ACDC Newsletter

A tsunami of change facing Big Food

“Barely 100 years old, the grocery store model is becoming obsolete, and with it the organization of the food value chain must be re-written.” Researchers Kate Phillips-Connolly and Alden J. Connolly offered that perspective in a recent article published in the International Food and Agribusiness Management Review. In “When Amazon ate Whole Foods,” they observed that access to more information opens more options (and opportunities) to buyers and suppliers all along the food value chain.

You can read the article here.

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The Agricultural Communicator’s Creed

The ACDC collection contains “The Journalist’s Creed (1922),” “The Editor’s Creed (1955),” and “My Creed (1911).” However, until recently we weren’t aware of “The Agricultural Communicator’s Creed.”  It is now part of the ACDC collection and was written by Dr. Delmar Hatesohl, professor emeritus of the University of Missouri. He wrote it in 1990 while working with associates at the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute, Nairobi.

This creed identifies 12 responsibilities of those in the agricultural communicator role. You can read it here. Thanks to Dr. Hatesohl for this valued contribution. And we welcome your thoughts about how it fits today’s role of the agricultural communicator.

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Findings of the 2018 Food and Health Survey from IFIC Foundation

We have added to the ACDC collection a 63-page report of findings from research among American consumers about health and diet, food components, food production, food safety, and food insecurity. The International Food Information Council Foundation sponsored it.

Key findings:

• Consumer confusion remains entrenched
• Context can influence the consumer’s judgment of healthfulness, even when the nutritional facts are the same

You can read the survey report here.

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Social media and civic participation: creating engagement – or hierarchies?

While social media have been heralded to diminish power relations and hierarchies, the Facebook platform reproduces existing divides and power relations.  That observation emerged from a case study in Sweden involving civic volunteering during a refugee crisis. Reporting in the journal New Media and Society, researchers Anne Kaun and Julie Uldam concluded:

“This is evident in the case of volunteer activism, for example, between coordinating administrators, donors and volunteers and migrants.  Especially, migrants are rendered marginalized and in some cases even voiceless.” Authors emphasized that hierarchies are not created by social media per se, but by a combination of ways in which they are used, the discourses they propagate, and the power relations in which they are embedded.

You can read the article here.

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We topped 45,000 documents last month

A recently-contributed 1976 farm magazine article accounted for that milestone. Really? And what was it? It reported results of a seven-state survey about consumer attitudes toward dairy farmers and products.  You can learn more about it by going to the ACDC search engine and entering ACDC_D09612 in the search box.

Such insights from more than 40 years ago add depth and value to research and understanding about consumer trends important to food and agriculture. That’s a special role of ACDC.

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Communicator events approaching

July 11-15, 2018
“Dutch Roots: small country big solutions” 2018 World Congress of the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists (IFAJ) in The Netherlands. Information: http://www.dutchroots.info

August 4-8, 2018
“Everything under the Sun” 20th annual Agricultural Media Summit in Scottsdale, Arizona. Participants include AAEA – The Agricultural Communicators Network; Livestock Publications Council (LPC), Connectiv Agri-Media Committee; Association for Communication Excellence in Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Life and Human Sciences (ACE); and Agricultural Communicators of Tomorrow (ACT). Information: www.agmediasummit.com

September 20-22, 2018
“The changing face(s) of agriculture.” Annual conference of the Canadian Farm Writers Federation (CFWF) in Winnipeg, Manitoba Province, Canada.
Information: http://www.cfwf18.ca

October 3-7, 2018
Annual conference of the Society of Environmental Journalists in Flint, Michigan, site of the most serious drinking water crisis in modern U.S. history.
Information:  https://www.sej.org/calendar/sejs-28th-annual-conference-flint-mi-oct-3-7-2018

October 12-16, 2018
“ScienceWriters2018.” Meeting of the National Association of Science Writers in Washington, D.C. Information: https://www.nasw.org/events/sciencewriters2018

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A dining lesson for us all?

This issue of ACDC News has included a sprinkling of food news. In that spirit, we close with a bit of eating advice from Hilaire Belloc (1897):

The Vulture eats between his meals
And that’s the reason why
He very, very rarely feels
As well as you and I.

His eye is dull, his head is bald,
His neck is growing thinner.
Oh! What a lesson for us all
To only eat at dinner.

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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 and valuable 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

Click Here for a printer-friendly PDF of this newsletter.

 

Building on the fragile construct of trust

We recently added to the ACDC collection the report of a Germany-wide online survey that involved public trust in farmers regarding animal welfare. Findings by researchers at the Technical University of Munich suggested that value similarity was the most impacting factor for social trust.

Authors suggested that communication should underline similarities between consumers and farmers. “…the presentation of farmers in the public should be such that consumers can reckon more value similarity with farmers. Furthermore, there is a need for farmers to know the values and goals of consumers. This knowledge would allow them to better act in accordance with the wishes of consumers.”

