Ray Elizabeth – Page 4 – Funk Library

ACDC News – Issue 07-04

Posted on January 1, 2007 by Elizabeth Ray

Award-winning network of internet kiosks serves 3.5M farmers in India.

A recent news report about eChoupal helps stretch the mind of innovative rural communicators. eChoupal is a network of more than 5,200 internet kiosks established by ITC, one of India’s largest exporters of agricultural commodities. Using the kiosks in 31,000 villages, rural families can, in the local language:

Gather information about market prices and weather
Learn farm management techniques
Check input costs
Order farm supplies and sell farm products
Gather healthcare and educational information

This initiative has received several awards for innovative use of satellite communications, solar energy and other information technologies serving rural people.

Title: Indian farmers gain from internet access
Web site: http://www.echoupal.com

When media air VNRs and ANRs without disclosure.

Are you monitoring discussions about appropriate use of video news releases (VNRs) and audio news releases (ANRs), as used to convey information about food, agriculture and rural interests? If so, you may find interest in this report added recently from the Center for Media and Democracy. Please let us know (docctr@library.uiuc.edu) of other reports that come to your attention.

Title: Video news releases: the ball’s in the FCC’s court
Posted at: http://www.prwatch.org/node/3790

How consumers respond to information on food labels.

We find useful reports of research about this subject from the United Kingdom. The Food Standards Agency recently reported several insights it identified through research about consumers’ response to marketing terms used in food labeling.

Some respondents claimed they would choose between similar food products based on these terms: quality, finest and homemade. However, other pieces of information on the label were cited as more influential.

Nearly one-third of the respondents felt that the brand was the most important piece of information when making a purchase decision.
One-fourth felt that information about ingredients was most important.
Only 6 percent claimed that the product descriptor (such as natural, fresh, pure) was most important.

Title: Consumer research on marketing terms
Posted at: http://www.foodstandards.gov.uk/foodlabelling/researchandreports/labelresearch0106

“What is the best way to get your message across to people?”

Geoffrey Moss, veteran communicator in New Zealand, tells us he usually asks that question when he runs workshops. After discussion, he explains, participants realize there is no “best way” in a general sense.

Geoffrey recently contributed to the ACDC collection some informative books and tip sheets to help communicators choose appropriate messages and media. They include:

“Get your message across“
“Modify your message for each audience“
“Different ways to get publicity“
Persuasive ways: “tricks of the trade” to get your ideas across
A rolling stone (featuring the author’s career experiences)

He has led workshops involving more than 2,500 participants in many settings including Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Samoa and Singapore. In Singapore he has run 31 workshops for Asian managers at the Singapore Institute of Management.

“The participants have taught me much,” he says. “I have indeed been fortunate.”

Agriculture — rooted deeply in typographic history.

Printed newspapers trace back nearly 1,300 years in China, according to a macro history published in the Gazette: the International Journal for Communications Studies. And, according to researcher S. A. Gunaratne, a treatise on agriculture (Nong Shu) contained the first description of movable type in the printing process. That advancement took place in China during 1313.

Title: Paper, printing and the printing press

Cultural history of some words we use often.

Thanks to Professor Steve Shenton for alerting us to a brief but fascinating cultural history of key words we use often. It comes from Raymond Williams as a one-page appendix in his book, The country and the city, published by Oxford University Press in 1973.

Williams described the derivations and modern meanings of terms such as: country, city, suburb, rural, farm and pastoral.

Title: Country and the city

Communicator activities approaching

March 29, 2007
“The nuts and bolts of ag communication.” Midwest regional design and writing workshop sponsored by Livestock Publications Council (LPC) and American Agricultural Editors’ Association (AAEA) in Des Moines, Iowa.
Information: dianej@flash.net

March 29-31, 2007
Winter meeting of the Agricultural Relations Council (ARC) in Corpus Christi, Texas.
Information: www.agrelationscouncil.org

April 11-13, 2007
“Think big.” 2007 Agri-Marketing Conference (and 50th Anniversary observance) of the National Agri-Marketing Association (NAMA) in Dallas, Texas.
Information: www.nama.org/amc

April 15-17, 2007
Annual meeting of North American Agricultural Journalists (NAAJ) in Washington, D.C. Information: www.naaj.net/meeting.html

May 1-3, 2007
Eighteenth annual meeting of the Turf and Ornamental Communicators Association (TOCA) in Savannah, Georgia.
Information: www.toca.org

Here’s some ‘creep’y advice for communicators.

We close this issue of ACDC News with an expression that caught the ear of communicator Amy Keith McDonald during a 2006 meeting of the Agricultural Relations Council. She later shared it on the ARC ACCESS Board Blog.

“Scope creep” – describes the inevitable changing parameters of a project as changes are made by a client or better (alternative) options are presented.

Advice for communicators: “Scope creep can be good, but always keep communication between Clients and Agencies current, including cost change, timelines changes, etc.”
Posted at http://www.agrelationscouncil.org/blog.html

Please get in touch with us when you see in this collection interesting items you cannot find, locally or online.

Tell us the titles and/or document numbers. We will help you gain access.
Best regards and good searching.

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

February 2007

ACDC News – Issue 07-03

Posted on January 1, 2007 by Elizabeth Ray

“How the Swiss media report on farming issues.”

We appreciate receiving notice from Markus Rediger about an article of this title in a 2006 issue of AGRARForschung, the Journal of Swiss Agricultural Research. Authors analyzed the frequency, depth and range of agricultural coverage in 586 newspaper articles and 55 television features during 2004.

“In general, the coverage consists of factual journalism such as news articles and reports,” according to the summary. “Opinion-based journalism, such as comment or analysis, rarely features in the coverage. … The reporting across all media analyzed in the study can be described as ranging from balanced to positive in 2004. However, judging from the scope and volume of coverage, topics selected and journalistic presentation, it may be concluded that media coverage of farming issues is somewhat superficial.”

