Month: January 2005

ACDC News – Issue 05-13

Posted on by Elizabeth Ray

A remarkable new resource about agricultural periodicals.

Persons interested in the development of the agricultural press in the U.S. now have access to a valuable new resource. It is the Donald Watson Database of Agricultural Magazines and Newspapers, now available for online searching.

The largest of its kind ever assembled, it provides information about 9,573 farm periodicals published between 1775 and 1990. Agricultural journalist Donald Watson assembled it, as a labor of love, until his death in the early 1990s. His family kindly contributed the collection for broader use. Professor Eric Abbott and Holly Benton of Iowa State University entered the information into a web-searchable database to make it available to anyone interested in agricultural magazines and newspapers.

You can search the database by title, date, editor, state or subject matter topic. Information about some periodicals is extensive, for others limited. The second form of the database is on SPSS, the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences. It can be used for statistical analysis of the database information. An introductory conference paper about the database is in the ACDC collection.

Reference: Introducing the Donald Watson Database 
Search page posted at: http://www.jlmc.iastate.edu/research/eabbott
Information: eabbott@iastate.edu

How to talk to protesters.

A Time magazine article of that title involved matters relevant to agriculture – topics such as animal rights, environmental quality and worker rights. “Nobody can hide,” one observer was quoted as saying. This article offered four suggestions for companies.

Reference: How to talk to protesters.
Posted at: http://www.time.com/time/global/aughst/agenda.html 

 Extension education “refuses to go under.” 

Lena M. Levander, University of Helsinki, Finland, addressed that issue head-on in a journal article we have added to the ACDC collection.

Recent trends in Europe have militated against preparing extension professionals for employment in public service to speed agricultural development. However, Levander argued, “Everywhere, there is an increasing recognition that the predicaments of modern society cannot be solved by technology and market forces (alone), but require professional facilitation of interactive processes. … The facilitation required for such negotiated agreement at the local, regional, national and global levels creates demand for professionals who are trained on the basis of the concepts, methods and perspectives pioneered in extension education.”

This article described how extension education developed in Europe, examined the body of knowledge within it, reported the characteristics of extension education curricula and suggested new directions.

Reference: Exploring the curricula of extension education
Posted at http://library.wur.nl/ejae/jaeev07n01p07.pdf

Just a big, fat misunderstanding.

Food and beverage marketers are wondering if the obesity panic is just that – a big, fat misunderstanding. They, along with consumers, stand confused by a study reported during April from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. It contradicts CDC research last year showing that obesity causes 400,000 premature deaths annually.

“A giant mess” is the way one beverage consultant described results of more than a decade of conflicting pronouncements such as this. “The level of dissonance created by conflicting reports has created almost a complex among consumers,” said Tom Pirko, quoted in an Advertising Age article we have added to the ACDC collection. “They don’t know who to believe. They don’t know what to believe. It breeds cynicism, and that’s a breeding ground for charlatans and others to take advantage.”

Reference: Mass-market confusion: now fat is good for you.

Are food ads on prime-time television emphasizing nutrition?

Not especially, according to results of a content analysis by University of Texas advertising researchers. They analyzed food-related ads aired during prime time on four major networks during a week of March 2003. Among a sub-sample of 75 unique food ads, the most commonly used themes were:
” Taste/flavor/smell 36 percent
” New/innovative 16 percent
” Health/nutrition 15 percent
” Others 33 percent

“Another interesting finding on the use of themes was that quantity/size/amount was scarcely used.”

Reference: Food for thought
Posted at: http://list.msu.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0410e&L=aejmc&F=&S=&P=1287

How advocacy groups can choose and use media.

John P. McHale has written a research-based guide designed to aid grassroots communicating about social and political issues. This recent book, Communicating for change, serves social movement advocates in reaching multiple audiences. The author’s research centered on three social issues, including environmental protection.

“How to” sections range broadly across the use of groups and meetings, telephones, speeches, musical performances, guerilla theater, storytelling, signage, candles, newsletters, petitions, stickers, op-ed pieces, news releases, television talk shows, video releases, web pages, e-mail, fax, community radio and other channels.

Reference: Communicating for change: Strategies of social and political advocacy

Communicator activities approaching

July 31-August 3, 2005
“Agricultural Media Summit.” Professional development conference
of the American Agricultural Editors’ Association (AAEA), Livestock
Publications Council (LPC) and AgriCouncil of the Association of
Business Media Companies in Milwaukee, Wisconsin USA.
Information: http://www.agmediasummit.com

August 31-September 4, 2005
“The New Role of Agriculture.” 49th Congress of the International
Federation of Agricultural Journalists (IFAJ) in Thun (near Berne), Switzerland.
Information: http://www.ifaj2005.ch

October 1, 2005
Deadline for papers to be considered for presentation at the Agricultural
Communications Section of the 2006 Southern Association of
Agricultural Scientists (SAAS) conference in Orlando, Florida,
February 5-6.
Information: http://www.saasinc.org/orlando2006/orlando_mainpage.asp

A perspective on educational media.

We close this issue of ACDC News with a thought expressed by Derek Bok, president of Harvard University from 1971 to 1991:”Media are mere vehicles that deliver instruction but do not influence
student achievement any more than the truck that delivers our groceries
causes changes in our nutrition.”

 When you see interesting items you can’t find online or locally

Get in touch with us at docctr@library.uiuc.edu . Tell us the titles and/or document numbers. We will help you gain access.

Best regards and good searching .

Please pass along your reactions, suggestions, and ideas for ACDC. 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 electronic form at docctr@library.uiuc.edu

July, 2005

ACDC News – Issue 05-12

Posted on by Elizabeth Ray

How urban media are portraying rural America.

Results of a 2004 survey for the W. K. Kellogg Foundation suggested that urban media largely present rural America “as a vestige of our past facing an uncertain future.” Researchers at the Center for Media and Public Affairs found coverage “not associated with agriculture or countryside so much as empty space and the real or imagined qualities of small-town living.”

  • Land use and zoning was the number one rural topic covered.
  • Only three percent of media rural stories involved farming.
  • Only one percent of all sources quoted had any connection with agriculture.
  • Three out of four terms used in rural stories to describe rural America had a positive tone.
  • Although rural news increased by 57 percent over 2002, it decreased by 23 percent on television.

Reference: Media coverage of rural America : 2004 vs. 2002
Posted at: http://www.wkkf.org/pubs/foodrur/media_coverage_of_rural_america_00253_04093.pdf

Cranking up advertising of organic food.

A recent article in Advertising Age reported plans by Kraft Foods and Campbell Soup Company to advertise organic foods nationally. It explained that organic foods make up only $5-17 billion of the $500 billion food business.

“Still, with health concerns hanging over the industry, there’s promising data showing an eight-year trend of consistent double-digit growth for organics compared with the 3% annual growth rate for mainstream foods.”

Reference: Kraft, Campbell bank on crop of organic efforts.

 Strategic change in generic commodity promotion.

A recent research paper illustrated how the dairy industry is responding to “relatively stagnant growth in check-off revenues, combined with strong increases in media advertising costs.”

Researchers Todd Schmit and Harry M. Kaiser reported a case example that reflects a strategic change in generic commodity promotion – from advertising toward non-advertising programs. Their study tracked results of a relatively new retail promotion activity aimed at improving the management, appearance and operation of dairy cases in supermarkets and convenience/drug stores.

