ACDC Newsletter

Using the language of war in covering agriculture .  We recently added to the ACDC collection an article in Science Communication that included a case example of agricultural war language.  It involved an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) in the United Kingdom.  Researchers found that a search of the Lexis-Nexis database using the keyword “war,” for example, identified 159 articles in national UK newspapers from March 20-30, 2001.  Here are other militaristic metaphors they found in media and other reporting:  Battle. Fight. Strikes. Killer. Marching. Enemy. Invasion. Foreign invader. Fortress mentality. Attack. Siege.

In this framing, authors noted, the handling of FMD was conceptualized as a war against an invisible and foreign enemy, the virus.  Veterinarians and farmers became soldiers. The animals were recast as enemies alongside the virus. Basically, authors found the language of war used consciously for definite political and ideological purposes.  “…it acted to mobilize, justify solutions, and exculpate government from responsibility and gave focus and mode of operation.  This is the classic war metaphor framing.”

Title: Metaphors and biorisks

Let’s banish “organic.” Businesses as organic. T-shirts as organic. Shampoo as organic. Computer software as organic. So maybe it is not surprising to see “organic” on the Lake Superior State University 2008 List of Banished Words. You may recall that wordsmiths at this Michigan university annually invite nominations of words to be “banished from the Queen’s English for misuse, overuse and general uselessness.”

You can see the complete 2008 list – and add your own comments – at:

www.lssu.edu/banished/current.php

Getting a view of the core periodical literature in agricultural communications. The Journal of Agricultural and Food Information recently published an analysis of core periodical literature in the Agricultural Communications Documentation Center here at the University of Illinois. Researcher Joe Zumalt identified more than 16,000 articles from scholarly journals, magazines, newspapers and, now, their electronic equivalents.  Among his findings:

• Periodical literature makes up 55 percent of the ACDC collection.
• These articles, published between the 1850s and 2006, featured agriculture-related communicating in countries around the world. “The findings suggest that what began as a United States-based resource is becoming international in substantial ways.”
• Between 1981 (when collecting began) and 2006, the total number of different periodicals represented in the collection grew more than five-fold, from 326 to 1,766.
• Periodical literature of this field shows a continuing lack of centrality. In 2006, articles in the top 10 periodicals comprised only 37 percent of the total.
• Findings reveal the “need to search across an extremely wide range of disciplines for the periodical literature of agricultural communications and provide helpful directions and guidelines for doing so.”

“The results of this study underscore the importance and value of the ACDC effort to identify and make available the widely scattered literature of agricultural communications,” he observed.

Posted at http://www.ideals.uiuc.edu/handle/2142/3495

Who would expect to find agricultural communications literature there? From time to time we can’t help sharing with you our adventure in collecting information about the communications aspects of agriculture.  Here are some unexpected journals to which our detective work has taken us during recent weeks:

• Environmental Modeling and Software
• Food and Chemical Toxicology
• Ecological Economics
• Social Work in Education
• Annals of the Association of American Geographers
• Social Science Computer Review
• Journal of Sustainable Forestry
• Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health
• Ecos
• Health, Risk and Society

Local knowledge should be incorporated into formal studies of soils , argued A.G.C. Alves in an Interciencia article we added recently to the ACDC collection.  The author described how “many peasant and indigenous societies have created their own soil use strategies, having little or no contact with official research and rural communication agencies.  Management techniques used by these societies are mainly based on local knowledge systems.”  They encompass non-agricultural uses of soils (e.g., pottery making) as well as agricultural uses.

Alves observed that more studies about the interfaces between humans and the soils with which they work “could be an aid to the advancement of formal soil knowledge, also giving an opportunity to understanding and valuing local soil knowledge.”

The potentials seem relevant in any society.

Title: Local knowledge and soil use: an ethnopedological approach

Communicator activities approaching

Earthy evidence of information management .  We close this issue of ACDC News with a headline that caught our eye recently in a farm paper.  It may hold special interest for agricultural editors and extension communicators:

“Learn how to manage horse manure from MSU extension”

Oh, those modifier gremlins.

Best regards and good searching . Please pass along your reactions, suggestions and ideas for the Agricultural Communications Documentation Center. Feel free to invite our help as you search for information. And please suggest (or send) agricultural communications documents we might add to this unique collection. We welcome them in hard copy (sent to Ag Com Documentation Center, 510 LIAC, 1101 S. Goodwin Avenue, Urbana, IL 61801) or in electronic format sent to docctr@library.uiuc.edu .

When you see interesting items you cannot find locally or online , get in touch with us. We will help you gain access.

2008-01-05

Rediscovering agricultural advisory (extension) services . “After a period of neglect, agricultural advisory services have returned strongly to the international development agenda,” according to Jock R. Anderson of the World Bank. In a background paper for World Development Report 2008 , he said he considers it “highly appropriate” to acknowledge the roles and challenges of an effective evolution of agricultural advisory services in the coming decades.

What new functions for extension might we expect?  Anderson cited several beyond the conventional function of providing knowledge for improved agricultural productivity:

• Linking smallholder farmers to high-value and export markets
• Promoting environmentally sustainable production techniques
• Coping with the effects of HIV/AIDS and other health challenges that affect agriculture

Title: Agricultural advisory services

Posted at: www.worldbank.org

New source of grammar hints .  More than two dozen grammar hints are now available online from the Writing Special Interest Group of ACE (Association for Communication Excellence in Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Life and Human Sciences).  Topics range from informal spelling and “the forgotten semicolon” to accuracy of online language translation services.  These hints, generated during the past three years, were posted online in December.

Posted at: http://www.aceweb.org/sigs/writing/grammar.php

Six reasons to celebrate Ag Day. As National Agriculture Day approaches on March 20, the Agriculture Council of America offers six reasons for recognizing – and celebrating – it. They are described briefly in an article, “The importance of ag literacy,” we added recently to the ACDC collection.

You can read the reasons at: www.agday.org/education/celebrate.php

Why is it taking so long to build bridges between formal and informal science?

Professor Anil Gupta, Indian Institute of Management, asked that question in a 2007 commentary we have added to the ACDC collection.  He emphasized how bridging the gap between scientific research and local solutions could be beneficial, citing examples of effective traditional solutions practiced by local farmers. Several reasons may account for this gap, he observed:

• Scientists often question the value of traditional knowledge.
• Peer pressure may push them and their students to focus on high-impact research with wide visibility and more potential for career advancement.
• A bias towards chemical-intensive technologies may exist, and researchers may be put off by differing protocols for validating non-chemical innovations.
• Local innovators and holders of traditional knowledge have feeble, fragmented and easily-ignored influence on policies that might help bridge the gap.

The author identified several communications-based measures to help bridge this gap in any part of the world.