You can read the 2017 conference paper here.

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Financial returns to social media marketing in the Green Industry

A team of university researchers recently assessed the economics of social media marketing in the fast-growing environmental horticulture industry. Using a survey covering 153 cities in six U. S. states, they found that using social media marketing an additional day per week resulted in $8,401 added sales per year for small firms (less than $100,000).

Authors concluded that “the importance of the perceived usefulness in adoption suggests that nursery owners and operators should be educated on the value of using a new media marketing technology to increase the rate of adoption among firms of this category.” They advised putting emphasis on rural nurseries that are particularly sensitive to the competition of mass merchandisers.

You can read the 2017 conference paper here.

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75^th anniversary of the Delta Farm Press

Congratulations to the folks at the Delta Farm Press in celebrating 75 years of service in the Mid-South region of the U.S. Executive Editor Hembree Brandon, Editor Ron Smith, and associates tracked that adventure in a special April 20 issue. This venerable weekly began humbly in 1943 as a four-page supplement to the Daily Press newspaper, Clarksdale, Mississippi.

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Local journalism doing incredible work – and more vital than ever

Reporter Kathleen McLaughlin of The Guardian recently cited examples of “great journalism by reporters who know their subjects and communities well and have covered these issues extensively.” Those examples involved community journalism in Texas, Georgia, North Dakota, Oklahoma, and Montana.

Noting the financial pressures facing local media, McLaughlin offered this advice: “The simple solution lies with you, dear reader. Find a news outlet valuable to your life and pay for it. Plain and simple. It’s not a long-term solution, but we need people to stop expecting the news to be the same as air and sunlight – absolutely free.”

You can read the article here.

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 Food and the “big tech” threat

We recently added to the ACDC collection a 2017 book that includes a perspective on threats to the food enterprise (among others) and how independent media should address them.  In World without mind: the existential threat of big tech, author Franklin Foer examined what he termed a revolution in who controls knowledge and information. He said “…media must denounce their most recent phase…to lead a rebellion against the processed, ephemeral, speed-based writing encouraged by the tech companies.”

You can review the publishers’ introduction here. Check with us at docctr@library.illinois.edu for help in gaining access to parts that may hold interest for you.

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 Thanks and best wishes to two ACDC associates

 

Prof. Pat Allen, long-time administrative coordinator of ACDC, retired last month. He served in that responsibility as librarian of the Funk ACES Library. It supports the College of Agricultural, Consumer, and Environmental Sciences, plus other University of Illinois academic units with related subject interests. His leadership and constant support have helped this specialized international resource grow steadily and broaden in service.

 

 

Elizabeth Ray has completed her master’s degree in Library and Information Science after serving as ACDC graduate assistant since September 2016. She has been instrumental in efforts such as gathering and processing resources into the Center, enhancing the website, serving inquiries from users, and mentoring student assistants.

 

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Hailley Shaw continues as ACDC staff associate

 

We are delighted that Hailley is continuing her association with ACDC this year through a half-time appointment following completion of her master’s degree this spring. She brings more than a year of ACDC experience to this responsibility.

 

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Communicator events approaching

June 20-21, 2018
“Step into the Winner’s Circle of Agricultural Public Relations” Annual meeting of the Agricultural Relations Council (ARC) in Louisville, Kentucky.
Information: https://www.agrelationscouncil.org/2018-arc-annual-meeting/

July 11-15, 2018
“Dutch Roots: small country big solutions” 2018 World Congress of the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists (IFAJ) in The Netherlands. Information: http://www.dutchroots.info
 
August 4-8, 2018
“Everything under the Sun” 20th annual Agricultural Media Summit in Scottsdale, Arizona. Participants include AAEA – The Agricultural Communicators Network; Livestock Publications Council (LPC), Connectiv Agri-Media Committee; Association for Communication Excellence in Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Life and Human Sciences (ACE); and Agricultural Communicators of Tomorrow (ACT).
Information: www.agmediasummit.com

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 The farmer’s lights

We close this issue of ACDC News with a Farm and Fireside epitaph about the farmer’s work. It appeared (page 149) in N. A. Crawford and C. E. Rogers, Agricultural Journalism. A. A. Knopf, New York. 1926.

Here lies a farmer. His work is done.
Earth he tilled by the light of the sun.
The peace of the stars was his of nights.
He lived according to his lights.

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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 and valuable 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

Click Here for a printer-friendly PDF of this newsletter.

 

 

 

“Buckraking” on the food beat – it gets complex

We recently added to the ACDC collection an article about possible conflicts of interest when editors rely on freelance writers who add to their incomes with side projects. This article by Stacy Malkan as posted on the website of Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR).  It involved interactions about the funded side activities of a Washington Post food columnist. It also addressed “conflict of interest” sensitivities involving funding sources and impartiality of academic researchers.

You can read the article here.

