You can read the abstract at: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0363811111001949

Check with us at docctr@library.illinois.edu if we can help you gain access.

How changes in U.S. phone networking affect rural areas

We have added to the ACDC collection a brief report from Public Knowledge.org about possible effects of the move from traditional (TDM-based) technology to Internet Protocols (IP). The report identifies four risks facing rural areas and people:

• Universal service rules that have helped rural Americans obtain broadband phone service may no longer apply.
• Fixed wireless services can have significant restrictions and limitations compared to the landline service.
• Next-generation networks may not necessarily provide internet access.
• In the transition to IP, carriers’ use of least-cost routing systems has led to an increase in incomplete calls to and from rural areas.

You can read this item at https://www.publicknowledge.org/documents/rural-communities-and-the-phone-network-transition

Science – more than a catalog of facts to be memorized

A bright green truck, “The Think Tank,” is helping put a new face on science for promising high school students with under-represented backgrounds. Tyler Alterman and Daniel Casasanto of the University of Chicago co-founded this project. The “Think Tank” visits local Chicago schools to address “a disconnect between how science is presented in schools and how it’s practiced.” It engages students in the nuts-and-bolts of neuroscience – how the mind works – and fosters curiosity for research.

Coordinators also plan to take the “Think Tank” to festivals, museums, and large public events “to get the general public excited about our current understanding of the brain.”

You can read a report of this new education project in the May-June issue of the University of Chicago Magazine at: http://mag.uchicago.edu/science-medicine/vehicle-change

Cautions about using IT to build global markets

A new book by researcher Anita Chan sheds revealing light on the complexities and impacts of digital media in rural communities. It is Networking Peripheries: Technological Future and the Myth of Digital Universalism (MIT Press). At one level, it features a case analysis of government efforts in Peru to optimize global market potential for the traditional, handmade ceramics of artisans in the rural town of Chulucanas. Troubling effects on the artisans and community illustrate risks in viewing information technologies as simply new and direct means to economic and social development. Instead, outcomes illustrate a dynamic interplay of good intentions and unintended results.

At another level, it highlights the cultural complexities and political life of digital media at the “peripheries,” well beyond the recognized “centers” of IT innovation. At a third and more basic level, it follows in the tradition of concern about Western-centric framing of “innovation,” “science” and “development.”

An abstract from the publisher is at: http://mitpress.mit.edu/books/networking-peripheries

You can read the table of contents at: http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/bkabstractplus.jsp?reload=true&bkn=6757879

Comparing the online networks of dog and cat owners

Researcher Jennifer Golbeck found many differences when she investigated the behavior of dog and cat owners in pet-oriented social networks. For example:

• Cat owners tend to make their pets’ profiles have many more friends than do dog owners.
• Dog owners tend to use the features of the sites that let them share pictures and express their connection with their pets.
• Cat owners are much more prolific users of the community-oriented features of the sites.
• Rural dog owners have about the same average number of friends as have urban dog owners (about 39).
• However, rural cat owners have nearly twice the average number of friends (98) as have urban cat owners (51).

You can read the article in First Monday journal at: http://firstmonday.org/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/2859/2765

International communicator activity approaching

April 27-May 1, 2015Annual conference of the Association for International Agricultural and Extension Education (AIAEE) in Wageningen, The Netherlands.Information: http://www.aiaee.org/index.php/upcoming

How’s that again?

Hearty holiday appetites – and seasonal concerns about winter weather – prompt us to close this issue of ACDC News with several ponderisms, including a couple about food and nature:

• I used to eat a lot of natural foods until I learned that most people die of natural causes.

• All of us could take a lesson from the weather. It pays no attention to criticism.

• How is it that one careless match can start a forest fire, but it takes a whole box to start a campfire?

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 (which we are becoming increasingly active on). 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, Room 510, 1101 S. Goodwin Avenue, Urbana, IL 61801) or in electronic format sent to docctr@library.illinois.edu

Creative ag science communicator honored

Dr. Alison Van Eenennaam recently received the 2014 Borlaug CAST Communication Award. At the University of California-Davis she is an extension specialist in animal genomics and biotechnology. She “works tirelessly and creatively to relay important information about agriculture and food production,” according to the citation report. Her efforts reveal an “outstanding ability to communicate complicated and sometimes controversial scientific issues to the general public.”

You can learn more about Dr. Van Eenennaam’s communications efforts at: http://animalscience.ucdavis.edu/animalbiotech/index.htm .

That site provides links to:

• “The potential impacts of mandatory labeling for genetically engineered food in the United States,” CAST Issue Paper Number 54 (April 2014). She chaired the task force that developed it.
• A 30-minute documentary, “Animal Biotechnology,” which she produced.

Also, you can view an award-winning five-minute video she wrote and directed, “Those Were the Days My Friend,” at: http://dateline.ucdavis.edu/dl_detail.lasso?id=14060 . It shows animal agriculture in the United States, then and now.