Title: How local knowledge can boost scientific studies

Posted at: http://www.scidev.net/dossiers/index.cfm?fuseaction=dossierreaditem&dossier=7&type=3&itemid=581&language=1

Several favorite journalism films with a rural touch .  In response to a recent call for favorites, we are pleased to pass along these recommended favorites:

• Country (with Jessica Lange).  It is “another movie that’s interesting but bleak.  Tie-in with farm market reports.”

• Year of Living Dangerously. “Not rural per se but an excellent journalism movie.”

• State Fair (original version).  “Loved the family’s excitement in their trip to the Iowa State Fair…and the friendly competition at the livestock exhibit.”

• Sweetland. “Gritty and romantic tale of rural Minnesota life.”

What others might you add to the list?  Send them by return e-note.  Thanks.

See the 2008 winners in Geographical photo competition .  Twelve winners are featured in the February issue of Geographical , official magazine of the Royal Geographical Society, UK.  You can view a gallery of honored photos that were selected from more than 1,000 entries from all over the world.  Categories include people and culture, wildlife, landscape, travel and environmental issues.  You will see some outstanding rural photos among them.

Posted at: www.geographical.co.uk/features/photostories/poty_winners_feb08.html

More cooperation – less conflict – in ground water planning. If you are involved in communicating about water use you may find interest in a recent article that confirms and describes the vital role you can play.  Authors Vincent C. Tidwell and Cors van den Brink noted how access to ground water can often be contentious.  Scientists can contribute to planning efforts in terms of technical feasibility. But communicators can help provide the vital connecting link – “a process for inclusive and transparent sharing of ideas.” Authors described two examples illustrating how “cooperative modeling” processes can lead to successful ground water plans.  These processes involve shared, adaptive learning/communications.

Title: Cooperative modeling: linking science, communication and ground water planning

Posted at: http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1745-6584.2007.00394.x

Communicator activities approaching

What’s this about upheavals? Thanks to Don Schwartz who caught an interesting twist on a recent headline in ACDC News:  “Survey shows an upheaval in eating patterns.”

He asked:  “‘upheaval’ – re a food story?”

“Could have been worse,” he added, passing along these headlines we are sure no rural journalists wrote:

• “New study of obesity looks for larger test group”
• “Kids make nutritious snacks”
• “Cold wave linked to temperatures”

Best regards and good searching . Please pass along your reactions, suggestions and ideas for the Agricultural Communications Documentation Center. Feel free to invite our help as you search for information. And please suggest (or send) agricultural communications documents we might add to this unique collection. We welcome them in hard copy (sent to Ag Com Documentation Center, 510 LIAC, 1101 S. Goodwin Avenue, Urbana, IL 61801) or in electronic format sent to docctr@library.uiuc.edu .

When you see interesting items you cannot find locally or online , get in touch with us. We will help you gain access.

2008-01-04

An eye-opener: communications (and trust) in complex agricultural  networks. Supply chain management has emerged as a concept for coordinating functions and actions of companies throughout value chains. Seldom have we seen such a graphic portrayal of the complexities of supply chain management than in a recent analysis by Tobias Hausen and Melanie Fritz, University of Bonn, Germany.  And seldom have we seen so clearly how effective communicating is pivotal to the success of it.

Authors describe a supply network involved in production of crops such as grain or produce.  Not only is the network incredibly complex.  It also is characterized by:

• Unforeseeable changes in demand
• Long lead times for production of inputs
• A fragmented tree structure for flow of materials
• System breakdowns that cause inefficient flows of material and information

“Several key areas of the network are in need for better communication and collaboration between network participants,” the authors observed.  And calls for information exchanges within such networks are revealing lack of trust among companies.

Title: Supply chain management in the life science sector

Posted at: http://ageconsearch.umn.edu > Conduct title search

What’s the difference between a barn cat and a house cat? How many eggs does a chicken lay in one day? Do pigs scratch their backs?  These and other questions from youngsters get addressed in an educational video series, “On the Farm,” from an award-winning educator, farmer, videographer and producer in upstate New York. Chris Fesko’s video series has earned more than 20 awards, including the Parent’s Choice 2002 Silver Honor Award.

Title: Do pigs scratch their backs?

Information at: http://www.fesko.com/pigs.html

Should we now be thinking of Development 2.0? Chris Addison raised that question in a journal article about the emerging range of facilities and innovations in web-based and internet services. Web logs.  Wikis.  Newsreaders.  Swikki.  Social bookmarking.  Dgroups.  A0.com. The author described use of new technologies such as these, then addressed other implications for development work.  For example:

• What used to be a three-year assignment for technical assistance on a development projects may become brief visits supplemented by Web 2.0 tools.
• A development project that used to depend on ground transportation may get handled with a web site, a Dgroup and a computer.
• New web applications are being used for dialogue, research, publishing and other aspects of development projects.

“How profoundly is the development of communications, and in particular the Internet, changing the development community and the way in which it works?” Addison asked.

Title: Web 2.0: a new chapter in development in practice?

About a delicate dance. Effective communicating is at the heart of healthy, long-term relationships between land owners and land operators, according to an article in Corn and Soybean Digest .  Reporter Karen Bernick identified suggestions for operators:

• Keep lines of communication open
• Be a good steward (e.g., controlling weeds, fertilizing appropriately)
• Know what is important to each landlord
• Show you care
• Be fair

Title: A delicate dance

Posted at: http://cornandsoybeandigest.com/ag-issues/delicate-dance-landowner-situations

“Freelance benefit program.” An oxymoron? That question came to mind when we saw the title of freelancer Claudette Lacombe’s article.  It appeared in the September 2007 issue of “The Farm Journalist,” newsletter of the Canadian Farm Writers’ Federation.  What benefit program for a freelancer?

Actually, Claudette has found a remarkable benefit that fits right in with her writing about water management issues in rural Alberta.  The article reports how she has turned her yard into an urban xeriscape demonstration project.  It also identifies a variety of benefits she – and others – are gaining from it.

Title: Freelance benefit program

Posted at: http://www.cfwf.ca/farmj/FJ__September07.pdf

Special thanks to John Brien of Australia, for contributing to the ACDC collection nearly a dozen new documents that help reveal his productive scholarship of more than 50 years.  They are part of a thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Agricultural Science at the University of Queensland (his second doctorate, actually).  The thesis title is “Research contributions in agricultural extension and communication.”

This thesis contains 16 selected presentations, reports and books dated between 1969 and 1988.  We previously had some of his materials in the ACDC collection and are delighted to add 11 more from this thesis. They reflect the valuable contributions of a respected scholar.  You can identify them by conducting an Author search (Brien) on the ACDC search page.  Let us know if you would like to gain access to them.

Any favorite journalism films – with a rural touch? The Commonwealth Press Union reported recently that subscribers to the online Small Newspaper Information Exchange had discussed their favorite journalism films. They identified more than 50 films.