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The impact of USDA reports on international corn markets

A 2017 research report from economists with the U. S. Department of Agriculture suggested that futures markets in the U. S., Brazil, and Japan all respond to USDA production and inventory news about corn. That news is incorporated in prices by the end of the first trading session after a report is issued. In contrast, Chinese corn prices do not respond, “likely due to Government policies that decouple the domestic from the world corn market.”

You can read the report here.

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Six new research reports in JAC

The first 2018 issue of the Journal of Applied Communications features these articles:

• “A content analysis of Extension’s presence on 1890 land-grant university websites” by Garrett M. Steede, Laura Fischer, Diane C. Meyer, and Courtney Meyers
• “Cultivating creativity: Faculty conceptions of creativity in agricultural communications students” by Courtney Gibson, Hope Hancock, Erica Irlbeck, and Courtney Meyers
• “Eating animals: The influence of food-based narratives” by Gillian Spolarich, Amanda Ruth-McSwain, and Lisa K. Lundy
• “Media portrayal of GM science and citrus greening in state and national newspapers” by Jeremy D’Angelo, Jason D. Ellis, Katherine Burke, and Taylor Ruth
• “The communication effectiveness of scientist-stakeholder partnerships addressing agriculture and natural resources issues: A citation analysis of the Florida Water and Climate Alliance” by Shuyang Qu, Tracy Irani, and Angela B. Lindsey
• “#TransformFFA: An analysis of social media content during the 2016 National FFA Convention” by Tiffany M. Rogers-Randolph, Lisa K. Lundy, Jessica L. Harsh, and Raychel Rabon

You can read them here.

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Shortage of information services limiting local rural innovation

A rural-urban divide in county-level patent applications appeared in an analysis reported recently by three Michigan State University agricultural economists. They examined patent intensity (utility patent applications per 10,000 employment) in 2,874 counties of 48 states during 2009-2013.

Findings indicated that larger presence of information and professional services “is likely to generate more innovation activities in urban areas than in remote rural areas.” Remote rural counties patented 75% less frequently than urban counties.

You can read the 2017 conference paper here.

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Want to report more freshly about food waste?

Reporter Debbie G. McCullough recently offered four tips for finding fresh data and business angles to cover food waste (a 30-40% share of the U. S. food supply).

• Weave in good data
• Tell readers what food companies are doing to reduce waste
• Quote the experts and papers from leading nonprofits tracking the problem
• Cover the trends in food waste

You can read the article here from the Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism.

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Communicator events approaching

June 2-5, 2018
“Earn your spurs: communicate in the Lone Star State” Annual Institute of the Cooperative Communicators Association (CCA) in Fort Worth, Texas.
Information at: https://www.communicators.coop/2018Institute/

June 20-21, 2018
“Step into the Winner’s Circle of Agricultural Public Relations” Annual meeting of the Agricultural Relations Council (ARC) in Louisville, Kentucky.
Information: http://www.agrelationscouncil.org/2018-arc-annual-meeting

July 11-15, 2018
“Dutch Roots: small country big solutions”  2018 World Congress of the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists (IFAJ) in The Netherlands. Information: http://www.dutchroots.info

August 4-8, 2018
“Everything under the Sun”  20^th annual Agricultural Media Summit in Scottsdale, Arizona. Participants include AAEA – The Agricultural Communicators Network; Livestock Publications Council (LPC), Connectiv Agri-Media Committee; Association for Communication Excellence in Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Life and Human Sciences (ACE); and Agricultural Communicators of Tomorrow (ACT).
Information: www.agmediasummit.com

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Whose inheritance?

Prompted by the recent observance of Earth Day, we close this issue of ACDC News with a Native American proverb that shows global implications:

“We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors.
We borrow it from our children.”

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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 and valuable 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

Click here for a printer-friendly PDF of this newsletter.

Honoring pioneer agricultural journalists

You can view the latest ACDC digital exhibit, “Pioneer Agricultural Journalists,” on the Agricultural Communications Documentation Center website. This exhibit provides a sampling of early agricultural editors in the U.S. It focuses on the 15 journalists William Edward Ogilvie wrote about in Pioneering Agricultural Journalists: Brief Biographical Sketches of Some of the Early Editors in the Field of Agricultural Journalism.

These pioneering agricultural journalists used their skills and publications to disseminate agrarian and farming knowledge and to expand the field. Their pioneering dates back to 1819 when John S. Skinner established the American Farmer. He became what Ogilvie described as “the father of American farm journalism.”

We hope you enjoy it. Thanks to graduate assistant Hailley Shaw for preparing it as part of our digital exhibit series.

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Can hyper-local news help hold rural communities together?

Well, maybe – or maybe not. Journalism researcher David Baines of Newcastle University addressed that question through a case study. It involved a rural hyper-local project launched by a major regional media company in England’s most sparsely-populated county. During the study:

• The media company journalists were unable to deliver “liquid engagements” that might have encouraged citizens to develop collaborations and trusted, valued relationships with journalists.
• The sites were designed primarily to meet political and corporate needs, not the community’s. The architecture of the hyper-local site offered a “one-way traffic from centre to periphery.”