Title: How the Swiss media report on farming issues
Summary posted in English, German and French at: http://www.agrarforschung.ch/en/inh_det.php?id=1150

Some topics we helped ACDC users explore during 2006.

We always enjoy getting requests from professional communicators, students, researchers, teachers and others as they search for information about agriculture-related communications. Here is a scattering of topics among the dozens we helped address during the past year:

When farmers establish web sites for direct marketing
How folk media can fit into today’s rural communications
Surveys about farmers’ use of media
Consumer information services offered by Extension
Rural-urban conflict in the 1920s and 1930s
How to enliven annual meetings of rural organizations
Information services for migrant farm workers
Generic pork advertising
Impact of environmental education on conservation practices
Ethical relations among agricultural reporters, publishers and advertisers
Contemporary mass media portrayals of farmers
Relationship agri-marketing
Crisis communication planning
Core competencies needed by professional agricultural communicators

Please call on us (docctr@library.uiuc.edu) whenever we can help you search.

How Europeans and Asians view risks of avian flu.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U. S. Department of Health and Human Services, reported this month the results of research conducted during late 2005. Results are based on surveys among 3,436 residents living in five European countries and three East Asian areas.

You can see a report of findings at:
http://www.cdc.gov/eid/content/13/2/288.htm

Is information technology ready for the avian flu?

Not in the U. S., according to an article in a recent issue of Computerworld. It cites findings of a survey by the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions during early December 2006. Among 163 U. S. employers surveyed, most (68 percent) said their companies are very concerned about a flu pandemic. However, only 52 percent said they have adequately planned to protect themselves from the effects of a flu pandemic. Only 45 percent felt confident their companies are prepared to manage a flu pandemic outbreak should one occur.

“Ultimately, dealing with a pandemic is a problem that must be coordinated at the executive management level through a cross-functional team,” author Robert L. Mitchell concluded. Information technology will not be the full solution. “But it is part of the solution. And in a true emergency, information systems might just be the glue that keeps employees in touch – and holds the organization together.”

Title: Heads in the sand: IT isn’t ready for the bird flu
Posted at: http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=277375

How public/private contracting for agricultural extension is working.

An international conference paper presented last year analyzed outcomes of such contract arrangements in the many countries using them.

Authors William Rivera and Gary Alex observed that contracting for extension is a positive development and a vital strategy for agricultural knowledge transfer. However, “we stress that it should not be considered, and cannot be, an answer to unresolved management problems or the incapacities within an institution. In short, despite its advantages and benefits, contracting is no panacea.”

Title: Contracting for agricultural extension
Posted at http://www.aiaee.org/2006/Accepted/570.pdf

‘Raw is natural’ messages worry food technologists.

We recently added a report that aired concerns about a disconnect between public perception and the reality of food processing. Speaking at a 2006 meeting of the Institute of Food Technologists, Dean Cliver noted:

“After we organize our safety efforts in more elegant ways, we’re still back to the idea that processing is important. [But] the consuming public is being told that totally unprocessed foods are doing them good.”

Title: Conflicting food messages may put consumers at risk
Archived June 27, 2006, at http://archives.foodsafetynetwork.ca/fsnet-archives.htm

Communicator activities approaching

March 12-13, 2007
“Out of ideas for writing, photography and layout/design?” Midwest Regional Workshop of the Cooperative Communicators Association (CCA) in Louisville, Kentucky USA.
Information: Tammy Simmons at tsimmons@kaec.org or 800-357-5232

March 29-31, 2007
Winter meeting of the Agricultural Relations Council (ARC) in Corpus Christi, Texas.
Information: www.agrelationscouncil.org

April 11-13, 2007
“Think big.” 2007 Agri-Marketing Conference (and 50th Anniversary observance) of the National Agri-Marketing Association (NAMA) in Dallas, Texas.
Information: www.nama.org/amc

April 15-17, 2007
Annual meeting of North American Agricultural Journalists (NAAJ) in Washington, D.C.
Information: www.naaj.net/meeting.html

Hear the laughing dog.

Yes, researchers are still busy trying to help us communicate with animals. The 2007 edition of the Old Farmer’s Almanac alerted us to recent findings by animal behaviorist Patricia Simonet. According to the report:

“When researchers played recordings of dog ‘laughter’ (a breathy exhalation made by pooches), barking and pacing canines at an animal shelter calmed down instantly.”
You can hear a brief sample of the “laughter” sound at: http://www.laughing-dog.org

Please get in touch with us when you see in this collection interesting items you cannot find, locally or online.

Tell us the titles and/or document numbers. We will help you gain access.
Best regards and good searching.

February 2007

ACDC News – Issue 07-02

Posted on January 1, 2007 by Elizabeth Ray

New series about covering threats and crises related to food and agriculture.

Last month the Center staff completed a four-part series on this subject. We did so through generous support from the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists. You can read these four professional development features by using the live links below. The features are part of an IFAJ/ACDC partnership that began during early 2006.

Views about the “deskilling” of consumers.

In earlier issues of ACDC News we have called attention to debates about the progressive “deskilling” of farmers. Similarly, we are actively monitoring reports and views about what is sometimes described as “consumer deskilling” in the food system. Both topics involve agriculture-related information, and the sharing and use of it. They hold interest for agricultural journalists and communicators. Here we feature two perspectives reflected in recent literature:

I. Is loss of practical cooking skills a tragedy? Not necessarily.

Authors of an article in Food Service Technology examined what happened to food preparation skills in the United Kingdom during a 20th Century marked by massive social and technological changes. They concluded that loss of such skills, while regrettable, is not tragic. “All is not lost,” they said, “if there remains an interest in the meal as an event, and its preparation is a creative process.” They found hope in the interest created by an abundance of television cookery programs, celebrity chefs and a steady flow of meal recipes and food-related reports published in magazines and newspapers.