Thanks to Scott Kilman for alerting us to this recognition.

How blogs boost attention to research papers

“Blogging about a paper causes a large increase in the number of abstract views and downloads in the same month,” David McKenzie and Berk Ozler said recently on the World Bank website. Their report is based on download statistics from Research Papers in Economics.

“These increases are massive compared to the typical abstract views and downloads these papers get,” said the authors.

You can see graphic evidence at: http://blogs.worldbank.org/impactevaluations/the-impact-of-economic-blogs-part-i-dissemination-aka-check-out-these-cool-graphs?cid=EXT_TwitterWBPubs_P_EXT

Three emerging platforms for digital photography about nature

Here are three emerging platforms for photography that Daniel Palmer identified in a chapter of Environmental Conflict and the Media (2013). He suggested that all three can help “turn ordinary citizens into producers and participants of public imagery around the environment, rather than mere consumers.”

• Photovoice ( www.photovoice.org ) is being used in community development and contemporary social resource with participants taking photographs in response to particular issues.
• Camera phones and sharing sites engage citizens with the environment. “Accompanying these developments is so-called ‘participatory sensing,’ which uses embedded devices like the smartphone to capture data about oneself and one’s community…” For example, a mobile phone’s geo-tagging camera helps people work together for targeting the location of invasive plant species.
• Grassroots mapping . For example, after the 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, mappers used DIY tools for sending inexpensive digital cameras up in helium balloons and kites. “By setting the camera to automatically take pictures every five seconds, they were able to generate aerial photos…to document the effects of the spill.”

Check with us at docctr@library.illinois.edu if you would like help in gaining access to this case study in Palmer’s book.

New review of BBC rural coverage in the United Kingdom

We are adding to the ACDC collection a 2014 report of an impartial review of coverage of rural areas in the UK. This was the sixth review carried out by the BBC Trust. Here are some of the findings with regard to the television, radio and online services of BBC:

• On the whole, the BBC coverage of rural affairs includes a wide range of voices and opinions
• Coverage of controversial stories is generally impartial.
• There is no evidence of party political bias.
• In England particularly, rural stories and rural lives could be more fully represented in nationwide coverage.
• BBC relies disproportionately on a small number of external bodies for input and comment.
• A tendency to focus on environmental aspects of rural UK should be balanced by the economic and social dimensions.

You can read the summary and gain access to further details at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbctrust/news/press_releases/2014/rural_affairs.html

Caution about teaching our own environmental values

Teaching environmental values to youth should not mean teaching our own values, says Michigan State University Extension Specialist Nick Baumgart. Instead, it should encourage young people to develop their own environmental values.

“Imparting your own values creates a danger that youth are being ‘brainwashed’.” The author of this article says it is important to ask questions that are intriguing and thought provoking, and to give answers that are non-biased. “In so doing, we as environmental educators give value to what we do and increase environmental literacy to those who will be the future caretakers of our world.”

You can read this article at: http://msue.anr.msu.edu/news/values_as_part_of_environmental_education

How can you have a profitable community newspaper with a circulation of 312?

Kevin Slimp of Software Review recently asked that question of a publisher whose wife and he own six small newspapers (all profitable) in rural Nebraska.

“Well, people ask me that question a lot,” publisher Rob Dump replied, “and I look at it this way. We’re able to pay our staff and to make a little profit. And it’s good for a community to have its own newspaper.”

Author Slimp thinks these three qualities exist in most successful newspapers these days:

• Focus on local content, produced locally
• Support and training for staff
• A quality sales staff that understands the role and benefits of newspaper advertising

You can read his commentary, “What it takes to be successful,” at: http://nnaweb.org/artic.e?articleTitle=what-it-takes-to-be-successful–1399409022–822–pub-aux-stories

The lukewarm editor

On that note, we close with a sample of poetry used sometimes a century ago to fire up country journalists and get them to speak out. This poem in the National Printer-Journalist of 1904 was written by a Wisconsin editor, O. Byron Copper.

International communicator activity approaching

April 27-May 1, 2015

Annual conference of the Association for International Agricultural and Extension Education (AIAEE) in Wageningen, The Netherlands.

Information: http://www.aiaee.org/index.php/upcoming

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 (we are more active now, so now is a great time to follow if you weren’t already!). 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, Room 510, 1101 S. Goodwin Avenue, Urbana, IL 61801) or in electronic format sent to docctr@library.illinois.edu

Marketing – only a commercial activity? Time to rethink it.

Nonprofit and social marketing represent the most complex and difficult contexts in which marketing activities are carried out. Commercial application – selling products and services – is only one simplified variety. The relationship has been upside down. So argued Alan Andreasen in a Journal of Public Policy and Marketing article we have added to the ACDC collection.