You can read the article here.

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Four databases to help “untangle local food webs” in the U. S.

We recently added to the ACDC collection an article that identified four databases journalists and others can use to analyze the food system of any state, county, or major city in the nation. These databases are hosted by the Center for Transportation Analysis, U. S. Department of Agriculture, and U. S. Census Bureau.

You can read the 2016 article from the Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism here.

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Dangerous lack of consumer trust involving food and agriculture

Recent research from the Center for Food Integrity revealed that U. S. consumers hold food companies, federal regulatory agencies, and farmers most responsible for ensuring the health and safety of food.  However, “not all are trusted to get the job done.”  According to the report, when it comes to trust:

• Federal regulatory agencies ranked eighth on a list of 11 choices
• Food companies ranked last on the list
• Farmers ranked third

“The findings illustrate a dangerous trust deficit that breeds increased public suspicion and highlights the need for increased consumer engagement in the food system.”

You can read a summary of findings here.

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Connections between watchdog journalism and development journalism

Journalism in the island nation of Fiji shows an interesting combination of emphasis on watchdog journalism and development journalism. It emerged in research reported in the International Communication Gazette. A survey among Fijian journalists revealed their three most strongly favored roles included being watchdog of the government, providing citizens with information they need to make political decisions, and being an absolutely detached observer.

At the same time, traditional development journalism also received considerable support among respondents. Almost two-thirds said it was very important or extremely important to advocate for social change. More than one-half favored supporting official policies to bring about prosperity and development.

You can read the article by F. Hanusch and Charu Uppal here.

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Search ACDC resources when you want to dig deep

Sometimes we surprise ourselves when we observe the depth of information in the ACDC collection. Across the years, we have valued early literature as well as recent literature about agriculture-related communications, globally.  So you can often dig deep when you want to review what is known about topics of interest.

For example, here’s the historical range you will find when you search the collection online for communications aspects of these sample topics:

• “food safety” — 3,373 documents dated from 1910 to 2017
• “risk communication” – 2,214 documents dated 1916 to 2018
• livestock – 1,193 documents dated 1900 to 2017
• “farm journals” – 3,238 documents dated 1842 to 2017

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Communicator events approaching

April 16-20, 2018
Conference of the Association for International Agricultural and Extension Education (AIAEE) in Merida, Yucatan, Mexico.
Information: https://www.aiaee.org/

June 2-5, 2018
“Earn your spurs: communicate in the Lone Star State” Annual Institute of the Cooperative Communicators Association (CCA) in Fort Worth, Texas.
Information at: https://www.communicators.coop/2018Institute/

June 20-21, 2018
“Step into the Winner’s Circle of Agricultural Public Relations” Annual meeting of the Agricultural Relations Council (ARC) in Louisville, Kentucky.
Information: https://www.agrelationscouncil.org/events/2018-arc-annual-meeting/

July 11-15, 2018
“Dutch Roots: small country big solutions”  2018 World Congress of the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists (IFAJ) in The Netherlands.
Information: http://www.dutchroots.info

August 4-8, 2018
“Everything under the Sun” Twentieth annual Agricultural Media Summit in Scottsdale, Arizona. Participants include AAEA – The Agricultural Communicators Network; Livestock Publications Council (LPC), Connectiv Agri-Media Committee; Association for Communication Excellence in Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Life and Human Sciences (ACE); and Agricultural Communicators of Tomorrow (ACT).
Information: www.agmediasummit.com

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Making the headlines

Thanks to Lyle Orwig of Charleston|Orwig Inc. for calling attention to these newspaper headlines related to food, agriculture, and natural phenomena.  Some are new, some classic. We can’t imagine that agricultural journalists wrote them.

• “Bugs flying around with wings are flying bugs”
• “Starvation can lead to health hazards”
• “Total lunar eclipse will be broadcast live on Northwoods Public Radio”

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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 and valuable collection. We welcome them in hard copy (sent to IL 61801) or in electronic format sent to docctr@library.illinois.edu

Click here for a printer-friendly PDF of this newsletter.

Four top trends having big impacts on agricultural communications

As 2018 got under way, Chuck Zimmerman of ZimmComm New Media came up with this Top Four list:

• Continued explosion of technology/new media allowing everyone to directly communicate with everyone else in the whole world without a gatekeeper like traditional media
• Boom in mergers and acquisitions causing change and uncertainty
• Agencies growing as content creators/publishers for clients
• Commodity prices sliding downward and budgets shrinking

You can read his blog here.

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“Strategic obfuscation” in retail pricing of coffee and soft drinks

German and French retail scanner data indicated in a recent research study that offering unique consumer packaged goods may be an effective way to generate higher margins than would otherwise be the case. Authors noted that retailers have an incentive to offer unique package sizes or flavors, for example. In that situation, buyers can’t easily compare prices across products and stores.