Do you have any favorite journalism-related films that, in some way, involve rural life, people or activities?  Your nominations can come from any era – any region or country.

Please send the title(s) and we will report back to all about this important type of agricultural communicating. Reply to us at docctr@library.uiuc.edu .

Communicator activities approaching

More rural computer language. We close this issue of ACDC News with several out-on-the-web computer terms about surviving those rural winter chills.

Best regards and good searching . Please pass along your reactions, suggestions and ideas for the Agricultural Communications Documentation Center. Feel free to invite our help as you search for information. And please suggest (or send) agricultural communications documents we might add to this unique collection. We welcome them in hard copy (sent to Ag Com Documentation Center, 510 LIAC, 1101 S. Goodwin Avenue, Urbana, IL 61801) or in electronic format sent to docctr@library.uiuc.edu .

When you see interesting items you cannot find locally or online , get in touch with us. We will help you gain access.

2008-01-03

“Co-op Kids” featured in a creative photo calendar .  Thanks to the Cooperative Communicators Association for alerting us to a creative project of the Tennessee Farmers Cooperative.  A popular calendar features this winning combination:

• Portraits or candid photos
• entered by customers, members or employees
• featuring children
• at special events or in everyday farm activities
• sporting their Co-op colors or
• displaying Co-op feed products or
• showing off their favorite pets or farm animals

You can view winning entries, by month, in the 2008 calendar.  It was announced in the December 2007 issue of Tennessee Cooperator .

Posted at: www.ourcoop.com/cooperator/december2007.pdf Proceed to page 27.

Second series of “Kill it, cook it, eat it” airs on BBC Three . A second television series in the United Kingdom about how farm animals make their way to the dining table aired on BBC Three Digital during January.  This time the producers focused on young animals:  veal, milk-fed lambs, kid goats and suckling pigs.  According to the BBC description:

“The programme asks how these animals are raised, where they come from, and how they’re killed and gutted.  Should taste take priority over the welfare of the animal?  And, ultimately how young is too young when it comes to eating baby animals?”

Thanks to Joe Watson and Don Gomery of the Guild of Agricultural Journalists for alerting us to this series, which reportedly stirred thousands of e-mails from viewers. The programs are available to play online only in the UK.

Among sources of information about the series: http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcthree/programmes/kill_it/index.shtml

www.fwi.co.uk/articles/2008/01/11/108957/farming-on-the-tv-a-special-report.html

What motivates growers involved in community supported agriculture .  An article in HortTechnology identified goals that motivate growers to take part in CSA, an alternative model of farming in which consumers contract to receive a share of food harvests.

CSA growers are motivated by multiple goals, according to researcher E. C. Worden.  Marketing was the goal mentioned most often, followed by interest in educating consumers.  Community wellbeing and environmental interests also motivated these growers.  The marketing motive was found to be “not solely monetary, but also philosophical” in the sense of achieving right livelihood and strengthening society’s relationships among (a) consumers, (b) the food they eat and (c) the land from which it comes.

Title: Grower perspectives in community supported agriculture

How to tap into one of the largest collections of agricultural information. A recent article in the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists newsletter, IFAJ News , offered tips to agricultural journalists for gathering information from AGRIS. It is the online database of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations. As such it can become your doorway to a collection of more than two million documents. Joe Zumalt, ACDC coordinator and librarian here at the University of Illinois, outlined step-by-step procedures, using sample topics.

Title: AGRIS: an FAO information resource for the agricultural journalist

Posted at: http://www.ifaj.org/newsletter/december07/Zamultstory.pdf

Popcorn processing risk kept quiet? We have added to the ACDC collection a recent article from OMB (Office of Management and Budget) Watch about a health risk that the organization believes federal regulatory agencies have known for years and kept silent.  This risk involves use of diacetyl, a flavoring added to many types of food, including artificial butter flavoring in microwave popcorn.  It is linked to a debilitating disease, “popcorn workers lung.”

The article described lack of action by federal agencies and reported on unsuccessful efforts of media to gain access to information about research by the Environmental Protection Agency.

Title: Federal agencies knew of diacetyl dangers and kept silent

Posted at: http://www.ombwatch.org/article/articleview/3970

Communications – missing link in participatory agricultural research? Much has been written about benefits when farmers work with scientists in planning and carrying out agricultural research.  A recent article in Appropriate Technology highlighted need for stronger communications in such efforts.  It explained how scientists from the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) carried out crop research with farmers in a region of southern Mexico. Among the findings reported:

• “Interaction with farmers provided maize breeders with invaluable information on the traits that are of local importance.”
• “Farmers, in turn, learnt about maize production and post-harvest storage.”
• “However…while the participatory research benefited scientists, only a relatively small number of farmers actually benefited directly.”

Findings called for research organizations to work closely with local outreach organizations, which are better placed to link farmers and researchers by virtue of their long-term, continuing contact.

Title: Participatory research: a catalyst for greater impact

I am the journalist .  We close this issue of ACDC News with a creed published in the June/July 2007 issue of Quill magazine.  This creed does not focus specially on agricultural journalism, but surely includes our field of interest.  Frank Crane is credited with expressing it during the early 1900s. We have taken the liberty of refining gender aspects.

Best regards and good searching . Please pass along your reactions, suggestions and ideas for the Agricultural Communications Documentation Center. Feel free to invite our help as you search for information. And please suggest (or send) agricultural communications documents we might add to this unique collection. We welcome them in hard copy (sent to Ag Com Documentation Center, 510 LIAC, 1101 S. Goodwin Avenue, Urbana, IL 61801) or in electronic format sent to docctr@library.uiuc.edu .

When you see interesting items you cannot find locally or online , get in touch with us. We will help you gain access.

2008-01-02

Happy New Year and welcome to this first 2008 issue of news from the Agricultural Communications Documentation Center.

We are still like kids in a candy story .  “Are you finding much literature about agricultural journalism and communications?” friends sometimes ask.  We nod vigorously, then shake our heads in amazement at all we see from so many sources. As the new year begins this collection is approaching 31,500 documents involving agriculture-related communicating in 170 countries.  And we are hardly scratching the surface of this rich body of knowledge and experience.

Thanks for your encouragement and support. The Center has no huge budget.  But it has an increasingly important mission and valuable resource, a dedicated staff – and the inspiration of you who use the collection and help strengthen it.  We look forward to a new year of identifying information that helps you communicate effectively and grow professionally in this dynamic field of interest.  And we look forward to being in touch with you.

A fresh look at the creative side of rural communicating. You can get a fresh view of rural communicating in Gene Logsdon’s new book, The mother of all arts: agrarianism and the creative impulse .  It’s not the typical book about art.  It’s from a seasoned, articulate agricultural journalist and writer.  And perspectives in it about farm magazines, rural radio, country music, and agrarian writing and art will ring a bell for many who read ACDC News.