This topic holds special interest for those involved in extension/advisory services, teaching and research institutions, non-governmental organizations, public agencies, and other non-commercial settings. The author suggested a new taxonomy for categorizing behavioral objectives in a way that serves all settings.

You can read an executive summary of the article at the following link. Check with us at docctr@library.illinois.edu for further assistance. http://www.marketingpower.com/AboutAMA/Pages/AMA%20Publications/AMA%20Journals/Journal%20of%20Public%20Policy%20Marketing/TOCS/SUM_2012.1/rethinking_social_nonprofit_marketing.aspx

Singing for rural women

“Until she stopped writing music in 1972, [Loretta] Lynn was one of country music’s most ardent feminist voices,” Danny Shipka wrote in an article we added recently to the ACDC collection. It appeared in the Online Journal of Rural Research and Policy .

“Discussing such topics as war, alcoholism, marriage, sexuality, and the sexual revolution, Lynn wrote from the perspective of common rural women and the issues they faced in the volatile 1960s. Never one to shy away from a controversial subject, she translated the complexity of the changing social landscape into simple, honest, easy-to-understand lyrics that gave rural women around the country an emancipated strong voice in the public sphere.”

You can read this textual analysis of the 94 songs she wrote and co-wrote between 1960 and 1972: http://www.oalib.com/paper/2663141#.U-_Av2PgW5I

What’s new in development (from three decades ago)?

In 1982, political scientists O. P. Dwivedi and J. Nef described two decades of failure by development administration to solve problems of the Third World. They noted shortcomings of emphasis on modernization through transfer of technology. Looking forward, they suggested that the Third Development Decade must change its focus and strategy to include key goals such as:

• Self-reliance
• Human needs (food, habitat, health and education)
• Social justice
• Removal of poverty

Today, what might we add, delete, or refine in relation to these goals for strengthening approaches to economic and social development? Send your thoughts, suggestions or literature referrals to us at docctr@library.illinois.edu .

You can review an abstract of the journal article at: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/pad.4230020106/abstract

Internet use and public views of genomics and vaccination in livestock production

Two national surveys among consumers in Canada revealed evidence that internet use tends to increase social concerns about use of genomics and vaccination in production of beef and pork. Researchers A. H. Matin and E. Goddard reported their findings at a 2014 conference in Montreal.

“Canadian consumers’ attitudes towards animals and the use of genomics and/or vaccination can be impacted by frequent use of the internet as a source of information,” the authors reported.

You can read the conference paper at: http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/handle/168758 .

Advice to agricultural journalists

We recently added to the ACDC collection an interview with British science writer Mark Lynas after his presentation at a farm industry conference last year. He expressed this advice to agricultural journalists:

“One of the things that strikes me most of all is how broad the communications gap is between what farming is really about and what people think farming is about. And that’s one of the reasons why people fall into this chasm and end up being paranoid and fearful about the way their food is produced. I think agricultural journalists need to be better informed about agriculture when they write for the mainstream audience. So those involved in the technical farming press are those who also need to be writing for the mainstream audience.”

You can read more from this Q-A interview with Better Farming field editor Mary Baxter at: http://j-source.ca/article/what-happens-when-journalists-become-story-qa-science-writer-mark-lynas

Big rural-urban gap in home computers and internet use in China

The gap was apparent in a study reported by Qingbin Wang and Minghao Li in a 2012 issue of First Monday journal. Using United Nations data, they calculated the number of computers per 100 urban and rural households between 1999 and 2007.

• Computers in urban households grew from about 6 percent in 1999 to nearly 55 percent in 2007.
• Computers in rural households grew from less than 1 percent in 2000 to about 3 percent in 2007.

You can read the article at firstmonday.org/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/3767/3144

Science – more than a catalog of facts to be memorized

A bright green truck, “The Think Tank,” is helping put a new face on science for promising high school students with under-represented backgrounds. Tyler Alterman and Daniel Casasanto of the University of Chicago co-founded this project. The “Think Tank” visits local Chicago schools to address “a disconnect between how science is presented in schools and how it’s practiced.” It engages students in the nuts-and-bolts of neuroscience – how the mind works – and fosters curiosity for research.

Coordinators also plan to take the “Think Tank” to festivals, museums and large public events “to get the general public excited about our current understanding of the brain.”

You can read a report of this new education project in the May-June issue of the University of Chicago Magazine at: http://mag.uchicago.edu/science-medicine/vehicle-change

ACDC collection passes the 40,000 mark

It is a special pleasure to report that the ACDC collection now includes more than 40,000 documents. We passed that landmark recently. And with our new BibLeaves online search system in place, users around the world can identify it more easily than ever.

We continue to be surprised and impressed by the amount and variety of research, news, and perspectives being generated about the communications aspects of agriculture, broadly defined. And we hope you are finding value in our efforts to identify, gather and provide this information – today and during the decades ahead.