The analysis also revealed that retail margins were 14.5% higher when an item was sold at only one store, compared to when it was sold at all stores. Authors concluded that “we cannot rule out strategic obfuscation as a feature of our retail sales data.”

You can read the research report here.

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Following digital breadcrumbs toward truth and trust in food information

Digital ethnography served as a tool the Center for Food Integrity used recently to examine what makes food news and information credible. CFI observed 8,500 consumers online across two years and multiple social channels. Results identified five consumer segments:

• “Scientist” (truth is objective, evidence-based science)
• “Philosopher” (looks through the ethics lens)
• “Follower” (fears making the wrong food decisions)
• “Wishful Thinker” (trusts big, sweeping claims from varied sources)
• “Existentialist” (truth is what feels true)

Results prompted the suggestion that “communicating with values that others share, or can relate to, is the key to earning trust. …three-to-five times more important in earning trust than simply sharing facts.”

You can read the research summary here.

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Scouting for agriculture-related information on risk communications?

You can identify more than 2,200 documents about this topic in the unique ACDC collection.

• They span more than a century, from 1911 to date
• They address communications about risks involving animal welfare, food safety, uses of biotechnology in food and agriculture, diseases, environmental quality, biological diversity, farm-life safety, energy supplies, water conservation, and other topics
• They involve experiences in many countries throughout the world
• They relate to all means of communicating about risk, from face-to-face through new social media
• They range from books, journal articles, and research reports to “how to” items and points of view about risks and communications issues.

You can use the robust ACDC search system, BibLeaves, to identify these documents quickly and learn how to gain access to them. Just visit the “Search Tips” section to get acquainted with it.

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Comparing website quality of rural and urban small businesses

We recently added to the ACDC collection a 2012 journal article about whether urban and rural small business websites in Scotland differ in terms of their levels of quality. Researchers used an adapted Web Assessment Index originally developed by Gonzalez and Palacios. Findings identified no significant differences in the level of website quality between Scottish rural and urban small business. The Index is provided with the article.

Authors concluded that “website quality issues are amongst those that are not affected by location, despite the much reported entrepreneurship, skills and resource deficit in rural areas relative to urban ones.”

You can read the abstract here, or check with us at docctr@illinois.edu for help in gaining access.

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Communicator events approaching

April 8-10, 2018
Annual meeting of the North American Agricultural Journalists (NAAJ) in Washington, D.C.
Information: http://www.naaj.net/meetings

April 11-13, 2018
“Power Up” Agri-Marketing Conference of the National Agri-Marketing Association (NAMA) in Kansas City, Missouri.
Information: http://nama.org/amc/home-2018

April 16-20, 2018
Conference of the Association for International Agricultural and Extension Education (AIAEE) in Merida, Yucatan, Mexico.
Information: https://www.aiaee.org/

June 2-5, 2018
“Earn your spurs: communicate in the Lone Star State” Annual Institute of the Cooperative Communicators Association (CCA) in Fort Worth, Texas.
Information at: https://www.communicators.coop/2018Institute/

August 4-8, 2018
“Everything under the Sun” Twentieth annual Agricultural Media Summit in Scottsdale, Arizona. Participants include AAEA – The Agricultural Communicators Network; Livestock Publications Council (LPC), Connectiv Agri-Media Committee; Association for Communication Excellence in Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Life and Human Sciences (ACE); and the national Agricultural Communicators of Tomorrow (ACT)
Information: www.agmediasummit.com

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Communicating about the hottest hobby in the country

We close this issue of ACDC News with congratulations to keen agricultural journalist John Harvey for sharing his talents as teacher. In an e-note entitled “You must be kidding,” he reports that he is teaching a class in the Lifelong Learning Academy. The course features a field of interest that John has long helped develop, nationally: “Discover Classic Farm Tractors, the Hottest Hobby in the Country.” We will bet his class members are having a ball as they learn.

You may be aware that John contributed his large collection of Volume One Number One issues of U. S. farm papers and magazines to the Agricultural Communications Documentation Center for historical research and reference. You can learn more about it here.

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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 and valuable 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

Click here for a printer-friendly PDF of this newsletter

 

What we do when our social and environmental goals collide

Here are a few tendencies identified in a laboratory experiment reported at the 2017 Agricultural and Applied Economics Association conference:

• The conflict between social and environmental goals is largely intra-personal rather than inter-personal.
• Achieving social goals generally appears to be a stronger motivation than environmental goals.
• Support for environmental action is likely to be limited if the burden falls on the disadvantaged in society.

You can read the research report here.

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 Taking students on global journalism “field trips”

Journalism Professor John Hatcher (University of Minnesota Duluth) did just that with students in his class, “Community and Journalism.” They ran up no huge travel bill. They weren’t even journalism majors.