Something deep in agriculture and rural culture stirs the creative impulse, Logsdon argues, and he tracks some of the forms it takes.  He sees signs of a new agrarianism “that will flower as the Industrial Revolution ebbs away,” an agrarian instinct he finds latent in all of society.

Title: The mother of all arts

Survey shows an upheaval in eating patterns. A 2007 survey among consumers in Montreal, Canada, revealed that 92 percent had changed their eating habits because of risks or benefits associated with food.

“Compared to 2004, the results this year show a significant increase in food stress in connection with the risk associated with certain foods,” according to the head of the nutrition counseling firm ISA, which sponsored the survey.  Food stress is measured by adding up the decisions not to buy or not to eat a food product when it is associated with one of 10 risks identified on a measurement scale.

“On average, 2007 respondents had made 8.5 changes in their eating habits in relation to the 10 risks and 10 benefits identified on the measurement scale.”

Title: Recent survey on food stress

Posted at: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/October2007/10/c2239.html

“I’m sure the meter on it must be faulty,” wrote UK farmer Hugh Broom in a tongue-in-cheek commentary we have added to the ACDC collection from Farmers Weekly . He was referring to his mobile phone.

“Depressingly, in the past year, according to the screen, I have spent 1250 hours using it. … Even at 1000 minutes a month it works out at 8 days a year on the phone – that’s like a week away in another country and it’s not even booked as holiday.”

“So does all this connectivity make life easier or just more cluttered and stressful?”

Title: Mobile phone mayhem

Tips for biological scientists in working with media. The American Society of Plant Biologists offered tips in a web feature we have added to the ACDC collection. A few samples:

• Calls from journalists merit top priority.  “I will drop everything to talk to the press,” said a media workshop coordinator, Peggy Lemaux.

• Have a goal in mind for the interview and deliver a focused message.
• Be ready to answer questions on your research such as “What does it matter?”
• Information is not generally considered off the record if the off-the-record request is made after the scientist’s actual comment.
• Do not repeat misleading terms if a reporter uses them in a question.

Title: Accessing the media and Congress

Posted at: www.aspb.org/publicaffairs/editorial

IFAJ Executive to consider strategic plans. Executive Committee members of the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists will consider strategies for moving the organization forward when they meet January 16-19 in Berlin, Germany. A report in AgroNews (Schweizer Landwirtschaft, Switzerland) briefly described a strategy paper, “IFAJ 2015,” to be used.  It will focus on globalization, development of services for members, potential updating of the web site, staffing needs and support for agricultural journalism in developing countries.  Thanks to treasurer Markus Rediger for providing this report.

Title: Agrarjournalisten wollen professioneller werden

Posted at: http://www.landwirtschaft.ch/de/aktuell/agronews/detail/article/2007/11/27/agrarjournalisten-wollen-professioneller-werden/?type=0&cHash=c43776cb08

Do we dare begin the year with a wrap-up as bad as this? Well, yes. In closing this issue of ACDC News we thank Hal Taylor for alerting us to these insights. They may hold special interest for rural communicators:

• When fish are in schools they sometimes take debate.

• To write with a broken pencil is pointless.
• If you take a laptop computer for a run you could jog your memory.
• Thieves who steal corn from a garden could be charged with stalking.

Best regards and good searching . Please pass along your reactions, suggestions and ideas for the Agricultural Communications Documentation Center. Feel free to invite our help as you search for information. And please suggest (or send) agricultural communication documents we might add to this unique collection. We welcome them in hard copy (sent to Ag Com Documentation Center, 510 LIAC, 1101 S. Goodwin Avenue,

When you see interesting items you cannot find locally or online , get in touch with us. Tell us the titles and/or document numbers. We will help you gain access.

And please let us know if you would rather not receive ACDC News . As Year 2008 begins, we want to tell you how much we appreciate your interest in this complimentary electronic newsletter. We hope it is helpful, interesting and convenient for you. However, we do not want to send something to you that you would rather not receive. So at any time, please let us know if you would like to be removed from the list. You can do so by contacting us at the Documentation Center: docctr@library.uiuc.edu . Also let us know if your e-mail address changes.

Other possible subscribers you might suggest? Let us know of – or refer us to – associates or other persons you think might like to receive online alerts to future issues of ACDC News.

2008-01-01

“Farming fills my belly; journalism – my heart.”

That perspective comes from Shree Padre, agriculturist and innovative agricultural journalist in India.  Originator of a widely-recognized farmer-to-farmer periodical, Adike Pathrike, Padre explained his perspective in an article we have added to the ACDC collection:

“I take up issues that have positive and constructive messages.  Without farming background it is difficult to do justice to the latter.  In our country, the greatest tragedy is that the ones with practical knowledge never write.  Being a farmer, I know the needs of fellow farmers regarding information, what is practical for us and what is not and about farmers’ interests.”

Title:  Farming fills my belly
Posted at http://www.farmedia.org/padre_interview.html

Farmers sharing photos – online.

Farmers Weekly Interactive (United Kingdom) is inviting readers to upload their own photos to share with other farmers. A picture gallery provides space.  You can see current samples at:

www.fwi.co.uk/articles/2007/11/07/108099/picture-story-highlights-from-the-fwispace-picture.html

Recognizing innovative use of multimedia for rural health.

A paper reporting innovative use of information technology to improve health among indigenous residents of rural Australia recently won the prestigious Queensland Government Industry Prize.  This honor was awarded during the 13th International Conference for Virtual Systems and Multimedia (VSMM07) in Brisbane, Australia.

The paper describes HITnet, a long-term multimedia health promotion strategy for serving information-disadvantaged indigenous populations.  The program has evolved through three phases:

1. Pilot project involving use of touchscreen technology, with audio feedback, in two Aboriginal communities.
2. Measuring health and technology-related outcomes from use of kiosks in four communities.
3. National expansion of an interactive multimedia health network, involving multimedia and web-ready product, with touchscreen kiosks.

Title:  Pride and performance
Posted at www.hitnet.com.au

More shoppers reading food labels.

Nearly three in five New Zealanders are now reading ingredients labels as they grow increasingly concerned about food safety.  This finding comes from a 2007 study commissioned by the Food Safety Authority.  Compared with results of a similar survey in 2003, it revealed a 10 percent increase in the number of people likely to study ingredient labels.

What food safety issues concerned respondents most?

• Salmonella (nearly 75 percent)
• Antibiotics in meat (67 percent)
• Campylobacter, foodborne bacterial disease (63 percent)
• Use of pesticides to grow food (62 percent)
• Genetically modified foods (56 percent)

Title: More shoppers read the labels
Posted at www.nzherald.co.nz > title search

Signs of “extremely fragmented” communications within the food chain.