Reference: The Dairy Case Management Program: does it mooove more milk?
Posted @ http://agecon.lib.umn.edu/cgi-bin/detailview.pl?paperid=13671

How a specialized community newspaper serves a rural minority.

We have added to the ACDC collection a success story about Idaho Unido , the only Spanish-language newspaper in Idaho . This bi-weekly, published since 1995 in a small rural community, “emphasizes local news but also carries state, regional, national and international news for the fastest-growing minority population in Idaho.” Seven-eighths of those Hispanic residents live in non-metro areas.

Researcher Martine Robinson Beachboard concluded: “ Idaho Unido has demonstrated that with a minimum of capital investment, strong motivation and a strong work ethic, it is possible to produce a viable media product serving the needs of a widely distributed Hispanic population.”

Reference: Providing print media that meets the needs of Hispanic populations.
Posted at: http://list.msu.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0411c&L=aejmc&F=&S=&P=3424

Food Network – “one of the best examples” of cable narrowcasting.

An article in the 2004 edition of Encyclopedia of Television described the evolution and progress of the Food Network. By the end of 2001 this cable network, first developed in 1993, reached more than 76 million homes. Author Megan Mullen said these factors are critical for success with specialized programming in a commercially driven television environment:

  • Solid financial backing.
  • A favorable regulatory climate.
  • A program category with established popularity.
  • A program schedule that can be linked to a large number of viewer interests and advertised products.

Reference: Food Network: U.S. Cable Network

Do words influence smells? 

Sight of a word can influence activity in the brain regions that are involve smell, according to results of a study reported recently in Neuron. Food marketers and others may be interested in findings that pleasant words influence olfactory brain regions to perceive an odor as pleasant.

“In their experiments, researchers…presented subjects with a cheddar cheese odorant and showed them labels that read either ‘cheddar cheese’ or ‘body odor.’ They found that the subjects rated the odor significantly more pleasant when it was labeled ‘cheddar cheese’.” Even clean air labeled as “cheddar cheese” activated a part of the brain region that processes olfactory information.

Reference: Words influence smells 
Archived at: http://archives.foodsafetynetwork.ca/fsnet-archives.htm

Calling for examples of brand failures. Can you help? 

We usually focus more on success than on failure, but communicators get some of their most valuable lessons through trial and error. In that spirit, please send us examples of failed efforts to market food or agriculture brands.

You may have read about them, heard about them, or maybe even experienced them. They may be recent or historic, massive or tiny, local to global, and from any part of the world. You need not provide complete case histories, although those would be welcomed as ACDC resources. Even a brief brand identification and description of the failure will be appreciated. Thanks.

Communicator activities approaching.

July 31- August 3, 2005
“Agricultural Media Summit .” Professional development conference of the  American Agricultural Editors’ Association (AAEA),  Livestock Publications Council (LPC) and AgriCouncil of the Association of Business Media Companies in Milwaukee, Wisconsin USA .
Information: www.agmediasummit.com

August 31- September 4, 2005
“The New Role of Agriculture.”
Conference of the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists (IFAJ) in Thun , Switzerland .
Information: www.ifaj2005.ch

More on communicating with animals.

“I guess I liked my horses better than people,” wrote Richard Harris, foreman of Murphy Ranches in Texas . “I’d be with my horses all the time, talk to them, call them names. Some horses are pretty smart.”We came across this comment by Mr. Harris (1891-1988) while exploring the Institute of Texan Cultures during the recent ACE/NETC/EVP/ACT conference in San Antonio.

When you see interesting items you can’t find online or locally,

Get in touch with us at docctr@library.uiuc.edu . Tell us the titles and/or document numbers. We will help you gain access.

Best regards and good searching.

Please pass along your reactions, suggestions and ideas for ACDC. 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 electronic form at docctr@library.uiuc.edu

ACDC News – Issue 05-11

Posted on by Elizabeth Ray

Celebrating 90 years of market news reporting.

An anniversary of market news reporting earned recognition through three presentations at the 2005 Agricultural Outlook Forum sponsored by the U. S. Department of Agriculture. USDA market reports have provided inestimable value to producers and others in the food complex. Presentations about the service included:

“The Fruit and Vegetable Market News portal.”
http://www.usda.gov/oce/forum/speeches/Okoniewski-ppt.pdf
Text Version

“Livestock mandatory reporting: Datamart.”
http://www.usda.gov/oce/forum/speeches/vanDyke-ppt.pdf
Text Version

“Using market news information in the private sector.”
http://www.usda.gov/oce/forum/speeches/Murphy-ppt.pdf.
Text Version

Women scientists overlooked as media sources.

A recent commentary in Quill magazine cited evidence of women missing in media reports that involve science and technology. For example, one study in 2003 found that U.S. news programs relegated women to stereotypical fields of expertise: health, society and human interest.

“Review the number of times women are cited as experts in science and technical fields in your own outlet, and I’ll bet you’ll find similar results,” author Sally Lehrman suggested. This invitation opens the question of sources used in the coverage of agricultural sciences.

Reference: Female scientists too often overlooked as sources.

 New research reports from the ACE conference.

Following are 12 papers presented to the Research Special Interest Group during the recent conference of ACE (Association for Communication Excellence in Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Life and Human Sciences) in San Antonio, Texas:

•  Amanda M. Ruth, Travis D. Park and Lisa K. Lundy, “Glitz, glamour, and the farm: portrayal of agriculture in the “Simple Life.” Contact Ruth at amruth@ifas.ufl.edu
•  Emily B. Rhoades and Ashley Hurst, “Interactivity and two-way communication options on livestock publication websites: a content analysis.” Contact Rhoades at ebbisdorf@ifas.ufl.edu
•  Danna B. Kelemen, D. Dwayne Cartmell II, and Shelly Peper Sitton, “Service learning: a case study of an agricultural communications course.” Contact Kelemen at danna.kellemen@okstate.edu
•  Terrie Clark, Kristina M. Boone, Lori A. Bergen and Jacqueline D. Spears, “A frame analysis of a lawsuit: enforcing clean water regulations in Kansas.” Contact Clark at terriec@ksu.edu
•  Amanda M. Ruth, Melissa Muegge, and Tracy Irani, “Seeds planted for recovery: framing of agriculture during the 2004 Florida hurricanes.” Contact Ruth at amruth@ifas.ufl.edu
•  Jamie M. King and D. Dwayne Cartmell II, “Newspaper coverage of the Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy outbreak in the United States: a content analysis.” Contact King at jamie.king@okstate.edu
•  Lisa K. Lundy, “What’s in a frame? The effect of message frames on attitudes toward internationalizing agricultural extension.” Contact Lundy at llundy@lsu.edu
•  Tracy Irani, Amanda Ruth, Ricky W. Telg and Lisa K. Lundy, “The ability to relate: assessing the influence of a relationship marketing strategy and message stimuli on consumer perceptions of extension.” Contact Irani at irani@ufl.edu
•  Steven G. Hill, Terrie Clark, Ted Cable, Kris Boone and Pat Melgares, “Overcoming barriers to adoption of water-quality BMPs in Kansas: an initial assessment.” Contact Hill at shill@ksu.edu
•  Gary J. Wingenbach and Tracy A. Rutherford, “Trust, bias, and fairness of information sources for biotechnology issues.” Contact Wingenbach at g-wingenbach@tamu.edu
•  Deborah W. Dunsford, “Feedback follow up: the influence of teacher comment on student writing assignments.” Contact Dunsford at dunsford@tamu.edu
•  Chad S. Davis, Cindy Akers, Marvin Cepica, David Doerfert, Steve Fraze, David Lawver and Meredith Schacht, “Cognition responses by West Texas Hispanics/Latinos to agricultural news: a comparison of four English and Spanish presentation media.” Contact Davis at chad.s.davis@ttu.edu

Extension educator: shifting from “sage on the stage?” 