Title: Deskilling the domestic kitchen
Posted on the open web at: http://home.edu.helsinki.fi/~palojoki/english/nordplus/Phil%20%20COOKING%20SKILLS%5B1%5D.pdf

II. Watch out for consequences and threats.

“Consumer deskilling in its various dimensions carries enormous consequences for the restructuring of agro-food systems and for consumer sovereignty, diets and health.” So argued JoAnn Jaffe and Michael Gertler in their 2006 article published in Agriculture and Human Values. They pointed with concern to threats such as:

Loss of family health and longevity, disease risk, hunger (in some settings) and low value for money
Concentration of power and control in the food chain
Arrested development, local and international
Loss of connection to the land and key components of the culture
Undermined family life

The authors observed that the “agro-food industry has waged a double disinformation campaign to manipulate and re-educate consumers while appearing to respond to consumer demand.” They found hope in the varied forms and sources of resistance, including health food cooperatives, organic agriculture, food security, urban gardening, anti-hunger initiatives, wildlife conservation and other social movements.

Title: Victual vicissitudes

How bioscience firms are addressing ethical decision-making.

A 2006 article in PLoS Medicine journal reported results of a two-year study that involved interviews with more than 100 managers and executives of 13 bioscience companies. These companies were approached because they were known to have used mechanisms for ethical decision making. Here are five approaches identified. All require effective communicating:

Ethical leadership – via ethics departments and leader emphasis on ethics
External expertise – via consultants or advisory boards
Internal mechanisms – via hiring practices focused on ethics, employee performance evaluations, ethics education, forums for discussion and ethical reinforcement techniques
External engagement – via ethics-related agreements with suppliers/partners, transparency with stakeholders, transparency of science, strategic philanthropy and efforts to influence industry standards and regulations
Ethics evaluation and reporting mechanisms

Title: Lessons on ethical decision making from the bioscience industry
Posted at: http://tinyurl.com/2oee7j

Driving a TeleTractor.

A recent article in Technology in Society described use of wireless information technology for agricultural producers on the move. This TeleTractor project, supported by the UK government and described briefly in the article, is designed to “create offices in tractor cabs.” The goal is to improve business activity by providing data and information to producers in the field.

Title: Diffusing wireless applications in a mobile world

“We will carry the agricultural school to the farmer.”

With that stated goal James Wilson, U. S. Department of Agriculture Secretary, announced plans nearly 95 years ago to develop what soon became a nationwide Cooperative Extension Service. A 1912 Chicago Tribune newspaper article we added recently explained that the new program would provide farm management study to farmers in the North. The planned program used a “co-operative demonstration” approach already introduced with promise in the South.

Title: Teach farmers at home

Communicator activities approaching

March 29-31, 2007
Winter meeting of the Agricultural Relations Council (ARC) in Corpus Christi, Texas.
Information: www.agrelationscouncil.org

April 11-13, 2007
“Think big.” 2007 Agri-Marketing Conference (and 50th Anniversary observance) of the National Agri-Marketing Association (NAMA) in Dallas, Texas.
Information: www.nama.org/amc

A New Year’s tip about writing advertising copy.

We close this issue of ACDC News with an enduring piece of advice offered in Agricultural Advertising magazine nearly 101 years ago:

“In writing an advertisement,
tell the truth;
then if you cannot think of anything else,
repeat it.”

Please get in touch with us when you see in this collection interesting items you cannot find, locally or online.

Tell us the titles and/or document numbers. We will help you gain access.
Best regards and good searching.

January 2007

ACDC News – Issue 07-01

Posted on January 1, 2007 by Elizabeth Ray

Happy New Year and welcome to this first 2007 issue of news from the Agricultural Communications Documentation Center.

We look forward to helping you communicate effectively and grow professionally in this dynamic field of interest during the year ahead.

Starting the New Year at a new hallmark.

Last month the ACDC collection passed the 30,000-document mark. Who might have believed this possible when the concept of an electronically-managed resource featuring agriculture-related communications began to take shape more than 25 years ago?

Our thoughts turn in appreciation to dozens of graduate research assistants, document contributors, associates and other friends who have given generously of their skills, support and encouragement.
And our thoughts turn ahead to helping identify and share this rapidly-growing, global body of knowledge that is increasingly essential to societies.

Successful first year of partnership with IFAJ.

Last June we announced a new education partnership with the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists. Since then, our Center has provided a variety of resources to help IFAJ members grow, professionally.

If you are interested in seeing the activities carried out during this pilot phase of the partnership you can use this live link to read the 2006 Review.

Offering virtual tours of Canadian livestock farms.

“Visit a dairy farm without leaving your home,” read the headline of a recent press release from two Canadian farm organizations. Dairy Farmers of Canada (DFC) and the Ontario Farm Animal Council (OFAC) have announced bilingual virtual tours of two types of dairy farms: one featuring a tie stall barn and one a free stall barn. Planners consider them “an important way of making agriculture more interesting and accessible to the general public.”

Visitors can take the dairy farm tours at:
www.dairygoodness.ca

In addition, visitors can take 13 virtual tours of farms that feature a variety of other classes of livestock – from beef cattle to goats and from elk to veal.
www.farmissues.com/virtualtour

Title: Visit a dairy farm without leaving your home

Budget at least 15 percent for communicating.

“Every protected area conservation project should have at least 15% of its budget designated for communication,” said Marco Sanchez Lira in a paper we added recently to the ACDC collection. Furthermore, “this should be included from the beginning of the project, with the understanding that communication is not the solution to problems arising from specific occurrences but is an integral component of the whole process.”

The paper focused on efforts of the National Commission for Natural Protected Areas in Mexico.

Title: Strategic communication and visual identity
Posted at: www.iucn.org/themes/cec/themes/protected_cases.htm

No real pre-requisites for innovating.

Farmers innovate regardless of their farm size, farming enterprises or amount of farm experience. Viktor Janev came to that conclusion after studying farmer innovation in Macedonia.

His report in LEISA Magazine concluded: “I believe that farmer innovation needs to be seen as the basic cornerstone of any research and extension system.”

Title: Old skills and new ideas
Posted at www.leisa.info

How media portray immigrant farm workers.