Research reported in the British Food Journal revealed a serious information gap between the British agri-food industry and consumers.  Authors used an information audit to analyze communications activities of the industry. Then they used primary research to assess information needs and knowledge levels among consumers.  Findings revealed fragmented delivery and lack of needed resources within the agri-food sector.  Consumers, in turn, received messages “not giving them a clear reason to consider the implications of their purchases for the British farming industry and the environment.”

Title: Reconnection in the UK food chain

“An unflinching account at what farming takes – and, more important, what it gives back.”

That is how a New York Times reviewer described a rural documentary that is getting international acclaim. “The real dirt on Farmer John” is a portrait of Illinois farmer John Peterson’s roller-coaster ride for survival. A real-time documentary, it was shot over a 25-year period.  Among the reactions expressed in media reviews:

• “…a palimpsest of images depicting the struggle between tradition and modernity.” (New York Times)
• “What a blessing this film is, for everyone who’s chosen the road less taken and even perhaps for anyone who’s stood in their way.”  (Newsday)
• “A loving, moving, inspiring, quirky documentary.” (Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times)

This documentary has won more than 30 film festivals in the U. S. and internationally. You can learn more about it at http://www.farmerjohnmovie.com.

Thanks to Neil Inall of New South Wales, Australia, for reporting to us about this film.

Rural communicator activities approaching

February 3-4, 2008
Agricultural Communications Research Papers presented at the 2008 conference of the Southern Association of Agricultural Scientists in Dallas, Texas.
Information: http://agnews.tamu.edu/saas

February 13-15, 2008
“Experience ICT Africa.”  Continental information and communications technologies conference sponsored by the NEPAD Council (New Partnership for Africa’s Development) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Information: http://ictafrica.nepadcouncil.org

March 9-15, 2008
“Global entrepreneurship: the role of international agricultural and extension education.” Conference of the Association for International Agricultural and Extension Education (AIAEE) at E.A.R.T.H. University, Costa Rica.
Information: http://www.aiaee.org/conferences.html

Season’s greetings at the 10th anniversary of ACDC News.

It hardly seems possible that 10 years have passed since we posted that first issue of ACDC News in November 1997.  We have thoroughly enjoyed sharing with you some highlights from the research, news and views we see while collecting information about agricultural journalism and communications, internationally. Thank you for your interest and encouragement through these years, and best wishes to you during this holiday season.

Rural computer language for cold-season survival.

We close this issue of ACDC News with several more computer terms we have seen roaming the Web with a touch of rural flavor.  These feature cold-weather survival skills:

Log on:  Making a wood stove hotter
Mega hertz:  When you’re not careful getting the firewood
Floppy disk:  What you get from trying to carry too much firewood
Windows:  What to shut when it’s cold outside

Do you have thoughts, examples or suggestions related to any topics featured in this issue?

Please send them to us by return e-note.
Get in touch with us:

• When you cannot locate information you need about communications, as related to agriculture, food, natural resources and rural affairs in any part of the world.
• When you see in this collection interesting items you cannot find, locally or online. Tell us the titles and/or document numbers.  We will help you gain access.

And please suggest (or send) agricultural communications documents we might add to this unique collection.  We welcome them in hard copy (sent to Ag Com Documentation Center, 510 LIAC, 1101 S. Goodwin Avenue, Urbana, IL 61801) or electronic form at docctr@library.uiuc.edu

Best wishes and good searching.

December 2007

Award-winning reporting about diversity of rural families.

We recently added to the ACDC collection a feature on this subject from the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists (IFAJ) web site.  Maria Moynihan of the Irish Farmers Journal described how she identified and prepared an article, “The Irish family – no longer nuclear.” It earned her recognition as Outstanding Irish Young Journalist for 2006 in Europe-wide competition from the European Commission.

Title: Finding fascinating, moving
You can see her report and article at: www.ifaj.org/news/finding_fascination.html

What do you mean by rural crisis? Agricultural crisis? Farm crisis?

These expressions reflect a general sense of concern over the state of agriculture and rural existence, rural development researcher Kenneth C. Bessant has observed.  However, they lack clear and concise meaning, he says, and be believes lack of consensus hinders research and policy development   His recent article in the Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics examined four main themes of debates about rural wellbeing and offered a framework for interpreting them:

• Farm financial difficulties (such as low or unstable income, indebtedness)
• Structural changes in agriculture (such as increasing scale, concentration)
• Rural livelihoods (such as dwindling communities, institutions, services)
• International dimensions (such as market fluctuations, trade regulations)

His analysis underlines the vital role of clarified and shared meaning, as a foundation for rural development programs and policies. It also identifies arenas for valuable research, teaching and practice in agricultural communications.

Title: Multiple discourses on crisis

View gold-award entries in the 2007 ACE program.

Winners have been posted online in 45 classes of the 2007 critique and awards program of ACE (Association for Communication Excellence in Agricultural, Natural Resources, and Life and Human Sciences).  Categories include writing, photography, graphic design, publishing, electronic media (audio/video), distance education and instructional design, marketing and media relations, information technology and diversity.

You can view the posted winners at www.aceweb.org/award/critique.html

Internet helping boost the popularity of herbal supplements. 

Larry Nelson, who writes about herbal medicines, has analyzed reasons for a rapid increase in the number of new users of herbal supplements.  In an article, “Herbal supplements rival popularity of drug company giants,” he said he believes the popularity can be directly attributed to supporters turning to the internet to spread their beliefs.

“The internet has brought about several new lines of communication,” he observed.  He cited message boards, chat rooms and article reading web sites as examples of new venues that help increase awareness among consumers.

Posted at:
http://www.approvedarticles.com/Article/Herbal-Supplements-Rival-Popularity-of-Drug-Company-Giants/10375

Mixed reviews of “King Corn.”

This new feature documentary about “two friends, one acre of corn, and the subsidized crop that drives our fast-food nation” is stirring reactions. Co-produced by Mosaic Films Incorporated and the Independent Television Service, it premiered in theatres during September and will be broadcast on public television during April 2008.  Among the reactions to date:

• “Engaging and illuminating.”
• “It’s a treat – and good for you.”
• “…big on one-sided criticism but absent on any solutions.”
• “…it was not the fault of the crop or farmers that America struggles with obesity.”

You can see some descriptions and reviews at sites such as:

http://www.kingcorn.net
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/10008698-king_corn
http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1809935059/info
http://www.ageditors.com > ByLine (November/December 2007)
Not a kernel of truth in “King Corn”

Community-owned newspapers are popping up in Australia.

They number more than 300 in the state of Victoria, and about 80 percent have started within the past decade, according to an article in the Melbourne Age.  Largely volunteer-run, “they are hitting local shops and community boards.”

Why are they emerging?  The president of the state’s Community Newspaper Association cited three reasons:

• Locally owned commercial newspapers “have been taken over by bigger regionalizing media groups, meaning it’s simply not viable to be independent.”
• Political encouragement for communities to take control over their own development has led to facilities such as community houses, which spawn community news sheets.
• Easy access to technology.