The role of the extension educator should be examined, according to results of an education program to improve milk quality on dairy farms. “Perhaps many would do well to facilitate teams to affect change rather than design programs in which the extension agent is ‘the sage on the stage’,” said researchers Joseph Donaldson and Edgar Yoder.

For example, feedback from participating farmers showed that involvement of veterinarians in educational teams improved communications between farmers and their veterinarians.

Reference: Updating farm demonstration model

Five new “Useful Links” added.

You may be interested in these five websites added recently to our “Useful Links” page. All involve communications related to food and agriculture, in varying ways:

•  Development Communications Archive. Reports, papers, printed materials, surveys, articles, audiotapes, videocassettes and films make up the archive of the Clearinghouse on Development Communication of the Academy for Educational Development, 1960-1994. Posted at: http://www.lib.utexas.edu/taro/utcah/00261/cah-00261.html
•  Association of Food Journalists. A network system for food journalists who plan and write food copy for news media worldwide. Posted at: http://www.afjonline.com
•  Smokey Bear Collection. This special collection in the National Agricultural Library includes information about a widely acclaimed campaign for preventing forest fires. Posted at: http://www.nal.usda.gov/speccoll/findaids/smokey/
•  ACE Papers. Historical records (1913 to date) of the American Association of Agricultural College Editors (AAACE), later renamed Agricultural Communicators in Education (ACE), and currently Association for Communication Excellence in Agriculture, Natural Resources and Life and Human Sciences. Posted at: http://www.nal.usda.gov/speccoll/findaids/ace/index.html
•  Records of the Tobacco Market News Service. Includes historical information about the Tobacco Market News Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Posted at: http://www.nal.usda.gov/speccoll/findaids/tobacco/index.html

Communicator activity approaching.

July 31-August 3, 2005
“Agricultural Media Summit.” Professional development conference of the American Agricultural Editors’ Association (AAEA), Livestock Publications Council (LPC) and AgriCouncil of the Association of Business Media Companies in Milwaukee, Wisconsin USA.
Information: http://www.agmediasummit.com

Advice on business conversations.

We close this issue of ACDC News with advice that George Horace Lorimer’s self-made merchant, Chicago pork packer John Graham, extended a century ago to his son Pierrepont, a fresh Harvard graduate:

“I remember reading once that some fellows use language to conceal thought, but it’s been my experience that a good many more use it instead of thought. A businessman’s conversation should be regulated by fewer and simpler rules than any other function of the human animal. They are:
Have something to say.
Say it.
Stop talking.

Beginning before you know what you want to say and keeping on after you have said it lands a merchant in a lawsuit or the poorhouse, and the first is a shortcut to the second.”

Reference: Letters from a self-made merchant to his son

When you see interesting items you can’t find online or locally 

Get in touch with us at docctr@library.uiuc.edu. Tell us the titles and/or document numbers. We will help you gain access.

Best regards and good searching.

Please pass along your reactions, suggestions, and ideas for ACDC. Feel free to invite our assistance 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 electronic form at docctr@library.uiuc.edu.
June, 2005

ACDC News – Issue 05-10

Posted on by Elizabeth Ray

Rethinking extension communications.

An article of that title in the April issue of Journal of Extension took a fresh look at the role of extension communicators in an era of program accountability. LaRae Donnellan and Florita Montgomery traced more than a half-century of effort for transformation – “from scribes to communicators” – with plenty of challenges and occasional setbacks along the way.

Authors described a broadening professional vision rooted in the National Project in Agricultural Communications (NPAC) of the 1950s. They tracked an emerging “consulting communicator” role, described challenges to it and offered nine recommendations for pursuing it anew within the Extension framework of issues-based programming. Organizational goals of extension can best be met, they suggested, by having well-trained communicators serving in both leadership and support roles on issues programming teams.

Reference: Rethinking extension communications
Posted at: http://www.joe.org/joe/2005april/a2.shtml

Potatoes getting mashed? 

An Associated Press release that we have added described pressures on the U.S. potato industry and announced plans to address them through advertising. Among the pressures cited:

  • The mad cow scare “stranded thousands of pounds of frozen potatoes at ports, as countries banned imports of U.S. beef products. Frozen potatoes are often fried in beef fat.”
  • “Popular low-carb diets such as Atkins and South Beach encourage consumers to avoid potatoes.”
  • McDonald’s, one of the largest consumers of potatoes, stopped selling Supersize fries, “bowing to pressure to serve a healthier menu.”

The article described plans by the Washington State Potato Commission to launch an advertising campaign and develop partnerships with weight-loss groups to educate consumers about the healthy benefits of potatoes.

Reference: U.S. potato growers fight perception product is unhealthy
Posted at: http://static.highbeam.com/a/apworldstream/may102004/uspotatogrowersfightperceptionproductisunhealthy/index.html

 The fire ant wars. 

A recent book of this title described campaigns by the U. S. Department of Agriculture to eradicate the red imported fire ant, “a much celebrated and much-loathed insect that plagues the South to this day.” Author Joshua Blu Buhs described the spread of fire ants from the 1930s and traced two USDA attempts, beginning in 1957, to eradicate it using chemical pesticides.

A picture of two wars emerged from the book. One was a war of humans against the ants. The other war involved acrimonious policy struggles among interest groups that “battled in the press, the halls of Congress, and state legislatures.” Communicators can find revealing insights about social conflict, public relations, and risk communications.

Reference: The fire ant wars

How farmers view agritourism.

Results in southern Tuscany, Italy, led researcher R. Sonnino to conclude: “agritourism is not addressing the necessities of farmers who interpret development in qualitative terms and aim mostly at conserving their lifestyle, with it associated values of freedom and independence.” Instead, it “responds to the needs of farmers pursuing economic growth,” those likely to be larger and more affluent.

Reference: For a “piece of bread.”
This article is referenced from Sociologia Ruralis, 44(3) and can be found in PDF format by visiting : http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1467-9523.2004.00276.x?cookieSet=1

New survey of farm radio listenership.

Results of 2005 AMR Qualitative Research are available. This Ag Media Research project, funded by members of the National Association of Farm Broadcasters, involved telephone interviews with Class 1+ farmers in 12 Midwestern states. Some highlights revealed:

  • About 90 percent of farmer respondents (under 40 and over) said the stations they listen to provide the agriculture news, markets and weather information they want.
  • Farm radio reaches multiple households on 49% of the farms and ranches.
  • On average (mean), 2.2 persons are involved in making decisions on each farm or ranch.
  • Farmers listen to multiple radio stations, but 73% listen to only one or two stations during the day.
  • Two-thirds said they get information from a farm broadcaster, and 68% of those could name the broadcaster.

Reference: 2005 AMR Qualitative Research
Posted at: http://www.nafb.com/nafbfiles/2005amrqualitative2.ppt

Maybe I’ll live in a treetop/like a hermit I would never burn it or chop it down.