Communicator activities approaching

How’s that again?

We close this issue of ACDC News with a communicator’s conundrum that first came to our attention in a 1973 issue of Advertising Age . It applies well beyond agriculture, yet –even today – probably sounds a familiar ring for agricultural communicators, among others.

“I know

you believe

you understand

what you think

I said.

But I’m not sure

you realize

that what you heard

is not what I meant.”

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, Room 510, 1101 S. Goodwin Avenue, Urbana, IL 61801) or in electronic format sent to docctr@library.illinois.edu

Social and mobile media – straining communicators at nonprofits

A recent report about how much time mobile and social media require highlights a gap between workloads and staffing in nonprofit organizations. A recent book, Mobile for Good: A How-to Fundraising Guide for Nonprofits , from Nonprofit Tech for Good includes a revealing estimate. It reports that 40 hours a week are needed to carry out a 13-part mobile and social media program – not counting email and website communications. At the same time, less than 2 percent of the nonprofits were reported to invest more than 21 hours a week.

“This is an unsustainable approach to mobile and social media that puts a great strain on many communications and development staff.”

You can read the excerpt at http://www.nptechforgood.com/2014/05/18/how-much-time-mobile-and-social-media-require

Lively ways to feature the lives and stories of farmer “superheroes”

Thanks to ACDC Associate Katie Abrams for alerting us to a recent report from Foodtank.com. It highlights ways in which agricultural themes and messages are woven into popular reality shows, song lyrics, radio broadcasts, and comic books. Among the examples cited:

• Farm-themed television shows such as “First Time Farmers,” a series in the United Kingdom chronicling youth who are trying their hand at the family business.
• In Vietnam, a radio soap opera series – “Hanh Trinh Xanh” (The Green Journey) – chronicles four families in different regions of the country as they adapt their agricultural practices to climate change.
• In Japan, a popular Silver Spoon comic book series takes place at an agricultural high school in Hokkaido and features a cast of farmers who make sake and explore the culinary world.
• DJ Cavem is teaching kids how to grow greens through hip hop music. He has produced three international albums inspiring kids to be “gardeners not gangstas.”

You can read this article, “Agricultural reality stars,” at: http://foodtank.com/news/2014/08/agricultural-reality-stars

How accurate are crop storage forecasts by USDA and private analysts?

Not very accurate, according to an agricultural economics report presented during July. Researchers evaluated the bias and efficiency of forecasts of ending stocks for corn, soybeans, and wheat, as issued by the USDA and private analysts. Econometric analysis confirmed lack of bias in the forecasts. However, the forecasts of both providers were found inefficient.

Overall, accuracy of forecasts by both providers was highest for wheat and lowest for soybeans.

You can read the research paper at: http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/handle/170642

Creating mobile content for rural Africans

Recently we added to the ACDC collection a Reuters Institute Fellowship Paper by Jamilah Tangaza, “Challenges and obstacles of creating mobile content for audiences in rural Africa.” The author concluded that medium- and long-term opportunities for international news organizations depend on factors such as:

• Whether audiences will find sufficient value in the content to pay for it.
• Whether (and how quickly) the traditional culture of editorial production in news organizations will adopt new models suitable to mobile devices.
• Whether news organizations will design and develop low-end mobile apps, which are mainly used in rural African markets.
• Whether they are able to develop a more collaborative relationship with carriers.
• Whether there is sufficient bandwidth to support the delivery of customized multidimensional, multimedia news and information on demand.

You can read the report at: https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/sites/default/files/Challenges%20and%20Obstacles%20of%20Creating%20Mobile%20Content%20for%20Audiences%20in%20Rural%20Africa%20a%20Case%20Study%20of%20the%20BBC%20Hausa%20Village%20Road%20Show.pdf

Popular discourse about nanotechnology is missing the point

An analysis of Twitter discourse about nanotechnology has raised a caution flag for a team of University of Wisconsin researchers. Reporting in Materials Today , they noted that lay audiences are less concerned than scientists about the risks of nanotechnology, especially in areas such as pollution and health. They also noted that media coverage has framed nanotechnology in a positive light.

Their analysis revealed that on Twitter medicine/health and environment/health/safety were the least-discussed topics involving nanotechnology. Authors concluded that public policy requires some amount of public input and expressed concern if the lay public does not perceive nanotechnology to be risky. They called for more public discussion.