Title: News to them
Thanks to Liz Kellaway of South Australia for sending this news report.

Want to see some local rural advertisements from 77 years ago? 

If so, you can read 22 digitized ads from a 1930 publication that promoted recommended practices for farmers in Wisconsin.  The ads were prepared under sponsorship by the Wisconsin Bankers’ Association and signed by specialists in the University of Wisconsin College of Agriculture. Banks throughout the state were encouraged to place the ads locally in the interest of building “your bank – your town and your farming community.”

Title:  22 community building advertisements
Posted at http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu > search on title > click on URL in the citation to view the 22 ads.

Applying the “invisible glue” in rural development.

Experts from 24 countries recently agreed at a global literacy conference in Nigeria that adult literacy should be put at the top of government agendas.  It is, they said, “the invisible glue” in national development plans.  Why?  Because, according to the report, 781 million adults are illiterate, worldwide.

One of the speakers observed, “Governments don’t prioritise adult literacy because they think donors won’t fund it and donors don’t fund it because governments don’t prioritise it.  This vicious circle must end.”  The group estimated that universal literacy could be achieved by 2015 through at least $1 billion of new aid a year.

Title: Adult literacy the “invisible glue”

Rural communicator activities approaching

February 3-4, 2008
Agricultural Communications Research Papers presented at the 2008 conference of the Southern Association of Agricultural Scientists in Dallas, Texas.
Information: http://agnews.tamu.edu/saas

February 13-15, 2008
“Experience ICT Africa.”  Continental information and communications technologies conference sponsored by the NEPAD Council (New Partnership for Africa’s Development) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Information: http://ictafrica.nepadcouncil.org

March 9-15, 2008
“Global entrepreneurship: the role of international agricultural and extension education.” Conference of the Association for International Agricultural and Extension Education (AIAEE) at E.A.R.T.H. University, Costa Rica.
Information: http://www.aiaee.org/conferences.html

Avoiding peer pressure.

We close this issue of ACDC news with a communications insight from Agriculture Online Express.

A reporter was interviewing a woman of exceptional age and asked, “What do you think is the best thing about being 104?”
“No peer pressure,” she replied.

Do you have thoughts, examples or suggestions related to any topics featured in this issue? 

Please send them to us by return e-note.
Get in touch with us:

• When you cannot locate information you need about communications, as related to agriculture, food, natural resources and rural affairs in any part of the world.
• When you see in this collection interesting items you cannot find, locally or online. Tell us the titles and/or document numbers.  We will help you gain access.

And please suggest (or send) agricultural communications documents we might add to this unique collection.  We welcome them in hard copy (sent to Ag Com Documentation Center, 510 LIAC, 1101 S. Goodwin Avenue, Urbana, IL 61801) or electronic form at docctr@library.uiuc.edu

Best regards and good searching.

December 2007

Surprising advice to researchers:  It is not important what is said.

We recently added a document in which Dr. Elke Scheurmann, University of Melbourne, offered that advice.  Speaking at a conference of the Cooperative Research Centres Association in Australia, she emphasized, “It is important what is heard.”  It begins with listening. Her presentation focused on ways in which researchers (including agricultural researchers) can improve their interactions with commercial companies.

Title:  Encouraging researchers to communicate in commercial terms
Posted at: http://www.crca.asn.au/activities/2005/conference/presentations/SchuermannElke-CommercialCommunication.pdf 

Looking at food labels – across 30 years.

The ACDC collection has reached a scale at which it can serve as a fascinating and valuable tracer of trends.  For example, recently we entered into the collection a 2007 report, “Food-labeling poll,” from the market research department of Consumer Reports.  For comparison, we pulled from our collection “Consumer attitudes toward food labeling” a report of research during 1977 by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.  The questions asked were not identical.  However, some revealing differences appear, in terms of what consumers find useful in labels.  For example:

• In 1977, consumers rated these kinds of information most important in food labels and other shopping aids: dates on package, price, indication if frozen product thawed and uniform meat names. Food safety did not appear as an aspect of labeling.
• In 2007, more than 85 percent of respondents agreed with statements calling for country-of-origin labeling of imported foods, label assurances that organic fish is free of or low in contaminants, permission for meat companies to label meat products as tested for mad cow disease, labeling meat and dairy products from cloned animals, and labeling milk from cows raised without synthetic bovine growth hormone.

Title:  Food-labeling poll
Posted at: www.greenerchoices.org/pdf/2007.41_labeling_poll_v._2.6_public_release.pdf

Title:  Consumer attitudes toward food labeling
Posted at: http://naldr.nal.usda.gov/nalweb/agricola_link.asp?accession=CAT80727842

Journalists paying undue reverence to scientific journals.

During a panel discussion at the 2007 World Congress of Science Journalists Pallab Ghosh, BBC, criticized journalists for letting themselves be “spoon-fed readymade copy” provided by scientific journals.  It makes them lazy, Ghosh argued, and allows a few powerful journals to dominate the media.  Other panelists defended the press release and embargo system used by some journals.  We have added to the ACDC collection a summary of the discussion.

Title: Embargoed “till when?”
Posted at http://wcsj2007.internetguruhosting.net/conference-program

A unique rural photograph earned recognition

In the 2003 Commonwealth Photographic Awards program of the Commonwealth Press Union. We came upon this creative image only recently. Photographer Binode Kumar Das captured it during the rehearsal for a silent play in a rural village of India.  It featured three boys and several visual elements that represented peace, new beginnings and a hopeful world.

The photo earned “Highly Commended” honors in the Asia category of this international recognition program. You can view it within the photo gallery at: www.cpu.org.uk/photo_2003_winners.html

“Survey shows farmers slow to embrace Internet.”

That headline in a September issue of the Reading Eagle (Pennsylvania) newspaper called attention to findings of a U. S. Department of Agriculture study among Pennsylvania farmers.

The report “showed that while 62 percent of Pennsylvania farms have access to a computer and 55 percent have access to the Internet, only 29 percent use computers for farm business.  In 2005, only 47 percent had access to the Internet and 27 percent were using computers for farm business.  At that time, 11 percent were purchasing inputs over the Internet and 7 percent were conducting agricultural marketing activities online.”

Title:  Survey shows farmers slow to embrace Internet

On food scares, recalls and consumer apathy in the United Kingdom.

“Public apathy has set in over the safety of the food supply due to the soaring number of scares and recalls.”  Results of a survey among adults during July 2007 led researchers to make that observation, as reported in Food Production Daily.

“Ironically, as the EU and UK regulatory and advisory authorities report soaring numbers of recall and safety reports in the last year, their effectiveness in terms of consumer safety seems to be diminishing as consumer apathy sets in.”