This part of a rap song about the forest canopy appeared in a Conservation Biology article we added recently. Author Nalini M. Nadkami reported on experiences in communicating the importance of forest conservation to nontraditional audiences. Among them:

    • Religious and spiritual groups
    • Hospitals and health practitioners
    • Artists and musicians
    • Legislators and decision makers
    • Urban youth
    • Prisoners

Reference: Not preaching to the choir
Posted in PDF format @ : http://academic.evergreen.edu/n/nadkarnn/cv/pdfs_new/nadkarni_choir_04.pdf

Communicator activities approaching

June 9-11, 2005
“Horse by Northwest.” 2005 Seminar of American Horse Publications (AHP) in Seattle, Washington USA.
Information: http://www.americanhorsepubs.org/programs/seminars/index.html

July 31-August 3, 2005
“Agricultural Media Summit.” Professional development conference of the American Agricultural Editors’ Association (AAEA), Livestock Publication Council (LPC) and AgriCouncil of the Association of Business Media Companies in Milwaukee, Wisconsin USA.
Information: http://www.agmediasummit.com

How’s that again? 

The food industry has not escaped an invasion of contradictory or incongruous wording. We note these expressions in food and beverage advertising and labeling:

Boneless ribs
Big Sip
Natural additives
Gourmet fast food
Oven fried
All natural artificial flavor
Fresh from concentrate
Buffalo wings
Twelve-ounce pound cake

Can you add to this list? If so, please pass them along to us.

When you see interesting items you can’t find online or locally 

Get in touch with us at docctr@library.uiuc.edu. Tell us the titles and/or document numbers. We will help you gain access.

Best regards and good searching. 

Please pass along your reactions, suggestions, and ideas for ACDC. Feel free to invite our assistance 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 electronic form at docctr@library.uiuc.edu.

May, 2005

ACDC News – Issue 05-09

Posted on by Elizabeth Ray

Agricultural public relations shootout.

An unexpected conflict between the University of Rochester Medical Center and the Florida Department of Citrus flared up early this year. Here’s how according to a news article we added recently:

  • The University issued a release that described two matters. One involved a man reported to be the victim of a deadly interaction between grapefruit juice and a cholesterol-lowering medicine. The other involved evidence of interactions between grapefruit juice and birth control pills.
  • A public relations agency employed by the Florida Department of Citrus challenged the accuracy of the release, issued its own release saying the University news release was inaccurate and asked the University to issue another release with corrections.

Reporter William R. Levesque described the detailed sequence in this interesting case report.

Reference: Grapefruit article sets off PR shootout
The article can be found in the St. Petersburg Times free archive posted @: http://www.sptimes.com/2005/02/21/Business/Companies.shtml

Media reporting of genetics – surprisingly accurate?

In some circumstances, yes, according to an article in Trends in Biotechnology. Author Timothy Caulfield observed:

“…emerging data suggest that, in some circumstances, the media reporting of science is surprisingly accurate and portrays a message created by the scientific community. As such, there are reasons to believe that the hyping of research results might be part of a more systemic problem associated with the increasingly commercial nature of the research environment.”

Reference: Biotechnology and the popular press

Reference: Do the print media “hype” genetic research?
Posted @: http://www.cmaj.ca/cgi/content/full/170/9/1399

 Helping students “speak better” about food.

We have added to the ACDC collection a journal article about food science courses that help students become better oral communicators. Iowa State University students learned about food preparation through exercises that integrated disciplinary content with a variety of speaking and listening experiences.

Authors concluded: “In the food science discipline, oral communication becomes central as students work on teams, teach their peers, serve customers, lead, negotiate, work with cultural diversity, interview, listen, conduct meetings, and resolve conflicts. These behaviors must be practiced as ‘professionals-in-training’ gain the expertise required for employment as experts.”

Reference: Improving oral communication skills of students
Posted at: http://www.ift.org/pdfs/jfse/jfsev3n2p0015-0020ms20030359.pdf

The struggle over seeds.

A recent article we added from Politics and Society examined “‘farmers’ rights’ as a strategy of resistance against the perceived inequities of intellectual property rights regimes for plant varieties.”

Analyst Craig Borowiak observed, “As commercial models of intellectual property have made their way into agriculture, farmers’ traditional seed-saving practices have been increasingly delegitimized. In response, farmers have adopted the language of farmers’ rights to demand greater material recognition of their contributions and better measures to protect their autonomy. This campaign has mixed implications.”

Reference: Farmers’ rights
Posted @: http://pas.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/32/4/511

Can honeybees speak? A buzzing debate.

Eileen Crist summarized it in a recent issue of Social Studies of Science. She examined, on one side, how behavioral scientists have conceptualized the honeybee dance as a linguistic system. On the other side, she explained how the dance upset deep-seated assumptions about the “great chain of being,” with man and other higher mammals at the apex and invertebrates in the basement.

This report offers insights for agricultural communicators who sometimes are asked if they “talk with the animals.” No end to the debate seems in sight. Author Crist said her analysis suggests that “if one really does not believe that a small honeybee has language capability, then apparently no evidence may ever suffice to prove its existence.”

Reference: Can an insect speak? 
Posted @: http://sss.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/34/1/7

Communicator activities approaching

May 31-June 4, 2005
“Ideas and missions/Ideas y misiones.” Joint conferences of the Association for Communication Excellence in Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Live and Human Sciences (ACE), National Extension Technology Conference (NETC), International Agricultural Communicators of Tomorrow (ACT), and Extension Video Producers (EVP) in San Antonio, Texas USA.
Information: http://acenetc2005.tamu.edu

June 4-7, 2005
“Mile high energy: reaching your communications peak.” 2005 Institute of the Cooperative Communicators Association (CCA) in Denver, Colorado USA.
Information: http://www.communicators.coop

June 9-11, 2005
“Horse by Northwest.” 2005 Seminar of American Horse Publications (AHP) in Seattle, Washington USA.
Information: http://www.americanhorsepubs.org/programs/seminars/index.html

July 31-August 3, 2005
“Agricultural Media Summit.” Professional development conference of the American Agricultural Editors’ Association (AAEA), Livestock Publications Council (LPC) and AgriCouncil of the Association of Business Media Companies in Milwaukee, Wisconsin USA.
Information: http://www.agmediasummit.com

Great rules for writing.

We close this issue of ACDC News with a classic contra dictum attributed to William Safire. It is not directed specifically to agricultural writers, but on occasion might be.

“Do not put statements in the negative form. And don’t start sentences with a conjunction. It is incumbent on one to avoid archaisms. If you reread your work, you will find on rereading that a great deal of repetition can be avoided by re-reading and editing. Never use a long word when a diminutive one will do. Unqualified superlatives are the worst of all. De-accession euphemisms. If any word is improper at the end of a sentence, a linking verb is. Avoid trendy locutions that sound flaky. Never, ever use repetitive redundancies. Also, avoid awkward or affected alliteration. Last, but not least, avoid clichés like the plague.”

When you see interesting items you can’t find online or locally 

Get in touch with us at docctr@library.uiuc.edu. Tell us the titles and/or document numbers. We will help you gain access.

Best regards and good searching.

Please pass along your reactions, suggestions, and ideas for ACDC. Feel free to invite our assistance 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 electronic form at docctr@library.uiuc.edu.
May, 2005

ACDC News – Issue 05-08

Posted on by Elizabeth Ray

Time to start pushing sugar.