A recent article in Cultural Geographies revealed thought-provoking findings about media coverage of farm workers in rural Ontario, Canada. Several “interlocking narratives” emerged from researcher Harald Bauder’s content analysis of Ontario daily newsprint media between 1996 and 2002:

“Offshore workers are represented in the newsprint media as alien elements in the village and agricultural landscapes of rural Ontario.”
“On the workplace/living space scale, migrants are valorized as workers but devalued as human beings, making them a desired labour force but unwanted people.”
“On the farm/community scale, migrants are depicted as a structural necessity for Ontario’s farming operations and a valuable asset to the local retail sector, but as a nuisance and cultural threat to the rural community.”
“On the Canada/homeland scale…the economic inferiority of the country of origin justifies substandard working conditions in Canada as economic opportunities for the foreign workers and as development assistance to the origin countries.”

Title: Landscape and scale in media representations

Communicator activities approaching

February 5-6, 2007
Agricultural Communications Section of the 2007 Southern Association of Agricultural Scientists (SAAS) conference in Mobile, Alabama USA.
Conference information: http://www.saasinc.org
Ag Com Section web site: http://agnews.tamu.edu/saas/

March 12-13, 2007
Cooperative Communicators Association (CCA) Midwest Region Workshop in Louisville, Kentucky USA.
Information: Tammy Simmons at 800-357-5232

March 29-31, 2007
Winter meeting of the Agricultural Relations Council (ARC) in Corpus Christi, Texas.
Information: www.agrelationscouncil.org

Appreciating the warm fuzzies.

We always appreciate learning the experiences and reactions of those who use the resources and services of the Center. Here is some of the recent feedback that encouraged us:

“Wow–a lot of info.”
“I just want you to know how much I enjoyed the latest ACDC News. It’s jammed with good stuff!”
“This is great. Thank you so much for the quick response.”
“I am sure this database will be helpful in our programming and I have shared it with our staff.”
“Thanks for making the effort to keep us all connected.”
“I got good materials from the web sites you suggested to me.”
“Perfect! This is just what I was looking for.”
“The list of contributors to the collection looks like a Who’s Who of dev comm!”
“I have appreciated everyone’s willingness to help a graduate student find the resources I need for my thesis.”
“Very cool name by the way – rock on, ACDC”

Please let us know if you would rather not receive ACDC News.

As Year 2007 begins, we want to tell you how much we appreciate your interest in this e-newsletter. We hope it is helpful, interesting and convenient for you. However, we do not want to send something to you that you would rather not receive. So at any time, please let us know if you would like to be removed from the list. You can do so by contacting us at docctr@library.uiuc.edu Also, let us know if your e-mail address changes.

Would you like to suggest other possible readers?

We will be pleased to send ACDC News to your associates or other persons you think might like to receive it. You can either refer them to us or send us their names and e-mail addresses.

Also, get in touch with us when you see in this collection interesting items you cannot find, locally or online.

Tell us the titles and/or document numbers. We will help you gain access.
Best regards and good searching.

January 2007

ACDC News – Issue 06-24

Posted on January 2, 2006 by Elizabeth Ray

Conflicts over meat and milk from cloned animals.

An Associated Press article added recently to the ACDC collection describes a fight brewing in the U. S. as the Food and Drug Administration considers approving meat and milk from cloned animals. The article cites views of support from the biotechnology industry, worries of dairy producers and opposition from consumer groups.

Title: Cloned meat and milk spark consumer fears

An analysis of Dutch agricultural journals.

We have added to the collection an analysis investigating how structure and conduct determine performance of the agricultural trade journal market in the Netherlands. Researcher Richard van der Wurff based his analysis upon 1991-2000 data involving an annual average of 74 Dutch-language agricultural periodicals providing information about professional farming activities. Among his findings:

On average, the journals relied on subscriptions for 60 percent of their income, on advertising for 40 percent.
Dutch farmers received an average of six different journals.
This publishing market was found to be moderately competitive.
The market encompasses 34 market segments.
A lack of competition found in individual market segments tends to exert a negative effect on diversity.

“These results explain why agricultural information specialists worry about the negative impact of perceived monopolization of market segments on information content, although the market itself is competitive (at the overall level).”

Title: Structure, conduct and performance of the agricultural trade journal market in The Netherlands

Looking back at the adoption of rBST. We have added to the ACDC collection some research reports of recent years about U. S. dairy producers’ experiences with recombinant bovine somatotropin (rBST). It is a genetically engineered hormone that stimulates treated cows to produce more milk. These studies examined adoption levels and trends, as well as impacts of adoption on milk production per cow and profitability. Authors also identified some factors involved in producers’ decisions about the technology.

Title: The adoption and impact of bovine somatotropin on U. S. dairy farms
Title: That was the juggernaut…that wasn’t: rBST adoption in the United States

How farmers are adapting to closer urban neighbors.

Research among 16,000 Canadian farmers helps reveal how they are adopting new environmental practices on the rural-urban fringe. University of Guelph researcher Alfons Weersink found farmers “becoming keener to use programs that can help guide and document a farm’s efforts to improve their environment.” Among the most popular approaches being taken:

Better odor controls
Soil sampling to check nutrient availability and improve fertilizer use
Improved irrigation methods for water management
Manure storage practices
Better pesticide management plans

Title: Farmers adapt as the city moves into the country
Posted at: http://fare.uoguelph.ca/events/documents/FarmersAdapt_GuelphMercury_Weersink.pdf

Getting grassroots voices online.

A memorial lecture by Anuradha Vittachi invites fresh thinking about how new media technologies can help create positive change, globally. Vittachi is co-founder of the OneWorld Network, which supports human rights and sustainable development. She is also an award-winning television documentary maker.