However, they used real-time video conferencing technologies to explore local-level journalism with professionals in countries throughout the world. Each class member served as a tour guide for one of the countries visited. Each also wrote a report, helping students focus on differences and similarities across cultures, media, issues, and approaches.

You can read the teacher’s introduction and some student reports here, as published in a 2015 issue of the journal, Grassroots Editor.

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 How Extension and agricultural media can partner more fully to address new safety risks in agriculture

A recent article in the Journal of Extension took a fresh look at needs and opportunities for Extension to serve agricultural media more fully in addressing new safety risks in U. S. agriculture. Researchers Scott Heiberger and Jim Evans examined technological and other changes in agriculture and the agricultural media. They conducted a literature review and a survey among members of AAEA: The Agricultural Communicator Network (formerly American Agricultural Editors’ Association).

Findings identified six new potentials for enhancing Extension/media collaboration to advance farm-life safety in a changing safety environment.

You can read the article here.

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 Experiences of small-town women journalists in India

A 2015 research report in the journal, Journalism Studies, shed light on the experience of small-town women journalists in northern India. Researcher Disha Mullick conducted in-depth, face-to-face interviews with women reporters in four north Indian states. The study was supported by the United Nations Democracy and Equity Fund.

Mullick concluded: “Findings show that by engaging in media production – knowing fully well the deeply embedded class, caste and gender conventions of this institution – they placed themselves in a position to challenge the status quo, in the private and public spheres, and play out the notion of lived, engaged citizenship.”

You can read the abstract here, or check with us at docctr@illinois.edu for help in gaining access.

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 How to localize climate change through agriculture

A 2017 article from the National Center for Business Journalism suggested ways in which reporters can engage readers in the climate change debate by showing how it might affect them in the near future. Author Jimmie Jackson suggested that journalists who cover areas with a strong agricultural base might emphasize effects of climate change on livestock and crops in those regions.

You can read more about his four suggestions here.

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 Communicator events approaching

April 8-10, 2018
Annual meeting of the North American Agricultural Journalists (NAAJ) in Washington, D.C.
Information: http://www.naaj.net/meetings

April 11-13, 2018
“Power Up” Agri-Marketing Conference of the National Agri-Marketing Association (NAMA) in Kansas City, Missouri.
Information: http://nama.org/amc/home-2018

April 16-20, 2018
Conference of the Association for International Agricultural and Extension Education (AIAEE) in Merida, Yucatan, Mexico.
Information: http://www.aeaee.org

June 2-5, 2018
“Earn your spurs: communicate in the Lone Star State.” Annual Institute of the Cooperative Communicators Association (CCA) in Fort Worth, Texas.
Information at: https://www.communicators.coop/2018Institute/

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 So we’ve communicated…

We close this issue of ACDC News with a humbling insight about humans communicating. Thanks to colleague Paul Hixson for calling attention to this thought from George Bernard Shaw. Probably all of us who communicate in the world of food and nutrition, natural resources, rural development, and other aspects of agriculture can offer examples.

“The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.”

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 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 and valuable 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

Click here for a printer-friendly PDF of this newsletter

 

New Year’s greetings and wishes!

With special pleasure, we launch the 21^st year of ACDC News – and thank you for your interest and encouragement across two decades. We hope you enjoy and find value in the brief samples of research, news, and views you find in it as the collection grows from around the world.  As always, we welcome your thoughts and suggestions for this unique resource and service.

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“May the work you do be as rewarding as mine has been.”

With those words of encouragement, Fran Bach, publisher/editor of Agri Digest Online, announced retirement in a closing December issue. This Pan-Canadian journal of issues and events in agriculture has been published for open online access since 2007, dedicated to agricultural initiative and innovation.  Content of it addressed issues in agriculture and other topics of particular interest to a farm readership.

In a closing editorial, Editor Bach emphasized, “Every one of us strengthens the agriculture industry we love.”

You can read the editorial and issue here.

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Optimism – and opportunities – for careers in rural community journalism

Research results by David Guth found rural editors and publishers in the High Plains region of the U. S. “a hardy and optimistic lot.” Surveys and interviews revealed strong sentiment that the Web cannot replace what these journalists provide for communities – whether the information is delivered in print or online. At the same time, many lacked confidence about being able to fill vacant positions. His article was published in Grassroots Editor (2015).

Colleges and universities may wish to consider new ways to identify and prepare young multi-media journalists who can create satisfying careers as entrepreneurs and leaders in rural community journalism.

You can read the research report here.

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“The agriculture beat is a crucial lens on a changing climate”

That title introduced a “survival story” by agricultural policy editor Chris Clayton of DTN/The Progressive Farmer in the Columbia Journalism Review. Here are a few of the points emphasized:

• “Beyond national disasters…fewer and fewer journalists use their beats to report on the national intersection between climate change, agriculture, and food,”
• “American journalism is just scratching the surface of potential climate hazards to national and global stability.”
• “Reporters dedicated to covering agriculture could provide another critical window to the impacts of climate change in their communities. But agricultural reporters are fewer and farther between.”
• “Reporting on climate change to a rural audience can also be a risk.”