You can read the commentary, “Disconnected discourses,” at: http://www.materialstoday.com/optical-materials/articles/s1369702114000030/

Keeping the language of agriculture simple

We recently became aware of a “plain writing” report card for agencies of the U.S. federal government. A grading effort by the Center for Plain Language shows how well various federal agencies comply with the Plain Writing Act. In this article from the Baltimore Sun you can see that written work from the U. S. Department of Agriculture ranked among the best (A/B) of 20 federal agencies evaluated during 2013.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/bs-md-fed-plain-language-20131120,0,2927314.story

Here are details from the USDA about how it pursues plain writing in whatever form, print or digital: http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/usda/usdahome?navid=PLAIN_WRITING

Thanks to an associate

We extend our thanks and best wishes to Stephanie Pitts-Noggle, graduate assistant in the Center for more than 2 ½ years. Stephanie served as academic coordinator and webmaster, advancing the mission of ACDC in important ways. She strengthened the website by creating a new site design, adding new kinds of information, new forms of presentation, and improved user interaction. She helped establish a new online search database with web interface, added a Twitter account for users, created online access to an oral history resource, and helped produce the Center e-newsletter. Among other contributions, she also led a comprehensive effort to review all materials in the collection.

We wish Stephanie all the best in her future endeavors.

Communicator activities approaching

Recognizing courage in journalism

We close this issue of ACDC News with applause for Solange Lusiku Nsimire, publisher and editor-in-chief of Le Souverain , an independent newspaper in the Democratic Republic of Congo. She is recipient of the 2014 Courage in Journalism Award from the International Women’s Media Foundation.

“For almost ten years, Lusiku Nsimire has courageously and conscientiously led her team of reporters in challenging local and national powers, revealing corruption and abuse, and giving voice to the often marginalized peoples of South Kivu.”

You can read a report of her efforts at: http://www.iwmf.org/solange-lusiku-nsimire

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, Room 510, 1101 S. Goodwin Avenue, Urbana, IL 61801) or in electronic format sent to docctr@library.illinois.edu

Issue 14-09

Just a handful of food brands have high digital IQs

“The $321 billion US packaged food market’s appetite for digital is growing, yet just a handful of brands are truly differentiating themselves when it comes to their digital presence.”

That was the take-away from a new study by digital business intelligence firm L2 ThinkTank. It ranked 80 U.S. packaged food and beverage brands by their:

• use of website and e-commerce (effectiveness of site and e-commerce investments)
• digital marketing (search, display, and email marketing)
• social media (brand presence, community size, and engagement)
• mobile (compatibility and marketing on different devices)

You can see the top-IQ brands, bottom-IQ brands, and other findings of the study in a 2014 news item from FoodNavigator.com at: http://www.foodnavigator-usa.com/R-D/What-s-your-food-brand-s-digital-IQ

“Local” and “organic” – a jumble of meaning to consumers

Recent research among consumers in Canada and the U.S. helped identify perceptions about the terms “local” and “organic.” An online survey of 2,511 consumers revealed communications challenges and opportunities such as:

• 23% of the total sample incorrectly perceived “local” as having been produced organically (locally).
• 17% perceived “local” as involving no use of synthetic pesticides.
• 20% perceived “local” as involving less pesticide residue on product.
• 21% perceived “local” as involving natural fertilizer used.
• 17% incorrectly associated “organic” with being produced locally.
• Some perceptions of Canadian and U.S. consumers differed substantially, especially with regard to “local.”

“Sadly, ‘local’ and ‘organic’ have had the misfortune of entering our vocabulary as separate concepts and then getting jumbled into one, unclear concept.” Researchers suggested adding education throughout the marketing process to help plant producers clarify and correct terminology for all consumers.

You can read the research report at: http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/handle/167903

A new look at farming decisions in Australia

Thanks to Neil Inall for alerting us to a new and comprehensive report of survey research in Australia about how farm managers make decisions that involve land management practices. Published in June 2014, it was commissioned by the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences.

Findings explore the motivations of broadacre, dairy, and horticulture managers as they consider changes in land management practices.

• Financial benefits topped the list over environmental benefits and personal motivations.
• However, the study showed the importance of all three motivations suggested promoting all three.
• It also revealed findings such as barriers to adoption of sustainable land management practices, sources of information, importance of local groups and networks, and differences in the influence of various service providers (such as consultants, state government, production groups).

You can read this report at: Drivers of practice change in land management in Australian agriculture. Synthesis report-Stages I, II and III – PDF [2.6 MB]

Focus on new models and structures for news organizations

We recently added to the ACDC collection a 2012 report from Free Press (Florence, Massachusetts) highlighting discussion these days about ways in which news organizations can “focus on their public mission instead of just their stock prices.”

• Nonprofit ownership (501(c)3 model) through philanthropies and other resources emphasizes news media as public trusts that provide crucial public services necessary for a democratic society.
• L3Cs: a low-profit limited liability corporation. “A time-tested, for-profit business that is organized and operated primarily to serve a charitable purpose, with profit a secondary concern.”
• Worker-owned media and cooperatives “may offer a way to provide quality journalism to diverse local communities.”

Please remind us of – or alert us to – agricultural/rural media models that involve these structures or others. Send your information to us at docctr@library.illinois.edu . Thank you.