Her lecture featured creative ways in which media technologies help give voice to local people and their needs. Among the examples cited:

A young Sri Lankan gathers sea wave and weather data over satellite via a local telecentre, translates it into Tamil and reads it into an audio file which is picked up in the nearby fishing village and aired through loudspeakers planted along the shore. The information helps fishermen decided whether they can safely go out.
Mothers’ Listening Clubs use solar-powered radios to exchange views and information, based on the listeners’ own agendas.
Local residents produce videos that not only serve them locally, but also may help reveal needs and issues, internationally, through central video databanks online. Through video productions they can, for example, record and display odd behavior in sick animals, record knowledge about locally-bred plant varieties and document corruption and human abuses.

“There are so many ways now to support the people at the sharp end of most of these tragedies,” Vittachi said, with regard to local rural crises and challenges. “They need to tell their stories for their sake…and also for our sake.”

Title: Message from the village
Posted at http://www.oneworld.net/article/view/51114/1/

Consumer acceptance of ethanol-blended gasoline.

Research reported in Biomass and Bioenergy during 2004 assessed Oklahoma consumers’ knowledge and perception of ethanol-blended gasoline. Among the findings:

58 percent perceived that ethanol-blended gasoline is better for the environment than gasoline.
59 percent indicated that a reduction in foreign oil dependency was the greatest potential benefit in using ethanol-blended gasoline.
60 percent perceived that ethanol would have a positive effect on Oklahoma ‘s economy.
Cost was the most important variable for consumers when deciding to purchase it.

Title: Acceptance of ethanol-blended gasoline in Oklahoma

Communicator activity approaching

New wings for adventuresome minds.

We close this final 2006 issue of ACDC News with one of the inspiring rural communications photos that came to our attention during the year.

It is the cover photo for an e-book, ICT in agriculture: perspectives of technological innovation, edited by E. Gelb and A. Offer. Photographer Edward Galagan captured what we consider a fine example of new wings for adventuresome minds, everywhere.

You can view it at: http://departments.agri.huji.ac.il/economics/gelb-main.html

Please get in touch with us when you see in this collection interesting items you cannot find, locally or online.

Reach us at docctr@aces.uiuc.edu. Tell us the titles and/or document numbers. We will help you gain access.
Best regards and good searching.

December 2006

ACDC News – Issue 06-23

Posted on January 2, 2006 by Elizabeth Ray

Less protesting, more collaborating.

“Not long ago, when it was still the in-your-face Environmental Defense Fund, the group would have looked for a company to sue, boycott or at least protest. Nowadays, it is looking for companies that can help it out.”

Claudia H. Deutsch used that lead-in to introduce readers of the New York Times to examples of “a new spirit of compromise” between corporations and environmentalists. Cases cited include collaborations that involve food safety, endangered forests, biotechnology and other topics related to agriculture.

Title: Companies and critics try collaboration
Posted on the open web at www.forestethics.org/article.php?id=1466

And a more engaging approach by Parks Canada.

Increased collaboration also is the theme of a new communications strategy by that government agency to engage Canadians in managing their natural resources. Dawn Bronson described this strategy in a chapter of Communicating Protected Areas. The author reported these early results:

A stronger, more cohesive national identity
Improved relations with key stakeholder groups
Better issue management
Recognition of the importance of education – building support from the next generation of Canadians

Title: Engaging Canadians
Posted at: www.iucn.org/themes/cec/themes/protected_cases.htm

Payoffs to telecommuting from rural and urban areas.

We have added to the ACDC collection a working paper about home use of computers and the Internet in rural and urban U. S. markets. The Iowa State University researchers found:

“Differences in broadband access explain three-fourths of the gap in telecommuting between urban and rural markets. Correcting for endogeneity, telecommuters and other IT users do not earn significantly more than otherwise observationally comparable workers. Instead, it is the already highly skilled and highly paid workers that are the most likely to telecommute, not that they earn more because they telecommute. The results suggest that as broadband access improves in rural markets, the urban-rural gap in telecommuting will diminish.”

Title: Broadband access, telecommuting and the urban-rural digital divide
Posted at: www.econ.iastate.edu/research/webpapers/paper_12495_06002.pdf

Young Americans “clueless in the kitchen.”

Results of a national survey suggest that “while most 18-34 year olds have some concept of proper kitchen protocol, there are distinct gaps in their knowledge.” Here are the two biggest kitchen mysteries (and communications opportunities) identified in this survey sponsored by the American Plastics Council:

• Keeping and using leftovers. One-third (35 percent) of respondents cited this as their single biggest kitchen mystery.
• Storing frozen food. When asked about freezer storage, 32 percent said knowing “what to store food in to prevent freezer burn” is the biggest mystery.

Title: Clueless in the kitchen
Posted at: www.prnewswire.com/mnr/plastics/25003

“Whither the fight against fake news?”

That question introduced a 2005 report we entered recently from the Center for Media and Democracy, publisher of PR Watch. The report focused on discussions about regulations involving video news releases (VNRs).

One aspect involved concerns about the balance and appropriateness of government-funded VNRs. An example cited in the report centered on VNRs released by the U. S. Department of Agriculture in connection with a controversial trade agreement with Central America.

Posted at: http://www.prwatch.org/node/3790

What to teach aspiring communicators during an era of globalization.

In a recent issue of Glocal Times, Nora Quebral focused on implications of globalization for the undergraduate curriculum in development communication. She suggested seven features of a model curriculum that can address the challenging implications of globalization. Among the features she cited:

Encourages openness to diverse ideas coming from many sources of knowledge.
Grounds students in the basics of development in general “and on the particulars of economic, social, political, cultural, moral and spiritual development, taught in integrative courses.”
Teaches students the principles, values and skills that will prepare them for a profession of service.
Integrates information technology into the curriculum as an added tool.

Title: Development communication in a borderless world
Posted at http://webzone.k3.mah.se/projects/gt2/viewarticle.aspx?articleID=40&issueID=5

Surprises. Where we sometimes find valuable documents.