“Sure, the U.S. population is getting fatter and fatter,” said a recent article in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution . “Must be time to start pushing more sugar.”

The U.S. sugar industry is preparing a new advertising campaign to “tout the use of real sugar.” That is, sugar made from cane and beets, not high-fructose corn syrup. Sugar isn’t the enemy, said a representative of the Sugar Association. This campaign will attempt to position sugar as a natural, healthy product with 15 calories per teaspoon.

Reference: Sugar makers to fight back with new ads
Posted at: http://www.crystalsugar.com/media/news.archives/makers.asp

Roots of the U.S. sweet tooth.

Two hundred years ago sugar and confections were luxury items that signaled the economic power and privilege of males. So reported Wendy Woloson in Refined tastes: sugar, confectionery, and consumers in nineteenth-century America. Her 2002 book tracks changes during the nineteenth century as sweets entered all economic levels of the American consuming public.

Reference: Refined tastes: sugar, confectionery, and consumers in nineteenth century America

 Beef producers and industry on the firing line. 

The Harvard School of Public Health reported results of a U.S. adult survey, Mad Cow Survey, during early 2004. Here is how respondents answered the question, “Which one of the following do you think should be mainly responsible for preventing the spread of Mad Cow Disease in the U.S. ?”

Producers of the food that cattle eat – 33%
The federal government – 31%
The American beef industry – 29%
Don’t know – 7%

Most (51%) of those who said the federal government should be responsible identified the U.S. Department of Agriculture as the agency they think should be mainly responsible.

Reference: Mad cow survey
Posted @ http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/press/releases/blendon/mad_cow_topline.doc

Who’s covering local news? 

“Now there’s nobody out in the 3,000-plus counties in the United States covering local news the way they were,” observed a journalist cited in a Quill magazine article that we added recently to the ACDC collection.

The article focused mainly on the declining local coverage by radio stations, a decline that “most greatly affects its historic stronghold: small-town and rural America .” The article also called attention to similar pressures against local newspaper coverage. In earlier issues of ACDC News, we have identified reports about ways in which farm broadcasting, with its traditional emphasis on strong local coverage, is caught up in this tangle.

Reference: A shift of substance: changes in local media ownership have largely led to a decline in radio news

Sorting through organic views of nature.

It’s not so simple, argued Becky Mansfield in an analysis of the debate over organic certification of fish.

“It is not possible to simply talk about relations between nature and society,” she concluded in her Sociologia Ruralis article. She illustrated how individual classification schemes are always at work, and have particular effects. “Even with the particular classification scheme expressed within the fish debate, the organic movement simultaneously articulated a wide variety of often contradictory views of nature-society.”

Reference: Organic views of nature: the debate over organic certification for aquatic animals

Remarkable adoption history of hybrid corn.

At the beginning of the 1930s, hybrids were still unproven and largely unavailable to farmers, according to R.C. Pratt in a recent Maydicaarticle. However, by the end of the decade “over one-half of the Ohio corn acreage would be planted using double-cross hybrids.”

According to this Ohio (USA) case study, researchers at the Ohio Agricultural Experiment Station initiated pure-line selection and hybrid development in about 1919.

Reference: An historical examination of the development.

Growing clutter in organic terminology. 

We have added to the ACDC collection a Wall Street Journal article about “making sense of the latest organic food terminology.”

“Just when shoppers got familiar with the term ‘organic,’ a slew of alternative terms have started popping up,” said reporter Katy Mclaughlin. She cited examples of terms appearing on labels and menu descriptions at markets and restaurants: “Biodynamic.” “Local.” “Food Alliance Certified.” “Beyond organic.” The article referred interested readers to a Consumers Union website ( www.eco-labels.org ) that provides definitions and assessments of some of the new terminology.

Reference: Is your tofu biodynamic?
Archived April 19, 2005, at http://archives.foodsafetynetwork.ca/agnet-archives.htm

In memory of Everett Rogers.

Three obituaries that we have added to the ACDC collection recognize the contributions of Everett M. Rogers as a high-impact communications scholar with long-time rural interests.Farm-raised, he “began his education in a one-room schoolhouse and went on to earn his doctorate in 1957 from Iowa State University. Rogers ‘ 30 books – translated into 15 languages – and more than 500 articles shaped and influenced the field of communication, sociology, marketing, and political science. He is perhaps best known for his book, Diffusion of Innovations, the second most cited book in the social sciences…”The ACDC collection contains more than 100 documents that carry his name as author, dated as early as 1957. It also reflects many other aspects of his contributions, through his powerful influence on agriculture-related communications scholarship, internationally.References: UNM’s Everett Rogers was communications pioneer
Posted @ http://www.abqjournal.com/obits/profiles/248408profiles10-25-04.htm

Distinguished communication professor influenced countless lives
Posted @ http://www.unm.edu/~market/cgi-bin/archives/000359.html

Communicator activities approaching

May 15-21, 2005
“Globalization of information: agriculture at the crossroads.” Eleventh World
Congress of the International Association of Agricultural Information Specialists and biennial conference of the U.S. Agricultural Information Network in Lexington, Kentucky USA.
Information: http://www.ca.uky.edu/aic/conf_home_2.htm

May 31- June 4, 2005
“Ideas and missions/Ideas y misiones.” Joint conferences of the Association for Communication Excellence in Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Life and Human Sciences (ACE), National Extension Technology Conference (NETC), International Agricultural Communicators of Tomorrow (ACT), and ExtensionVideo Producers (EVP) in San Antonio, Texas USA.
Information: http://acenetc2005.tamu.edu 

June 4-7, 2005
“Mile high energy: reaching your communications peak.” 2005 Institute of the Cooperative Communicators Association (CCA) in Denver, Colorado USA.
Information: http://www.communicators.coop

June 9-11, 2005
“Horse by Northwest.” 2005 Seminar of American Horse Publications (AHP) in Seattle, Washington USA.
Information: http://www.americanhorsepubs.org/programs/seminars/index.html

When you see interesting items you can’t find online or locally 

Get in touch with us at docctr@library.uiuc.edu . Tell us the titles and/or document numbers. We will help you gain access.

Best regards and good searching.

Please pass along your reactions, suggestions, and ideas for ACDC. Feel free to invite our assistance 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 electronic form at docctr@library.uiuc.edu.

April, 2005

ACDC News – Issue 05-07

Posted on by Elizabeth Ray

“Got milk?” campaign honored – as art.

“One of America’s longest-running, and most beloved, advertising campaigns” is being honored by Copia, the American Center for Wine, Food and the Arts. An exhibition began January 21 and continues through May 30 at the Center in Napa Valley, California.

This campaign from the California Milk Processor Board began in 1993. A release we added recently says it has been “licensed nationally, spawned hundreds of rip-offs and become part of the American vernacular.”

“Can you imagine other ads exhibited as art?” asks Jeff Manning, the campaign co-creator.

Reference:“Got milk?” becomes work of art
Posted at: http://www.copia.org/pages/pkgotmilk.asp

The information revolution is moving slowly in Africa,

According to the African Information Society Initiative, an action framework endorsed by African heads of state.

“Despite rapid progress in the last year, no more than 15 African countries have full access to the internet and some remain without any electronic connectivity at all.”