Title:  Companies need to regain public trust
Posted at www.foodproductiondaily.com/news/printNewsBis.asp?id=78472

Help build a glossary of terms related to e-agriculture.

One is being created and offered online from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations.

“We have begun the glossary with e-agriculture related terms from several other glossaries,” according to the introduction.  “but the list is by no means complete.”  Organizers welcome additional terms and suggestions about existing terms.

Contact:  www.e-agriculture.org/145.html?&no_cache=1

Rural communicator activities approaching

February 3-4, 2008
Agricultural Communications Research Papers presented at the 2008 conference of the Southern Association of Agricultural Scientists in Dallas, Texas.
Information: http://agnews.tamu.edu/saas

February 13-15, 2008
“Experience ICT Africa.”  Continental information and communications technologies conference sponsored by the NEPAD Council (New Partnership for Africa’s Development) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Information: http://ictafrica.nepadcouncil.org

March 9-15, 2008
“Global entrepreneurship: the role of international agricultural and extension education.” Conference of the Association for International Agricultural and Extension Education (AIAEE) at E.A.R.T.H. University, Costa Rica.
Information: http://www.aiaee.org/conferences.html

Fighting the battle for open minds.

We close this issue of ACDC News with an observation from J. Frank Dobie in his book, Cow People:

“Intolerance lingers more steadily than tolerance progresses.”

Do you have thoughts, examples or suggestions related to any topics featured in this issue? 

Please send them to us by return e-note.
Get in touch with us:

• When you cannot locate information you need about communications, as related to agriculture, food, natural resources and rural affairs in any part of the world.
• When you see in this collection interesting items you cannot find, locally or online. Tell us the titles and/or document numbers.  We will help you gain access.

And please suggest (or send) agricultural communications documents we might add to this unique collection.  We welcome them in hard copy (sent to Ag Com Documentation Center, 510 LIAC, 1101 S. Goodwin Avenue, Urbana, IL 61801) or electronic form at docctr@library.uiuc.edu

Best regards and good searching.

November 2007

A “grievous information gap” in coverage of climate change.

This topic is not getting adequate attention in the developing world, said Ochieng Ogodo in a presentation to the 2007 World Congress of Science Journalists.  Climate-related emergencies capture the attention for a while as big stories, Ogodo noted.  However, farmers and rural communities in the developing world need continuing access to information they can use to mitigate and adapt to the effects of climate change.  The presenter offered two suggestions to science journalists about how to fill this “grievous information gap:”

• Set up networks to share information about climate change.
• Build bridges between the “developed” and “developing” environmental and science journalists to exchange ideas and information about the topic.

Title:  Reporting climate change
Posted at http://wcsj2007.internetguruhosting.net/conference-program 

On farmers misreading what neighbors were thinking.

Signs of disconnect appeared in a study about lingering public reactions to large-scale swine facilities in the U. S. In the June 2007 issue of the Journal of Animal Science researcher Ann Reisner reported results of a survey among large-scale swine facility pork producers, their nearby neighbors and local-community swine facility activists.  They were interviewed several years after the facilities were established or expanded.  No active resistance to the facilities remained.  However:

“The majority of farmers indicated that people in the area had accepted their operation, which was a significant misreading of the residents’ level of support.  Residents and activists did not differ significantly on most measures of opinion; the primary difference was that activists were willing to say publicly what many thought privately.”  

Title:  Reaction of the local public to large-scale swine facilities

Myths and paradigms of participatory communication.

Discussions swirl these days about concepts of citizen journalism, social media, online video amateurs and other forms of participatory communicating.  We recently added to the ACDC collection a book chapter, “Myths and paradigms of participatory communication,” that urged caution. Drawing upon 25 years of international experience, development communication specialist Alfonso Gumucio Dagron observed:

“The abundance of commercial media has created a mirage of variety and choice; however, in reality it offers much less in terms of multicultural content, information, access and participation. … In this context, alternative and participatory media have a greater importance than ever in the defense of human values and the diversity of cultures, languages and beliefs.”

Title:  Myths and paradigms of participatory communication

GM food documentary sparks reactions.

“The Future of Food,” a 2005 film documentary about the development and use of genetically modified food, is stirring varied responses.

Reviews in newspapers and other media have described the film variously from enlightening, fascinating, brave and powerful to activist, one-sided and “a parade of talking heads making doomsday prophesies.”

“After watching The Future of Food…I was deeply troubled by the irresponsible pseudo-documentary which tries to present lies as truth and fiction as fact,” said Karri Hammerstrom, a tree fruit and alfalfa producer in California writing on the AgBioTech web site.

A college-level educational curriculum based on the film was released last month. You can learn more about the film and tap into some of the conversation it generates at:

http://www.thefutureoffood.com (official web site)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/the_future_of_food
http://www.agbioworld.org/biotech-info/articles/biotech-art/hammerstrom.html
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/future_of_food

Users of herbal supplements – doing their own thing?

A report from Decision News Media SAS comments on recent findings that a substantial share of consumers of herbal supplements in the U. S. fails to follow evidence-based standards.  The study, reported in Mayo Clinic Proceedings, revealed that two-thirds of the consumers of eight commonly used herbs failed to use them in line with the chosen scientific standard.  Researchers observed that results may reflect a lack of information reaching consumers.  “Furthermore, health care professionals may not often be a major source of herbal product information for patients.”

Title:  Most herbal consumers
Posted at http://www.nutraingredients-usa.com/news/ng.asp?id=76960

Hear how farmers in India are using Web2.0 tools.

Listen to Dr. Jayanta Chatterjee of the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur describe how they are overcoming language and literacy barriers through participatory use of electronic technologies. This application involves farmer-to-farmer, voice-based blogging based on mobile phone technology.  The audio report is 3:17 in length.

Title:  Farmers in India overcome language
Posted at: http://www.e-agriculture.org/news.html?&no_cache=1

Can psychology help the dismal science?

That question introduced a recent article about factors that influence what we eat, and how much.  Author Lisa Mancino suggested in a USDA article we added recently to the ACDC collection that behavioral economics can help address what she calls “insidious consumption.”  Here are some of the examples she described:

• Using “mental accounting”
• Increasing self-control through simple commitment devices
• Judging a serving by its container
• Choosing default options

Title:  Insidious consumption
Posted at http://www.ers.usda.gov/AmberWaves/June07/features/insidious.htm

From that site, you can also hear a podcast interview (9:58) with the author.

Communicator activities approaching

November 13-14, 2007
“Capture, consolidate and communicate – the changing nature of contemporary extension.” National Forum of the Australasia Pacific Extension Network in Canberra, ACT, AUSTRALIA.
Information: www.apen.org.au

November 14-16, 2007
“A rural renaissance.”  Annual conference of the National Association of Farm Broadcasting (NAFB) in Kansas City, Missouri USA.
Information: www.nafb.com

How’s that again?

