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What should reporters do to prepare for the unthinkable?
Incidents such as the law enforcement raid (2023) on a rural community newspaper in Kansas (Marion County Record) sparked responses we continue to track and preserve.
This month we are adding to the ACDC collection a 16-page document provided jointly by the First Amendment Foundation and Freedom of the Press Foundation. Entitled “Search warrants and journalists: A guide for the perplexed,” it serves print, web, and broadcast newsrooms across America.
You can read it by open access in the article “New guide helps journalists know their rights when police come knocking.”
How national newspapers in Turkey cover agriculture
We are adding to the ACDC collection a content analysis of how four national newspapers in Turkey cover agricultural news.
Findings reported in the Journal of Agricultural Sciences (Tarim Bilimieri Dergisi) during 2025 revealed that ideological approaches created significant differences in coverage. “While agricultural policies stand out as the most covered theme, sustainable agriculture and food safety issues are not sufficiently addressed.” Authors offered suggestions for increasing the quality of agricultural journalism.
You can read “Examining agricultural journalism in the context of food safety in Türkiye: Comparative analysis of newspaper news” by open access.
34 resources to help rural and other journalists cover protests and stay safe in person and online
The Society of Environmental Journalists offers a useful list of articles and other resources involving safety challenges such as these. Also, this document explains how journalists can report “intimidation, interference or worse” to the Freedom of the Press Foundation tracker.
You can read “Covering protests and staying safe in person and online” by open access.
Consumers value “gut health,” but aren’t sure what it means
A research update from the International Food Information Council (IFIC) reports that gut health “has moved from the sidelines of wellness culture into the mainstream.” However, “consumer enthusiasm has outpaced consumer understanding. Nearly two-thirds of Americans (64%) consider gut health a high or extremely high priority, yet how they define it is deeply personal, often shaped more by tangible everyday experiences than less immediate outcomes.”
This research report also sheds light on information sources in which Americans place most confidence about gut health.
You can read “More than a (gut) feeling: Americans agree gut health matters, but not on what it means” by open access.
How Midwest USA farmers use public and private information sources
A 2023 article in Agriculture and Human Values explored this topic related to farmers in four Corn Belt states. Among the findings:
- Farmers gain valued information from both public and private sources.
- Public information sources, while identified as important, were accessed less frequently, appealed to farmers with stronger environmental interests, and appealed to older farmers.
Authors identified potentials for extension and other public sources.
The abstract of “Navigating the information landscape: Public and private information source access by Midwest farmers” is available, but the full text is not available by open access.
If you are interested in reading the full text, please invite our help at acdc@library.illinois.edu.
Communicator events approaching
Here are upcoming events you may find helpful, including contact information you can use for details. We welcome suggestions or revisions for this calendar.
September 11, 2026
Deadline for presentation proposals involving the annual Institute of the Cooperative Communicators Association (CCA), June 6-8, 2027, in New Orleans, Louisiana.
September 16-19, 2026
“Crowning achievements.” Annual conference of the Canadian Farm Writers Federation (CFWF) in London, Ontario, Canada.
September 16-20, 2026
World Congress of the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists (IFAJ) in Croatia.
September 25-28, 2026
Science Writers 2026 Conference of the National Association of Science
Writers (NASW) in Corvallis, Oregon.
October 8, 2026, 2026
Harvest Lunch of the British Guild of Agricultural Journalists in London, England.
October 11-14, 2026
Annual meeting of the Communication Officers of State Departments of Agriculture (COSDA) in Cambridge, Maryland.
October 16, 2026
Call for posters for the National Agricultural Communications Symposium (NACS) in conjunction with the Southern Association of Agricultural Scientists in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. February 7-8, 2027. For more information, contact Dr. Katie Sanders at catherine.sanders@ncsu.edu.
October 18-21, 2026
2026 Conference of the International Food Wine Travel Writers Association in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
November 18-19, 2026
Fall Virtual Conference of the Association for Communication Excellence in Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Life and Human Sciences (ACE).
November 18-20, 2026
Annual convention of the National Association of Farm Broadcasting (NAFB) in Kansas City, Missouri.
The communicator’s accountability
We close this issue of ACDC News with a thought about communications in Poor Richard’s Almanac:
“As we must account for every word, so we must account for every silence.”
ACDC is a deep and open resource for you, so please feel free to invite our help as you search for information, local to global. You are welcomed to follow us on Bluesky @illinoisacdc.bsky.social. And please suggest (or send) agricultural communications documents we might add to this unique and valued international collection. We welcome them in hard copy (sent to Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, 510 ACES Library, 1101 S. Goodwin Avenue, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL 61801) – or in electronic format sent to acdc@library.illinois.edu.