A report from the Panos Institute indicates that 50 percent of telephone lines are found in capital cities where only about 10 percent of Africa’s populations reside. … In over 15 countries in Africa…over 70 percent of the lines are located in the largest cities.”

Reference: ICT and telecom: rural Africa yearning for Internet.
Posted at: http://www.ipsnews.net/new_nota.asp?idnews=24742

 Setting the framework for debate.

We think ACDC can serve best when it helps reveal the range of views and data about topics of interest. This collection includes research-based literature about agricultural communications, but is not confined to it. It also contains commentaries, arguments, and evidence from a wide range of perspectives and interest groups. We gather these perspectives not because we hold them but because we hear them – and because we know that public decisions emerge from diverse mixes of voices.

An example: the USDA and agricultural biotechnology. Here are three recently added documents that reflect quite different “takes” on the role of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, in relation to agricultural biotechnology:

Reference: “Sowing secrecy: the biotech industry, USDA, and America’s secret Pharm Belt”
Posted at: http://www.consumerfreedom.com/oped_detail.cfm/oped/146

Reference:“Food fetish: let them eat Peruvian purple potatoes.”
Posted at: http://www.consumerfreedom.com/oped_detail.cfm/oped/146

Reference: “Report: Agriculture Department ‘highjacked’ by corporate interests”
Posted at: http://www.geinfo.org/nz/092004/08.htm

Benefits of getting agricultural information to women.

“Targeting women in agricultural technology dissemination can have a greater impact on poverty than targeting men.” That suggestion for communicators comes from the International Food Policy Research Institute. A recent IFPRI assessment of the impact of vegetable and fishpond technologies on poverty in rural Bangladesh led to this finding:

“Untargeted technology dissemination was more likely to benefit men and better-off households. Efforts designed to reach women within poor households – such as through NGO provision of training and credit for vegetable improvement – achieved greater impacts on poverty.”

Reference: Women: still the key to food and nutrition security
Posted at: http://www.ifpri.org/pubs/ib/ib33.pdf

Recovering costs of country-of-origin labeling.

“An increase in aggregate consumer demand of 2% to 3% is likely sufficient to offset lost producer welfare due to COOL costs.” Researchers Jayson Lusk and John Anderson reached that conclusion through an equilibrium displacement model of the farm, wholesale and retail markets for beef, pork, and poultry.

Reference: Effects of country-of-origin labeling on meat producers and consumers

Communicator activities approaching

April 20-22, 2005
“Blazin’ horizons.” 2005 Agri-Marketing Conference and Trade Show of National Agri-Marketing Association (NAMA) in Phoenix, Arizona USA.
Information: http://www.nama.org/amc

April 29-May 2, 2005
Annual meeting of the Turf and Ornamental Communicators Association in Memphis, Tennessee USA.
Information: http://www.toca.org

May 15-21, 2005
“Globalization of information: agriculture at the crossroads.” Eleventh World Congress of the International Association of Agricultural Information Specialists and biennial conference of the U.S. Agricultural Information Network in Lexington, Kentucky USA.
Information: http://www.ca.uk.edu/aic/conf_home_2.htm

May 31-June 4, 2005
“Ideas and missions/Ideas y misiones.” Joint conferences of the Association for Communication Excellence in Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Life and Human Sciences (ACE), National Extension Technology Conference (NETC), International Agricultural Communicators of Tomorrow (ACT), and Extension Video Producers (EVP) in San Antonio, Texas USA.
Information: http://acenetc2005.tamu.edu

June 4-7, 2005
“Mile high energy: reaching your communications peak.” 2005 Institute of
the Cooperative Communicators Association (CCA) in Denver, Colorado USA.
Information: http://www.communicators.coop

June 9-11, 2005
“Horse by Northwest.” 2005 Seminar of American Horse Publications (AHP) in Seattle, Washington USA.
Information: http://www.americanhorsepubs.org/programs/seminars/index.html

Too many agricultural papers?

We close this issue of ACDC News with a thought from Henry Jackson Waters, president of the Kansas State Agricultural College in 1917:

“We may wonder at times if we have too many agricultural papers, but we may as well ask ourselves if we haven’t too many churches or too many schools, for the farm paper is a necessary part of the large program which these institutions are helping to carry out.”

Eighty-eight years later, his words still underline the enduring importance of agricultural periodicals and other communications tools that help people on the land improve their lives, their efforts and their life-sustaining service to others.

Reference: Preparation for editorial work on farm papers

Best regards and good searching.

Please pass along your reactions, suggestions, and ideas for ACDC. Feel free to invite our assistance 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 electronic form at docctr@library.uiuc.edu .
April, 2005

ACDC News – Issue 05-06

Posted on by Elizabeth Ray

Digital can of worms.

That is the title of an article we added recently about Voice-over-Internet Protocol (VoIP) technology, “known as a disruptive technology in the telecommunications industry.” This less-expensive alternative to traditional telephone service is cited as presenting a host of problems for local cities and counties, including rural areas.

“Cities and counties stand to lose billions of dollars in rights-of-way and franchise fees if VoIP remains unregulated and displaces traditional telephone service. Additionally, the technology does not connect seamlessly to emergency call centers; law enforcement agencies cannot tap into it; and users do not have to pay into the Universal Service Fund USF, which subsidizes telephone service in rural areas.”

Reference: Digital can of worms
Posted @ www.americancityandcounty.com/mag/government_digital_worms/

Rural community celebrates arrival of telephone service.

Mink, Louisiana – one of the nation’s last rural areas without regular phone service – finally got connected during late January.

According to an Associated Press report, “BellSouth Corp. spent $700,000…to extend about 30 miles of cable through thick forests to Mink, about 100 miles south of Shreveport .” The community of 15 households is in the Kisatchie National Forest near the Texas line.

Reference: Tiny Louisiana community finally gets telephone service.
Posted @ http://news.lycos.com/wired/story.asp?section=Breaking&storyId=983091

 Students launch new international exchange.

Agricultural communication students from Canada and the U.S. joined forces in piloting a new international exchange from February 19 to March 5. This program, reported in a recent news release, involved Agricultural Communicators of Tomorrow (ACT) members from the University of Guelph and the University of Florida.

“No matter which side of the border you’re on, we must communicate with each other,” said International ACT President Kim Waalderbos, referring to shared challenges facing agriculture.

Reference:Exchange program connects future leaders For more information, including daily diaries from the exchange, visit:
Posted @http://www.uoguelph.ca/~canact

When activists confront food companies.

A recent article in the Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics shed light on that scenario. Using a game theoretical model of sequential bargaining, researchers examined the strategic interaction between food companies and activists. They observed:

“In a rather confined set of circumstances, findings indicate it is always in the best interest of the food company to comply with activists’ demands. More frequently, however, there will be cases where compliance is not optimal…”

Reference: Activists and corporate behavior in food processing and retailing .

A great year for collecting documents.

We think any year is a great year for collecting information to improve agriculture-related communicating. However, 2004 seemed particularly noteworthy here. Our review of progress during 2004 revealed what may be record-breaking progress in the ACDC collection. Among the steps forward:

  • The collection grew from 24,500 to 27,000 documents, roughly twice the long-term average.
  • These numbers, in combination with deep subject indexing, are helping generate powerful searching opportunities for users. For example, by the end of 2004 users could identify more than 1,000 documents each about important subjects such as extension communications, food safety communications, farm journals, rural radio, agricultural advertising, usage of new information technologies in agriculture, and development-related communications.
  • Our staff monitored 18 national and international conferences to identify more than 100 timely research reports.
  • The Burton Swanson Collection, which we finished reviewing and processing, added more than 700 valuable documents to the ACDC database.