The journals in which we locate information about agriculture-related communications continue to impress us by their diversity. Here are a few recent examples of such journals:

EuroChoices
Tourism Management
Computer Systems News
Congressional Quarterly Weekly Report
Social Science and Medicine
Journal of Psychosocial Nursing and Mental Health Services
Information Development
French History

Communicator activity approaching

Holiday greetings – and thanks – from the ACDC team.

All of us in the Agricultural Communications Documentation Center extend special greetings to you at this holiday season. And thank you for your interest, encouragement and assistance during 2006 in developing this special information resource. Volunteers and contributors provide much of what helps it grow and serve.

Coordinators:

Sara Thompson, Center
Joe Zumalt, Administrative
Ryan Rogers, Research Programming

Student assistants:

Kelly Wagahoff
Kathy Novotney

Associates:

Liz Kellaway
Paul Hixson
Jim Evans

Please get in touch with us when you see in this collection interesting items you cannot find, locally or online.

Reach us at docctr@aces.uiuc.edu. Tell us the titles and/or document numbers. We will help you gain access.
Best regards and good searching.

December 2006

ACDC News – Issue 06-22

Posted on January 2, 2006 by Elizabeth Ray

A battlefield of knowledge: face-offs of farmers and experts.

Researcher Julia Guivant explored that dimension through a case analysis among farmers and their key informants in southern Brazil. The topic involved use of crop pesticides.

Farmers interviewed “tended to oppose their knowledge to that of the experts or technicians (both salesmen and extension agents) because they considered their knowledge to be more appropriate to the everyday needs of the crops.” In turn, technicians working in the area “found it very difficult to influence farmers to use lower doses and less toxic pesticides.”

According to Guivant, “One important conclusion for participatory methodologies is to start with an understanding of farmers’ risk perception, their hybrid local knowledge, and the power and conflicts that are present in the relationship between farmers and experts.”

Title: Pesticide use, risk perception and hybrid knowledge
Posted at http://www.csafe.org.nz/ijsaf/archive/vol11/JulieIJSAFarticle-formatted.pdf

“Lives of the poor and unfamous.”

Ron Wall used that title to introduce readers of The ByLine (American Agricultural Editors’ Association) to the photography of Mary Ellen Mark.

“Shot mostly in rich black-and-white, Mark’s images capture the rawness of living out on the desperate fringes of rural and urban society, but there is nothing exploitive about them. These are images of real people living real lives. And for photographers working in agriculture, isn’t that exactly what you hope to achieve each time you look through a viewfinder?”

You can see international samples of her photography (including rodeo and circus settings) by visiting the Gallery section of her web site:
http://www.maryellenmark.com

UK consumer attitudes to food and food safety.

The latest (Wave 6, 2005) in a series of public surveys by the Food Standards Agency, United Kingdom, has been added to the ACDC collection. Among the findings:

The majority (69 percent) expressed some concern about food safety issues and 22 percent were “very concerned.”
Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE, or Mad Cow disease) and food containing genetically modified ingredients “appeared to be less top of mind as a concern.”
Results showed increasing concern over the amount of salt, fat and sugar present in food since those aspects were added to the survey in 2003.
“Over two-fifths of UK respondents considered that food safety had improved in the last year. This is consistent with the level observed in previous years.”

Posted at: http://www.foodstandards.gov.uk/multimedia/pdfs/casuk05.pdf

Marketing tools that U. S. agribusiness firms are using.

A recent article in Agri Marketing magazine describes results of Purdue University research about marketing patterns of mid-size agribusinesses in the U. S. This survey compared use of various marketing tools for capital products (such as tractors and buildings) and expendable products (such as seeds and fertilizers). Among the comparisons:

• Share of expenditures for print, radio and television.
• Share of expenditures for collateral materials, shows, public relations, direct marketing, gifts and company web sites.
• Share of expenditures for market research.

Title: Trends in marketing spending
Posted at http://www.agrimarketing.com/show_story.php?id=43346

Building personal relationships over the Internet – a key for agri-marketers.

According to a 2004 article in the Review of Agricultural Economics, this may be a key to expanding farmers’ e-commerce activity. Using 1999 survey data, researchers found that most agricultural input firms used company Web sites and adopted some type of Internet strategy. However, responses from managers of such firms led researchers to observe:

“Firms wanting to expand e-commerce sales to farmers must address the security and privacy concerns that make farmers hesitant regarding e-commerce. Firms must also overcome the difficulty of building personal relationships and providing after sales service over the Internet that served as barriers to farmer e-commerce adoption in 1999.”

Title: Internet and e-commerce adoption by agricultural input firms

“Rural Minnesota Radio”

Emerged recently from the Center for Rural Policy and Development, a non-partisan, not-for-profit policy research organization at St. Peter, Minnesota. Since February 2005 it has been producing programs of discussion and information on rural issues to residents. Some recent topics featured:

Small rural schools
Ethanol policies
Latino education
Jobs and job quality in rural areas
Rural health issues
Small town vision
Broadband access in rural communities

Programs are available to any Minnesota radio station free of charge.
Posted at: http://www.mnsu.edu/ruralmn/radio.php

Canadian college on wheels.

Historical dimensions of the ACDC collection got a boost recently from a New York Times article we added about Quebec ‘s farm train. In December, 1922, this train had just completed a six-week tour of the Province. More than 100,000 persons throughout Quebec had viewed the agricultural exhibits in a 14-car “college on wheels.” Educational materials featured livestock, field crops, poultry, horticulture, farm engineering, sugar making, beekeeping and home industries.

The Provincial Department of Agriculture, agricultural schools and Canadian Pacific Railway organized this traveling extension service. It proved “more successful than was ever hoped for.”

Title: Farm train

Communicator activity approaching

“We’ll all be rooned,” said Hanrahan, “before the year is out.”

We close this issue of ACDC News with a classic Australian Bush poem sent earlier this month by associate Liz Kellaway. She explains that the current drought there – one of the worst in a century – reminds her of the poem, “Said Hanrahan.” It examines the strange relationship farmers have with the weather.