You can read this report at: http://www.freepress.net/resource/98572/nonprofit-low-profit-and-cooperative-models

The arts – missing link in rural revitalization

A comprehensive review of literature led Julia Anwar McHenry to observe that reconnection with the arts and creativity may be the missing ingredient to the survival in rural and regional Australia. Her article in the journal Rural Society identified functions of art, such as:

• Tourism, income generation and employment opportunities
• Enhancing participation and creativity in public decision making
• Strengthening community capacity
• Strengthening identity and sense of place

You can read the abstract of this article, “A place for the arts in rural revitalization,” at: http://rsj.e-contentmanagement.com/archives/vol/19/issue/1/article/2683/a-place-for-the-arts-in-rural-revitalisation-and

Please check with us at docctr@library.illinois.edu for help in gaining full-text access.

A related source, “Arts and Humanities in Rural America,” from the U. S. Department of Agriculture is available online at: http://www.nal.usda.gov/ric/ricpubs/artspub.html

“Interest in agri social media continues to grow”

That is the title of a June news report by Peter Hill on the website of the British Guild of Agricultural Journalists. It features a guild member and rural consultant who is helping farmers define their needs and objectives, and educating them in “using these free platforms for infinite rewards.”

“Whether it’s a northern arable farmer wanting to swap notes with his counterpart in the south, a farm shop wanting new customers or a group of farmers who collectively seek industry advice, social media has a role to play.” A cited example involves a #forageaid campaign on Twitter which, since 2013, has connected those who are in need of animal feed and bedding due to extreme weather with those who have a surplus.

You can read the news report, with links to social media resources, at: http://www.gaj.org.uk/news/interest-agri-social-media-continues-grow

Communicator activities approaching

September 3-7, 2014“Risk and resilience.” Annual conference of the Society of Environmental Journalists in New Orleans, Louisiana USA.Information: http://www.sej.org/initiatives/sej-annual-conferences/AC2014-main

September 4-8, 2014“Innovations from a small island.” Annual IFAJ Congress of the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists in Aberdeenshire Angus, Banffshire and Moray, Scotland.Information: http://www.ifaj2014.com/action-packed-days

September 16-17, 2014“Growing to greater heights.” Fall conference of the National Agri-Marketing Association in Chicago, Illinois USA.Information: http://nama.org/fall/index.htm

October 2-5, 2014“Dig deep.” Annual conference of the Canadian Farm Writers’ Federation on Prince Edward Island, Canada.Information: https://cfwf.wildapricot.org/event-877785

November 12-14, 2014“From our roots our future grows,” celebrating 70 years of the National Association of Farm Broadcasting (NAFB). Conference in Kansas City, Missouri USA.Information: http://www.nafb.com

Those flashing lights in summer nights

We close this issue of ACDC News with a perspective about “rear-view communications” by what are commonly known as fireflies or lightning bugs. We marvel at those small winged beetles in temperate and tropical regions, flashing their lights as they fly after dark in gardens, fields, woods, and yards. The poem comes from a 1905 issue of Entomology News .

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, Room 510, 1101 S. Goodwin Avenue, Urbana, IL 61801) or in electronic format sent to docctr@library.illinois.edu

Social media – a challenge for the agri-food industry

That is the title of a poster presented by three researchers at an international agricultural economics conference during May 2014. M. Kayser, R. Kröger, and L. Theuvsen noted that “Social media is a major challenge for a lot of companies.”

Among the reasons cited:

• The participatory nature of social media requires a certain loss of control; the traditional “gatekeeper” power is reduced.
• In times of high criticism of the agribusiness industry, a social media-oriented strategy is inevitable, and such times require intensive dialogue with the public.
• The possibility to influence opinions is more difficult compared to sender-centric communication.
• High transparency and rapid, open communication become risk factors.

You can see the poster at: http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/handle/166101

Open data – helping all?

Michael Gurstein explored that question in a First Monday article that featured not only the benefits of open data, but also the “possible impact on the poor and marginalized.” He pointed to those at risk, such as indigenous peoples, non-English speakers, the very poor, and those living in areas with poor connectivity. Two examples involved upper-income persons and corporations using digitized land records to take ownership of land from poor rural residents in Canada and India.

He suggested an “effective use” approach to open data, ensuring that “opportunities and resources for translating this open data into useful outcomes would be available (and adapted) for the widest possible range of users.”

You can read the article at: http://firstmonday.org/article/view/3316/2764

Violence and harassment facing women in the news media

An international survey during 2013 revealed that nearly two-thirds (65%) of 921 respondents had experienced acts of intimidation, threats, and abuse in their work. This survey was conducted jointly by the International News Safety Institute and the International Women’s Media Foundation. Most respondents were journalists/reporters (82%). Others were editors, producers, photographers, presenters, media support workers, and camera/sound workers. Rural aspects were not identified.

What kinds of acts did they face?