Plenty of communicator activities approaching

April 10-12, 2005
Annual meeting of the North American Agricultural Journalists (NAAJ) in Washington, D.C. USA.
Information: http://naaj.tamu.edu/meetings.htm >

April 19, 2005
“Spring Fling.” Professional development program of the Agricultural Relations Council (ARC) in Phoenix, Arizona USA.
Information: http://www.agrelationscouncil.org/pdfs/arc-spring-fling-05.pdf

April 20-22, 2005
“Blazin’ horizons.” 2005 Agri-Marketing Conference and Trade Show of National Agri-Marketing Association (NAMA) in Phoenix, Arizona USA.
Information: http://www.nama.org/amc

April 29- May 2, 2005
Annual meeting of the Turf and Ornamental Communicators Association (TOCA) in Memphis, Tennessee USA.
Information: http://www.toca.org

May 15-21, 2005
“Globalization of information: agriculture at the crossroads.” Eleventh World Congress of the International Association of Agricultural Information Specialists and biennial conference of the U.S. Agricultural Information Network in Lexington, Kentucky USA.
Information: http://www.ca.uky.edu/aic/05contract.pdf

May 31- June 4, 2005
“Ideas and missions/Ideas y misiones.” Joint conferences of the Association for Communication Excellence in Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Life and Human Sciences (ACE), National Extension Technology Conference (NETC), International Agricultural Communicators of Tomorrow (ACT) and Extension Video Producers (EVP) in San Antonio, Texas USA.
Information: http://acenetc2005.tamu.edu >

June 4-7, 2005
“Mile high energy: reaching your communications peak.” 2005 Institute of the Cooperative Communicators Association (CCA) in Denver, Colorado USA.
Information: http://www.communicators.coop

June 9-11, 2005
“Horse by Northwest.” 2005 Seminar of American Horse Publications (AHP) in Seattle , Washington USA .
Information: http://www.americanhorsepubs.org/programs/seminars/index.html

Ungrammatical, cheap, absurd. 

We close this issue of ACDC News with a cautionary note. It is for rural and other communicators tempted to complacency by the marvels of flinging words and images, worldwide, from centralized (often downstaffed) information centers. And it comes from a 1923 book about country journalism.

The little home paper comes to me,
As badly printed as it can be;
It’s ungrammatical, cheap, absurd,
But how I love each intimate word.

Reference:The country newspaper

Best regards and good searching.

Please pass along your reactions, suggestions, and ideas for ACDC. Feel free to invite our assistance 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 electronic form at docctr@library.uiuc.edu .
March, 2005

ACDC News – Issue 05-05

Posted on by Elizabeth Ray

The blog world – coming to agriculture. 

Evidence is apparent in recent documents about agriculture-related potentials for an emerging communications tool, the Web log. Blogs may have roots as publicly accessible personal online journals. However, we are adding reports of other uses. Examples:

  • Blair L. Fannin and Edith A. Chenault, “Blogging agricultural news: a new technology to distribute news real-time.” Describes an experimental use in covering the 2004 Beef Cattle Short Course at Texas A&M University.

Posted @ http://agnews.tamu.edu/saas/2005/fannin2.pdf

  • Chuck Zimmerman, “Blogging: coming to your computer now!” Zimmerman, of ZimmComm, Holts Summit, Missouri, describes in an Agri Marketing article how agri-firms and groups are using blogs to announce and cover meetings and conferences, create and distribute news releases, offer perspectives, invite feedback and serve other functions. The ZimmComm site, “Talking News Releases,” includes audio, photos and video as well as text.

Posted @ http://zimmcomm.blogspot.com

Viewing other ag-related blogs.

The web site, Globe of Weblogs www.globeofblogs.com, identifies hundreds of blogs that relate, for example, to activism in animal rights, conservation, food safety, genetic engineering, sustainable agriculture and sustainable development. These blogs, based in many countries, tend to be highly personal in approach and content.

The blog of the Center for Rural Affairs illustrates uses by an agricultural organization. Posted http://www.cfra.blogspot.com

 New research reports from SAAS communications scholars.

The report from Blair Fannin and Edith Chenault (above) is one of nine papers presented February 5-9 at the annual meeting of the Southern Association of Agricultural Scientists (SAAS) in Little Rock, Arkansas. Others presented to the Agricultural Communications Section:

  • “Evaluating the effectiveness of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Hueco Tanks State Historic Site orientation/conservation video: a media system dependency theory perspective.” Cindy Akers, David Segrest Jr., Mark Kistler, James Smith, Chad Davis and Matt Baker, Texas Tech University.
  • “Assessing agricultural communications students’ learning styles.” Dwayne Cartmell II, Melissa Majors, Marcus Ashlock and Shelly Sitton, Oklahoma State University.
  • “Cognitive responses by West Texas Hispanic/Latinos to agricultural news: a comparison of four English and Spanish presentation media.” Chad Davis, Cindy Akers, Marvin Cepica, David Doerfert, Steve Fraze and David Lawver, Texas Tech University.
  • “Syndicating agriculture news with RSS.” Blair Fannin, Texas A&M University.
  • “It takes two: public understanding of agricultural science and agricultural scientists.” Lisa Lundy, Louisiana State University, and Amanda Ruth, Ricky Telg and Tracy Irani, University of Florida.
  • “Perceptions of job satisfaction and gender roles among select Florida agricultural communication practitioners.” Rebecca McGovney and Tracy Irani, University of Florida.
  • “Distance education in the agricultural communications realm: a synthesis of research.” Emily Rhoades, University of Florida.
  • “Communication preferences of politically active agricultural leaders.” Ricky Telg, University of Florida.

The papers are posted @ http://agnews.tamu.edu/saas/saasproceedings.html

We also are entering them into the ACDC search system and collection.

“It’s time for a colossal mind shift in the local agricultural community,”

According to an executive cited in a Guelph Mercury ( Canada) article we added recently.

“We have to change this thought process in that all we are doing was feeding people,” argued Gord Surgeoner, president of Ontario Agri-Food Technologies. “Now, we’ve gone ahead and met that challenge. Now, we can look at reducing pollution, building car parts and improving health care. We have this whole new world where the basic building blocks come from plant oils and plant starches.”

Reference: Cutting a new path in farming

Posted February 1, 2005 at Food Safety Network http://archives.foodsafetynetwork.ca/agnet-archives.htm

Nonverbal ways of communicating with nature.

In a recent book chapter, Michelle Scollo Sawyer proposed that “across cultures there is a set of related, largely nonverbal forms of communication that people use to connect with the natural world.” Examination of several cases led her to identify five dimensions that could be added to the usual framework for analyzing communication:

  • Level of activity (stillness-movement)
  • Pace (slow-fast)
  • Sound level (silence-noise)
  • Verbal activity (nonverbal-verbal)
  • Quantity of verbal activity (small-great)

Reference: Nonverbal ways of communicating with nature

Do viewers and readers respond differently to environment news?

Findings reported in Society and Natural Resources suggest that newspaper content about the environment may generate audience reactions different from those generated by television content.