It was “written in 1921 by a bloke called John O’Brien,” Liz reports. “I remember hearing it recited many times at community concerts and country gatherings as I was growing up.” You can read “Said Hanrahan” at: http://web.library.uiuc.edu/asp/agx/acdc/poem.html

Please get in touch with us when you see in this collection interesting items you cannot find, locally or online.

Reach us at docctr@aces.uiuc.edu. Tell us the titles and/or document numbers. We will help you gain access.
Best regards and good searching.

November 2006

ACDC News – Issue 06-21

Posted on January 2, 2006 by Elizabeth Ray

Are we communicating effectively?

That question got featured attention on June 13 when the Food Safety Network hosted its first food safety communicators’ conference. The event took place at the University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada. An international cadre of presenters focused on:

Consumers, society and risk analysis
Current and emerging issues
Lessons learned from crisis situations (three case reports)
Where the information high is leading
Using message and communication to promote change
Food safety – who’s in control?
Innovative approaches to food safety and agricultural communications

Summaries are available in proceedings that the Network announced recently.

Title: Getting the word out
Posted at: http://www.foodsafetynetwork.ca/articles/947/Conference_proceedings.pdf

Everett Rogers looks at a half-century of the diffusion model.

The name of this communications scholar probably is familiar to you – especially if you have become acquainted with research involving the diffusion and adoption of agricultural and other innovations. From the mid-1950s onward, he actively helped develop this broad stream of scholarship that has had international impact. Shortly before his passing, he shared a “prospective and retrospective look” at it in a Journal of Health Communication article we have added to the ACDC collection.

Title: A prospective and retrospective look at the diffusion model.

Managing a high-profile agricultural conflict.

A recent article in Public Relations Review examined conflict resolution processes, using media content analyses of four high-profile conflicts. One case involved conflict between the U. S. Department of Agriculture and African American farmers who alleged the USDA had discriminated against them.

Authors described the conflict as it played out in press coverage, summarized the resolution of it and offered perspectives on processes through which such conflicts are resolved.

Title: Going head to head

The costs to producers of not adopting Bt cotton.

An article in AgBioForum summarized the global impacts of Bt cotton adoption in the United States and China, based on results from a three-region model of the world cotton market. Findings prompted authors to conclude, “The results provide an indication of the costs of not adopting Bt cotton.” Reasons cited:

Bt cotton reduced insecticide use and per-pound production costs in both countries.

Higher yields and production contributed to a 1.4-cent per pound reduction in the world price of cotton.
Net global benefits were $836 million.
China captured 71 percent of this benefit, the U. S. captured 21 percent and the rest of the world captured the remainder.
Rest-of- the- world cotton purchasers benefited from lower cotton prices while returns to rest-of-the-world producers fell.

Title: Bt cotton adoption in the United States and China: International trade and welfare effects
Posted at: http://www.agbioforum.org/v9n2/v9n2a01-frisvold.htm

Teaching agricultural communications – without experience.

Agriscience teachers in Texas high schools raised concerns about this several years ago in a study examining the agricultural communications curriculum of that state. In a research report we added recently to the ACDC collection, authors reported:

“This study found that 67% of the teachers had little or no experience in the field of agricultural communications, but they agreed the competencies related to communication techniques and procedures should be incorporated in the agricultural communications curriculum. Agriscience teachers also indicated their perceived level of teaching skill pertaining to communication techniques and procedures ranged from fair to good.”

Title: Analyzing the Texas high school agricultural communications curriculum
Posted at: http://pubs.aged.tamu.edu/jsaer/pdf/Vol51/51-00-138.pdf

Reminiscences of an innovative agricultural communications educator.

We appreciate having received a new autobiography, “Rural Reminiscences,” by John H. Behrens, professor emeritus of agricultural communications, University of Illinois. The career section reveals his special creativity, leadership and service. Examples:

Creation of an instructional resources program for the College of Agriculture.

Early use of new presentation technologies – overhead projectors, cassette tape recorders and closed loop motion picture projectors – and multi-media learning units that students used in individual study carrels.
Early use for agriculture instruction of a technique called Telenet, through which one or several persons could address large groups over telephone lines from remote locations.
Three-projector, multi-screen slide presentations for showing and comparing concepts.
Development of a new course, Teaching College-Level Agriculture.
Leadership in developing communications facilities and services for agriculture universities in India, West Indies, Indonesia and Pakistan.

Title: Rural reminiscences.

And welcome to a future agricultural communicator.

We extend a hearty welcome to Kelly Wagahoff, new student associate in the Center. She is a sophomore in the agricultural communications curriculum with a concentration in advertising.

Raised in a small rural town – Raymond, Illinois – Kelly became interested in agricultural communications through her love of people and the agricultural industry. She gained communications experience in high school through writing and photography for her school yearbook and through news writing for her FFA chapter. She hopes one day to work in agricultural sales and marketing communications.

“My experience in the Agricultural Communications Documentation Center has been great so far,” she reports. “I feel it will help prepare me for my career because I have had the opportunity to look at and work with documents that will help me in the future. It will also be very beneficial once I start working with the online database because I will have a better understanding of formats and how to work with databases.”

Online auctions for farm products (more than 70 years ago).

We recently added to the ACDC collection a 1933 New York Times article that described plans for a new teletype network in the U.S., creating a daily nationwide auction of perishable farm products. This commercial enterprise, called Farmers Market System, was to be based in New York City.

“Descriptions of the products offered for sale by farmers would be flashed to all the market cities, where the buyers, gathered at the local headquarters of the organization, could immediately offer their bids, which in turn would be flashed to every other teletype centre. In this way definite markets would be assured for farmers before their produce has started its journey, and conditions of glut in certain sections of the country and scarcity in others would be avoided.”

Title: Teletype service planned for farms

Spinach takes a musical hit.

A musical video posted recently on YouTube suggests “The Spinach is Bad” and adds to the grief for spinach generated recently by E-coli problems in the U. S. According to the promotional brief, “deep in our brains we know it’s just not right to eat this vile little leaf.”