• More than one-fifth said they had experienced physical violence (e.g., pushing, shoving, assault), mostly by strangers, politicians, soldiers, and interviewees.
• 14% said they had experienced sexual violence in their work.
• Nearly half reported being touched in a sexual manner against their will.
• About half of the acts of sexual violence involved co-workers, bosses or supervisors.
• One-fifth said they had experienced digital/online account surveillance, account hacking, phone tapping, or website hacking.

You can read an executive summary of this survey at: http://www.iwmf.org/executive-summary/

New reporting text from ag journ faculty members

Douglas Starr and Deborah Dunsford, respected agricultural journalism and communications faculty members at Texas A&M University, are authors of a new book: Working the story: A guide to reporting and news writing for journalists and public relations professionals .

They have written it as both a teaching and reference book — for beginners and seasoned professionals. The concise, readable 32 chapters range broadly across topics such as writing for various media, covering various subjects and types of events, freelancing, working with the media, writing speeches, planning conferences, providing briefings, handling public relations crises, and finding a job.

Professor Emeritus Starr has had three careers: 20 years as an award-winning reporter, 7 years as a public relations speech ghostwriter, and 39 years as a teacher of journalism and public relations. Senior Lecturer Dunsford has more than 20 years of experience in public relations, media writing, and account service.

You can learn more about it from the publisher: https://rowman.com/ISBN/9780810889118

A prolonged courtship – decline and bright future for country towns

We recently added to the ACDC collection an article from Rural Society about newspaper coverage of decline in Australian country towns since World War II. Author Louise Prowse analyzed five local newspapers serving country towns in New South Wales from 1945 to 2006.

“By encouraging nostalgia for the past and presenting symptoms of decline as aesthetically pleasing, country towns, despite their lingering yearning for progress, settled down to sentimentally embrace decline,” she concluded.

You can read the introduction to this journal article without charge at:

http://www.questia.com/library/journal/1P3-2704251891/defining-decline-in-the-newspaper-press-local-responses . Please check with us at docctr@library.illinois.edu for further help in gaining access.

Two-thirds of small-town residents in the U.S. read community newspapers

That finding came from a 2013 Community Newspaper Readership Study conducted by The Reynolds Journalism Institute. 67% of 508 people interviewed read a community newspaper at least once a week. Among other findings:

• Local newspapers continue to be the primary source of information about communities in small towns and cities. 42% selected “newspaper” and “newspaper website” as their primary source of community information.
• The “pass-along” rate was 2.48 friends, colleagues, co-workers or those in the person’s household.
• 82% “strongly” or “somewhat” agreed that they would rather look through newspaper ads than view them on the Internet.
• The Internet has become more influential than ever before in people’s seeking information about automobile purchasing, television/electronics shopping, and employment opportunities.

You can read further information about results at: http://nnaweb.org/resources?articleTitle=two-thirds-of-residents-in-small-towns-and-cities-read-community-newspapers–1391441142–739–resources

Communicator activities approaching

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, Room 510, 1101 S. Goodwin Avenue, Urbana, IL 61801) or in electronic format sent to docctr@library.illinois.edu

Before bloggers there were ploggers (print loggers)

Communications researcher Beth Garfrerick made that point in a recent symposium about community media. Who were these ploggers? They were (and are) the community journalism correspondents who wrote (and write) about issues that mirror the lives of average folk.

“Throughout the twentieth century, these correspondents were mostly farm wives who wrote about their communities and recorded everyday happenings. They wrote about births, marriages, deaths, social events, such as bridal showers and church receptions, out-of-town visitors, and travel. These country correspondents played an important role in boosting the morale of readers and the bottom line of weekly publishers.”

You can read this insightful historical review that connects with today’s new interactive media: http://nnaweb.org/pub/doc/garfrerickpaper.pdf

New directions in agricultural communication

That is the title of an informative 78-page report of an international research effort by communicators Claudia and Hans-Heinrich Berghorn. They conducted it on behalf of the regional German Farmers’ Union, Westfaelisch-Lippischer Landwirtschaftberband, based in Muenster. Their goal was to identify benchmarks and best practice examples to help develop new communication strategies for German farmers. Their research took them to Great Britain, the Republic of Ireland, and the U. S., including the Agricultural Communications Documentation Center here at the University of Illinois.

They found that the scope of the challenges facing agricultural communication is even bigger than expected, calling for best practices that provide answers to the question of what agriculture contributes to society beyond providing food. They identified seven strategies for new directions in agricultural communication and five topics for future discussions.

The 2013 report was published in German, with an executive summary in English. You can reach Hans-Heinrich at hans-heinrich.berghorn@wlv.de for details. Or check with us at docctr@library.illinois.edu .

How to innovate in the food industry: ignore competition

“Competition doesn’t exist, really. It’s boring, and it’s very 80s,” a chef told those attending Food Vision 2014 in Cannes. Chocolate chef Dominique Persoone said that collaboration is the most powerful innovation trick in the book.