“…those most exposed to the world as presented on television have potentially higher concern … and less tendency toward action … than those who have had less exposure. On the other hand, newspaper exposure was associated with lower concern but more action.”

Reference: Skepticism about media effects concerning the environment

Preserving the embrittled. 

A newly added journal article highlights a national effort to identify and preserve agricultural literature that would otherwise be lost to decay. Twenty-three states are taking part, each identifying relevant state and local literature published between 1820 and 1945. Seminal works are then microfilmed and stored to preservation standards that provide a minimum life of 500 years. The U.S. Agricultural Information Network and National Agricultural Library, USDA, developed this program supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities.

We would note that agricultural journalists and communicators helped create and publish much of this important literature during the 125 years.

Reference: The national preservation program for agricultural literature

Communicator activities approaching

April 4-5, 2005
“Beyond the mechanics: agriculture at the crossroads.” Southern RegionWorkshop of Cooperative Communicators Association in Atlanta, Georgia USA.
Information: http://www.communicators.coop

April 20-22, 2005
“Blazin’ horizons.” 2005 Agri-Marketing Conference and Trade Show of National Agri-Marketing Association in Phoenix, Arizona USA.
Information: http://www.nama.org/amc

May 15-21, 2005
“Globalization of information: agriculture at the crossroads.” Eleventh World Congress of the International Association of Agricultural Information Specialists and biennial conference of the U.S. Agricultural Information Network in Lexington, Kentucky USA.
Information: http://www.ca.uk.edu/aic/conf_home_2.htm

A secret to success in life. 

We close this issue of ACDC News with a thought from Mark Twain, as quoted in Panic in the Pantry:“Part of the secret of success in life is to eat what you like and let the food fight it out inside.”

Best regards and good searching.

Please pass along your reactions, suggestions and ideas for ACDC. 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 electronic form (at docctr@library.uiuc.edu )

March, 2005

ACDC News – Issue 05-03

Posted on by Elizabeth Ray

A look at leaders of land-grant communications and IT units.

Kimberly L. Parker used a Competing Values Framework to analyze the leadership styles of those who manage (a) agricultural communications, (b) information technology, and (c) combined units at U.S. land-grant institutions. Among findings reported in the Journal of Extension:

  • Many managers were relative newcomers to their positions.
  • Two-thirds were male and one-third female, with shares of males and females equal in the agricultural communications units.
  • Managers in all three types of units expressed similar views of their leadership roles.
  • They most closely resembled the profile of effective managers called “conceptual producers” who work well with ideas and are particularly good at coming up with new ideas and selling them.

Title: Leadership styles of agricultural communications and information technology managers [Use title as live link to citation]
Posted at: http://www.joe.org/joe/2004february/a1.shtml

Are producers more interested in better prices than lower risks?

A recent study of how U.S. agricultural producers use market advisory services addressed that question. Joost Pennings and associates reported in the Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics:

“Risk attitude does not affect the impact of MAS (market advisory service) recommendations on producers’ decisions, suggesting producers are more interested in the price-enhancing characteristics of MAS advice than in its risk-reducing features.”

Title: The impact of market advisory service recommendations

Mrs. Cookwell – a virtual mom created from focus testing.

A mythical food safety educator, Mrs. Cookwell, “has been a big hit among consumers, especially among young adults” in Canada. Created by the Canadian Partnership for Consumer Food Safety Education, she is seen live on the web site www.canfightbac.org to answer questions about food handling and storage, cooking methods and other topics. She emerged through broad focus testing among 19- to 24-year-olds. They said they go to Mom for information they trust about such matters.

Reference: Internet based food safety educator
Posted @ : www.farmscape.ca/fsa_showarchive.asp?id=2337

Also creative: using donkeys to help deliver rural information electronically.

Zimbabwe’s mobile donkey-drawn electro-communication libraries got under way during 1999 and are proving popular. The Rural Libraries and Resources Development Programme helps bring new information technologies to rural and isolated communities otherwise deprived of them.

“The cart can travel over all sorts of terrain,” explains one of two reports we have added to the ACDC collection. Using solar power generated by a unit installed on the roof, it provides access to radio, television, telephone, fax, e-mail and Internet services. It might, in the future, also feature an aerial or satellite dish for a wider and clearer electro-communication system. The communities involved initiated these donkey-drawn mobile library services and “requests from other communities for similar services are overwhelming.”

References:
Title: Donkeys help provide multi-media library services
Posted @: http://www.ifla.org/v/press/pr0225-02.htm
Title: A donkey-drawn Internet centre
Posted @
http://www.africaonline.co.zw/mirror/stage/archive/990716/national19753.html

How much are consumers willing to pay for GM-related food labeling? 

Research by Wallace Huffman and associates examined this question, using a statistically based economics experiment involving U.S. adult consumers. Participants in the experimental auctions discounted foods identified by label as genetically modified by approximately 14 percent relative to their standard-labeled counterparts.

Title: Consumer willingness to pay for genetically modified food labels

Prospects for scientific communication in biotechnology.

They are not encouraging, according to Leah A. Lievrouw in a chapter of a new book. “The growth of knowledge for its own sake, or to improve the human condition, are no longer sufficient motivations for research. Today the dominant motive is the establishment of property rights in information. It has several important effects on scientific communication…”
Effects cited:

  • Retreat from publication (withheld, delayed, “trivial”)
  • Publication bias (of scientists with industry ties)
  • Erosion of peer review
  • Constraints on informal interaction and sharing of results among scientists

Reference: Biotechnology, intellectual property and the prospects of scientific communication

Some interesting and varied information requests have come our way during recent months. 

Among them:
  • Role of the Extension Service in disaster-related communicating
  • Farmer-writers of the 1930s and 1940s
  • Identification of farm community networks
  • Credibility aspects of agricultural news on television
  • Whether agricultural journalists are “blindsided by their affinity with farming”
  • Efforts to “market” land-grant universities
  • Newspaper coverage of agricultural issues
  • Farmers’ use of the Internet
  • Directions in agricultural communications research
  • Background of the “consulting communicator” role in extension communications
  • Impact of the documentary photo project of the U.S. Farm Security Administration

Let us know whenever we can help you identify and gain access to information about communications matters on your agenda.

Communicator activities approaching

February 28-March 1, 2005
Midwest Region Conference of the Cooperative Communicators Association
in St. Louis, Missouri USA.
Information: Gail Miller at gmiller@growmark.com

April 4-5, 2005
“Beyond the mechanics: creativity in communications.” Southern Region
Workshop of Cooperative Communicators Association in Atlanta, Georgia USA.
Information: www.communicators.coop

May 15-21, 2005
“Globalization of information: agriculture at the crossroads.” Eleventh World Congress of the International Association of Agricultural Information Specialists
and biennial conference of the U.S. Agricultural Information Network in
Lexington, Kentucky USA.
Information: http://www.ca.uky.edu/aic/conf_home_2.htm

Not thriving on fresh milk? 

We close this issue of ACDC News on a dairy note, offering part of a classified advertisement for the grammarians among us. It was cited in a 1908 issue of Advertisers’ Almanack:”When the baby is done drinking, it must be unscrewed and laid in a cool place under a tap. If the baby does not thrive on fresh milk, it should be boiled.”

Best regards and good searching.

Please pass along your reactions, suggestions and ideas for ACDC. 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 electronic form (at docctr@library.uiuc.edu )

Feburary, 2005