You can read the story here.

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An egg may be an egg – unless it’s labeled organic, range-free, or cage-free

A 2017 conference paper we added recently to the ACDC collection examined the effect of food label terms on the price of shell eggs sold at retail. Using weekly IRI scanner data (2010-2016), the researchers found these price premiums for messaging on single labels:

• “Organic” – 48% price premium over conventional eggs
• “Free-range” – 33% price premium
• “Cage-free” – 26% price premium 

Other findings featured the price effects when multiple terms were used on carton labels to describe production processes and nutritional benefits.

You can read the research report here.

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Challenges to rural journalism in Pakistan

That title introduces a 2015 article we added recently from the Frontier Women University Journal of Social Sciences. Researcher Saqib Riaz surveyed a sample of 500 rural journalists working nationwide. Respondents were associated as reporters or correspondents with television channels, newspapers, magazines, and news agencies working in the big cities of Pakistan. Among the findings:

• 60% were paid no salaries or other financial benefits
• 46% held bachelor’s or master’s degrees
• 55% had no professional training as rural journalists
• 55% had no use of computer technology
• 57% said their media organizations place top priority on news about activities of political parties and local political leaders

Author Riaz concluded that “the media organizations, relevant governmental organizations and the civil society at large should play their role for strengthening rural journalism in Pakistan.”

You can read the article here.

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Communicator events approaching

February 4-5, 2018
Research reporting in the Agricultural Communications Section, Southern Association of Agricultural Scientists (SAAS) conference in Jacksonville, FL.
Information: https://sites.google.com/a/extension.org/saasagcomm/

April 8-10, 2018
Annual meeting of the North American Agricultural Journalists (NAAJ) in Washington, D.C.
Information: http://www.naaj.net/meetings

April 10-13, 2018
“Power Up” Agri-Marketing Conference of the National Agri-Marketing Association (NAMA) in Kansas City, Missouri.
Information: http://nama.org/amc/home-2018

April 16-20, 2018
Conference of the Association for International Agricultural and Extension Education (AIAEE) in Merida, Yucatan, Mexico.
Information: https://www.aiaee.org/

June 2-5, 2018
“Earn your spurs: communicate in the Lone Star State.” Annual Institute of the Cooperative Communicators Association (CCA) in Fort Worth, Texas.
Information at: https://www.communicators.coop/2018Institute/

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In the spirit expressed by retiring Agri Digest Publisher Fran Bach

We close this first 2018 issue of ACDC News with a thought expressed by Daniel Webster. It appeared in Agricultural Journalism, a 1926 book by N. A. Crawford and C. E. Rogers (A. D. Knopf, New York).

“Unstable is the future of a country which has lost its taste for agriculture. If there is one lesson of history that is unmistakable, it is that national strength lies very near the soil.” 

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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 and valuable 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

Click here for a printer-friendly PDF of this newsletter.

 

Communicating when environmental interest groups collide 

A research team at the University of Queensland recently offered a “how-to” for addressing inter-group conflicts about climate change and the environment. They suggested a “social identity” approach.  It focuses on our identities derived from the groups to which we belong. Citing case examples, they described four social identity strategies to communicate across groups that differ in their views of climate change and the environment:

• Use in-group messengers
• Forge an inclusive identity that encompasses conflicting subgroups
• Remind people of their past pro-environmental behaviors
• Promote in-group norms that support environmental norms

You can learn more about the strategies in this 2016 article published in the journal, Frontiers in Psychology. 

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A call for good communication between architects and agronomists

An article in the September/October issue of New Ag International magazine included this call. It came during Greensys2017 (International Symposium on New Technologies for Environmental Control,  Energy-saving and Crop Production in Greenhouse and Plant Factory) in Beijing, China, during August. A keynote speaker emphasized that urban agriculture involves more than food production – also environmental and social services with direct interaction with local urban markets.

According to the summary, effective communication will be vital in the design and development of new urban solutions such as community gardens, green roofs, vertical farms, and indoor farms (plant factories).

You can read the article here.

Note: the article cited is on pages 73-75 of this online edition.

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Do farmers differ in recognizing wild birds? And so what?

Some differences appeared from a recent study in northeastern Brazil. Compared with conventional farmers (using monocultures, mechanization, and external inputs), non-conventional/organic farmers (using diversification, ecological processes, and natural inputs) could identify more bird species. They held “more favorable attitudes toward birds, and engaged in practices more beneficial to the conservation of avifauna.”

Researchers concluded, “Conventional and non-conventional farmers have both similarities and differences in their perceptions and knowledge of birds. There are incentives to help farmers recognize and treat birds as beneficial to farming systems and vice versa. Birds are still not widely recognized as important elements that could serve fundamental ecological functions in agro-ecosystems and contribute to their efficiency and sustainability.”