So you follow commodity prices with an eye on topping the market? We close this issue of ACDC News with a report that came one morning during harvest season from a grain merchandiser at a local elevator in Iowa:

“Corn called sharply steady.”

Please pass along to us by return e-note any interesting expressions that catch your eye.  Agricultural writing should hold no shortage of shared entertainment.

Do you have thoughts, examples or suggestions related to any topics featured in this issue? 

Please send them to us by return e-note.
Get in touch with us:

• When you cannot locate information you need about communications, as related to agriculture, food, natural resources and rural affairs in any part of the world.
• When you see in this collection interesting items you cannot find, locally or online. Tell us the titles and/or document numbers.  We will help you gain access.

And please suggest (or send) agricultural communications documents we might add to this unique collection.  We welcome them in hard copy (sent to Ag Com Documentation Center, 510 LIAC, 1101 S. Goodwin Avenue, Urbana, IL 61801) or electronic form at docctr@library.uiuc.edu

Best regards and good searching.

November 2007

An agri-surprising view of excellence in journalism.

The president of India expressed it during July at the occasion of the Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Awards program.  President A. P. J. Abdul Kalam framed “excellence” as follows:

“In 1999, I was in Tel-Aviv.  Hamas had inflicted heavy damage on the Lebanese border.  The next day, when I opened the newspaper, this was not front page news.  Instead, there was an item about a farmer from Russia who had settled in a desert zone in Israel.  He had managed to cultivate vegetables and fruits in the area with very high yield.  The newspaper was celebrating his success, probably because people look for such news.  I consider this excellence in journalism.”

He emphasized that journalism can be an effective tool for economic and political development. Every newspaper should have a research unit for developing media personnel in reporting and event analysis, he suggested.

Title:  Journalists can partner national development
Posted at: www.indianexpress.com/story/205371.html

Are guidelines timeless for attracting farm readers?

A recent feature on the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists (IFAJ) web site asked that question.  It summarized key principles of readership identified by Donald R. Murphy 45 years ago in his book, What farmers read and like.  The principles address decisions about:

• Designing eye-catching that draw farm readers into the issue
• Choosing subjects that attract keen reader interest
• Writing effective headlines
• Choosing and using color, photographs, illustrations and other visual elements
• Avoiding “great dangers in editing”

You will see that the feature invites your thoughts and experiences about these decisions and others that influence farm readership today – and in your area. Send them along. They will be reported later, as part of that IFAJ series, produced in partnership with ACDC.

View the feature at http://www.ifaj.org/news/attracting_farm_readers.html

New e-Agriculture.org initiative launched by FAO.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations recently launched a new initiative for information and communications technologies in support of agriculture and rural development.

“The online platform…will enable users to exchange opinions, experiences, good practices and resources related to e-agriculture, and to ensure that the knowledge created is effectively shared and used worldwide.”

Title: Launch of an interactive web-based platform
Posted at http://www.e-agriculture.org

Here are some new books

In the ACDC collection that may hold special interest for agricultural journalists and communicators.  All contain some rural or agricultural dimension.

• Kathleen Fearn-Banks, Crisis communications: a casebook approach.  Third edition. Lawrence Erlbaum Associations, Mahwah, New Jersey.  2007.
• Linda K. Fuller (ed.), Community media: international perspectives.  Palgrave Macmillan, New York.  2007.
• Kai Hafez, The myth of media globalization.  Polity Press, Cambridge. 2007.
• Phyllis Méras, Country editor: Henry Beetle Hough and the Vineyard Gazette. Images from the Past, Bennington, Vermont. 2006

Scientists working with journalists. 

A media workshop report we have added from the web site of the American Society of Plant Biologists identified several traits often found in both scientists and journalists: free and independent thinking, competitive natures, curiosity and higher levels of education

With that foundation, workshop speakers offered tips for plant biologists in working with journalists.  Among them:

• In preparing for an interview, a scientist should learn more about the reporter, publication and its readership.
• Have a goal in mind for the interview and deliver a focused message.
• Use accurate terminology and not repeat misleading terms if the reporter uses them in a question. One speaker noted that “too often, the media use misleading terminology such as ‘Frankenfood’ and ‘killer corn’.”
• Be prepared to answer questions such as, “What does it matter?”

Posted on: http://www.aspb.org/publicaffairs/editorial/newsmedia.cfm

Concern over misleading terms for cured meat products.

An article in Food Production Daily described concerns about terms such as the following being used to promote cured meat products as safe and healthful:

• “naturally cured”
• “no nitrite added”
• “without added nitrite”
• “nitrite free”

“Such statements can be interpreted as purposely misleading the consumer,” according to the article.

Title:  Nitrite free: where does the truth end?
Posted at www.foodproductiondaily.com/news/ng.asp?n=78581-nitrite-cured-meat-toxic

Agricultural communications literature in nursing journals?

The scatter of literature for this field continues to surprise us.  Here are a few of the diverse journals from which we have added documents to the ACDC collection recently:

• Journal of Clinical Nursing
• Acta Paediatrica
• European Journal of Clinical Nutrition
• Peace Research Abstracts
• Development South Africa
• Journal of Economic History
• Financial  Times
• Family and Consumer Sciences Research Journal
• Library Review
• Information Development

Communicator activities approaching

November 13-14, 2007
“Capture, consolidate and communicate – the changing nature of contemporary extension.” National Forum of the Australasia Pacific Extension Network in Canberra, ACT, AUSTRALIA.
Information: www.apen.org.au 

November 14-16, 2007
“A rural renaissance.”  Annual conference of the National Association of Farm Broadcasting (NAFB) in Kansas City, Missouri USA.
Information: www.nafb.com

Answer “Yes” when people ask if you talk to animals.

We are always pleased to be able to answer “Yes” when that question comes our way, as it has for years.  To share the pleasure, we close this issue of ACDC News with a new example, thanks to an alert in the Cooperative Communicators Association newsletter.

It seems the outstanding television commercial honored in the 59th Annual Creative Arts Emmy Award program featured Ellen DeGeneres talking with her animals.  You can view “Ellen’s Animals” (1:59) at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5LR-IZbbc0

Do you have thoughts, examples or suggestions related to any topics featured in this issue? 

Please send them to us by return e-note.
Get in touch with us:

• When you cannot locate information you need about communications, as related to agriculture, food, natural resources and rural affairs in any part of the world.
• When you see in this collection interesting items you cannot find, locally or online. Tell us the titles and/or document numbers.  We will help you gain access.

And please suggest (or send) agricultural communications documents we might add to this unique collection.  We welcome them in hard copy (sent to Ag Com Documentation Center, 510 LIAC, 1101 S. Goodwin Avenue, Urbana, IL 61801) or electronic form at docctr@library.uiuc.edu

Best regards and good searching.

October 2007