“Now you have to share with your friends and believe in your own project and your own ideas.”

You can see a FoodNavigator.com summary of his remarks, as well as a five-minute video interview with him, at: http://www.foodnavigator.com/Market-Trends/How-to-innovate-Ignore-competition-it-s-boring-and-very-80s

Photographer focusing on daily lives of female farmers

Marji Guyler-Alaniz visits women as they farm, taking photos of their daily lives. She then tells their stories through the images and a blog, FarmHer.com. This project came to our attention through an article during February by Sarah Baker Hansen in the Omaha World-Herald newspaper.

You can see the article and seven featured photos at: http://www.omaha.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20140203/GO/140209967/1181#.UwkBFYV9B2A

“Large positive impact” from investment in agricultural extension

Rural families who took part in the National Agricultural Advisory Services (NAADS) program in Uganda during 2004-2007 gained benefits well beyond the program investment. That result was reported in a 2011 article we have added to the ACDC collection from the journal, Agricultural Economics .

• Overall participation was associated with an average increase of 32-63 percent in gross agricultural revenue per adult equivalent.
• Direct participation was associated with an average increase of 37-95 percent; indirect participation with an average increase of 27-55 percent.
• The internal rate of return on expenditures for the program during the period was estimated at 8-49 percent.

NAADS is an innovative public-private extension service, begun in 2001. Authors note that the program generates a range of benefits to participants, beyond economic returns.

A summary of the article is available at: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1574-0862.2010.00512.x/abstract;jsessionid=00C00C9F80E07C6716FF8A6F5CF7BF90.f04t02

For help in gaining access to the article, check with us at docctr@library.illinois.edu .

Update on farm and rural broadband

The 2013 edition of “Rural broadband at a glance” from the U. S. Department of Agriculture shows that rural households are still less likely to subscribe to the Internet than are urban households. By 2010, only 62 percent of U. S. rural households and farms had home subscriptions to the Internet, compared with 73 percent of urban households.

“Broadband internet connections…are not available as often, nor used as readily by rural households as by urban households,” according to the report. Forty-two percent of online rural households without broadband report that broadband service is not available to them. Twenty-seven percent indicate that it is “too expensive” and 26 percent said “not needed, not interested.”

You can read the report at: http://www.ers.usda.gov/media/1133263/eb-23.pdf

Welcome to a new ACDC associate

We are delighted to welcome Kelsey Berryhill as new graduate assistant in the Agricultural Communications Documentation Center. Kelsey is a candidate for the Master of Science degree in Library and Information Science. She was an honors graduate in anthropology from Southern Illinois University-Carbondale and pursued minors in museum studies and global studies during her undergraduate program.

Kelsey brings to the Center a variety of professional experience and skills. For example, she has worked with special collections at the Davenport (Iowa) Public Library, with curation at the John A. Logan Museum (Murphysboro, Illinois) and with digital archiving at the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology here at the University of Illinois. You can reach her at berryhi1@illinois.edu .

Preserving history about rural-urban communications

You may be aware that the Agriculture Council of America Foundation recently assumed the assets and selected programs of the National Farm-City Council. In related news, we are delighted to report that the 60-year history of the National Farm-City Council has an enduring home. Those historical materials, dating from the founding in 1955, are being processed into the University of Illinois Archives after arriving recently.

Thanks to Council representatives Hugh Whaley, Gene Hemphill and Holly Fritz for collaborating with Archives and ACDC personnel in making the preservation possible. These materials represent an important, pioneering initiative in promoting rural-urban understanding in the United States. During the years ahead, they will be available as resources for research, teaching, and ideas from a wealth of knowledge about ways to do so.

Get in touch with us at docctr@library.illinois.edu if you would like more information about these materials.

Communicator activities approaching

• July 26-30, 2014
  “Rev it up!” Agricultural Media Summit, joint meeting of the American Agricultural Editors’ Association (AAEA), Livestock Publications Council (LPC) and the Agri-Council of American Business Media in Indianapolis, Indiana. Also features the annual meeting of the Agricultural Communicators of Tomorrow (ACT). Information: http://www.agmediasummit.com
• September 4-8, 2014
  “Innovations from a small island.” Annual IFAJ Congress of the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists in Aberdeenshire Angus, Banffshire and Moray, Scotland. Information: http://www.ifaj2014.com/action-packed-days

Simple formula for gathering news

We close this issue of ACDC News with a piece of timeless advice from J. Milam, a country newspaper editor and publisher. It was cited in a 1934 article we reviewed recently in The North American Review :

“Keep listening, and never do more than half the talking.”

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, Room 510, 1101 S. Goodwin Avenue, Urbana, IL 61801) or in electronic format sent to docctr@library.illinois.edu