You can read this journal article here.

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Discovering new sources

You may be interested in some of the journals from which we have identified agricultural communications literature for the ACDC collection during recent months. The great scatter of literature about agricultural communications continues to impress and amaze us.

International Journal of Advertising
Rhetoric and Public Affairs
Pacific Journalism Review
Qualitative Research Reports in Communication
Language Teaching Research
New Genetics and Society
British Food Journal
International Journal of Web-Based Communities
Journal of Information Technology in Agriculture
Precision Agriculture

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Communicator events approaching

April 8-10, 2018
Annual meeting of the North American Agricultural Journalists (NAAJ) in Washington, D.C.
Information: http://www.naaj.net/meetings

April 10-13, 2018
“Power Up” Agri-Marketing Conference of the National Agri-Marketing Association (NAMA) in Kansas City, Missouri.
Information: http://nama.org/amc/home-2018

April 16-20, 2018
Conference of the Association for International Agricultural and Extension Education (AIAEE) in Merida, Yucatan, Mexico.
Information: http://www.aeaee.org/index.php/conference

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Nothing new about fake news

We often find ourselves humbled by the historical information we find in searching for literature about agricultural journalism and communications. In that spirit, we close this issue of ACDC News with a 1665 gravestone message reported in W. H. Howe’s Everybody’s Book of Epitaphs:

“Here lies an editor –
Snooks, if you will.
In mercy, Kind Providence,
Let him lie still.
He lied for his living, so
He lived while he lied.
When he could not lie longer
He lied down and died.” 

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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 and valuable 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

 

 

Now recognizing 42 contributed collections

The ACDC website now features an enhanced “Contributed Collections” section that honors 42 persons who have contributed materials to ACDC during the past 30-plus years. Their contributions represent a treasure trove.  This historical material will long serve researchers, students, teachers, professionals, and others interested in the important trail of communications related to agriculture in the U.S. and elsewhere. Much of it involves non-conventional literature and audio-visuals not available in libraries and electronic search systems.

Special thanks to these contributors and the ACDC staff members who have assembled and processed the materials for online identification. You can learn about each of the contributors and their contributions here.  Also, if you have related materials that might fit into this unique historical resource please check with Jim Evans at evansj@illinois.edu.

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What weather broadcasters feel and do about reporting on climate change

We recently added to the ACDC collection a summary of the 2017 National Survey of Broadcast Meteorologists.  Findings came from a survey among 2,220 broadcast meteorology professionals currently working in the United States. Here is a sampling of the findings about their views of climate change:

• 95 percent think climate change (as defined by the American Meteorological Society) is happening
• 49 percent are convinced that climate change over the past 50 years has been mostly or entirely due to weather activity; 21 percent think it is more or less caused by human activity and natural events; 21 percent think the change has been primarily or entirely due to natural events.
• They expressed diverse views about this extent to which additional climate change can be averted over the next 50 years if mitigation measures are taken worldwide

You can read the full report here.

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Mobile phones making the world more sustainable

In a 2016 Thomson Reuters blog, Donald Peele observed that “mobile technology has a big part to play in the fight against poverty and creation of a sustainable planet.” He emphasized that it is:

• Helping farmers and landowners document their land rights
• Helping governments develop formal registries
• Helping farmers connect with sources of credit and insurance

You can read this brief commentary here.

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 Building local community spirit by creating a public photo collection

Researcher Michele Fontefrancesco described that process in a rural Italian village between 2010 and 2012. The local museum curetted a public collection of private and public photos dating from the late decades of the 19^th century to the 1960s in order to create exhibitions  and a freely accessible internet archive. More than 1,000 photos were donated by about 1,000 local residents within a few months. The article investigated how “the evocativeness of a community’s past can create a sense of belonging to the community, and that the very sense of community is negotiated and re-shaped.”

You can read this 2014 article in Issues in Ethnology and Anthropology here.

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 Fellowships for journalism innovation

Journalists (including freelancers) from any part of the world – working in any media – addressing any topic – are invited to apply for the Nieman-Berkman Klein Fellowship in Journalism Innovation. The $60,000 award brings individuals to Harvard University to work on a specific course of research or a specific project relating to journalism innovation. Some past Fellows have addressed agriculture-related topics.

Application deadlines are near. Interested persons can get details here.

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News as history

We close this issue of ACDC News with a broadening perspective from journalist/historian Diane Fannon-Langton.

“Newspapers have always been viewed as the purveyors of current events, disposable after each day’s read. To me, they are the record of history, more detailed than any encyclopedia or history book.”

This thought speaks to the breadth of our interest in the communications aspects of agriculture. In ACDC we value and gather popular and professional materials as well as scholarly literature. That’s because all reveal what becomes the history of human interactions across the great breadth of food, natural resources, energy, and other dimensions of agriculture.

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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 and valuable 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