Title: The Spinach is Bad – music video
The video is posted at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLS5mKH5kks

Please get in touch with us when you see in this collection interesting items you cannot find, locally or online.

Reach us at docctr@aces.uiuc.edu. Tell us the titles and/or document numbers. We will help you gain access.
Best regards and good searching.

November 2006

ACDC News – Issue 06-20

Posted on January 1, 2006 by Elizabeth Ray

How U. S. producers are gathering farming information by radio and the Internet.

Here are some results from the National Association of Farm Broadcasting’s 2006 Qualitative Survey of Commercial Producers. Findings reflect research by Ag Media Research involving 1,003 Class 1+ producers in 12 Corn Belt states. Among the sampled producers:

Seventy percent with gross farm income (GFI) of $40,000-$100,000 and 78 percent of those with GFI of $250,000+ said they use radio daily for farming information.
Daily Internet use for farming information ranged from 26 percent (producers with $40,000-$100,000 GFI) to 42 percent ($250,000+ GFI).
Internet usage is limited by lack of access to high-speed connections. By GFI category, 16-34 percent reported having high-speed access.
Downloading of audio from the Internet for any purpose remained very low, at 2.3 percent overall.

Summary posted at: http://www.nafb.com/nafbfiles/AMRPresentation-5-23-06.ppt

Wide range in awareness of genetically modified foods.

This pattern appeared in a recent survey by Synovate, a global market research company, among 3,127 respondents in five countries.

“While 84 percent of Greeks are extremely or somewhat familiar with these products, 92 percent of Indonesians have not heard of that term. A majority of respondents in South Africa and Poland are also familiar with genetically modified foods, while 65 percent of Singaporeans profess ignorance.”

Title: GM foods ok as long as they taste good
Archived August 15, 2006, at http://archives.foodsafetynetwork.ca/agnet-archives.htm

When farmers establish web sites for direct marketing.

We have added to the ACDC collection a research paper identifying characteristics of northeastern U. S. farms that established web sites for direct marketing.

Researchers Alexander Baer and Cheryl Brown of West Virginia University found that some sales locations and product types, advertising diversity, high speed Internet connections and gross farm sales were significantly related to website adoption.

Title: Adoption of e-marketing by direct market farms

An innovation that farmers rejected.

Initial research suggested they would adopt a new soil nitrogen technology. However, a follow-up case analysis published in Technology in Society revealed otherwise:

“…the N-Trak late spring soil nitrogen test was not adopted and did not diffuse in Iowa as predicted by the manufacturer or university researchers. Despite growing environmental concerns and interest in sustainable agriculture, late spring soil nitrogen testing in general has not rapidly diffused in the state.”

Authors concluded that results point to the problem of generalizations that take place within innovation theory.

Title: Evolution of an agricultural innovation

Global coalition provides greater access to food and agriculture journals.

“More than 100 of the world’s poorest countries will now be able to access leading food and agriculture journals for little or no cost,” according to a recent report from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

A public-private partnership known as Global Online Research in Agriculture (AGORA) is making the program possible. Through it, 37 of the world’s leading science publishers, FAO and other partners are providing access to more than 900 agriculture-related journals. Through a recent expansion, AGORA is now serving eligible universities, colleges, research institutes, government ministries and non-governmental organizations in 106 countries that have a per capita GNP of US$3000 or less.

Title: The power of information – closing the knowledge gap
Posted at: http://www.fao.org/newsroom/en/news/2006/1000406/index.html

Welcome to a new ACDC associate.

We are delighted to welcome Kathy Novotney as a new student associate in the Center, on a part-time basis. A sophomore in the agricultural communications curriculum, she is getting acquainted with the Center, helping maintain the collection and processing new documents into it.

“With each different task, I see different aspects of agricultural communications,” Kathy reports. “The thousands of articles could provide me with a very rich background. I am enjoying working there a lot!”

Kathy found pleasure in her agriculture classes at Seneca ( Illinois ) High School and wanted to pursue a career in writing as well, so decided to combine those interests. Responsibilities as FFA chapter secretary and president helped her develop skills as a writer and speaker. During her senior year she wrote a monthly column for a local newspaper and, during the past summer, covered agriculture for the same paper.

The “loving pigs” and other classic rural photos by Joe Munroe.

Few readers may be familiar with Joe Munroe, a leading U. S. agricultural photographer during the mid-1900s. However, we believe many fans of skilled rural photography may appreciate images being preserved in the Joe Munroe Archives of the Ohio Historical Society.

Munroe’s rural photography appeared regularly in the respected Farm Quarterly magazine, beginning in the 1940s. His classic “loving pigs” photo graced one of the most memorable FQ covers and circulated internationally as a poster.

Title: Joe Munroe Archives
You can see the nuzzling pigs and a variety of other rural images in the Munroe collection. Visit: http://www.ohiohistory.org/resource/audiovis/munroe/munroe.html

Communicator activities approaching

November 9-11, 2006
Fifth Conference of the Asian Federation for Information Technology in Agriculture (AFITA) in Bangalore, India.
Information: http://www.insait.org/afita0.pdf

November 15-17, 2006
“Farm and rural horizons.” Annual convention of the National Association of Farm Broadcasting (NAFB) in Kansas City, Missouri USA.
Information: www.nafb.com

Crowing low. Roosting high.

We close this issue of ACDC News by featuring a conversation style that may interest rural reporters who like to hone their interviewing skills. It comes from a book, Cow People, and takes place in open range country during the early 1900s.

A traveling salesman comes upon a man of the land, J. M. Shannon.

“What part of this country do you live in, anyway?
“Oh, out yonder,” Mr. Shannon replied.
“What do you do?”
“I take care of things.”
“What sort of things?”
“Well, sheep, cattle, horses, windmills, fences – things like that.”
“You must live on a ranch.”
“That’s right.”
“Whose ranch”?
“People call it mine.”
“How big is it?”
“Several sections.”
“How many cattle do you own?”
“For taxable purposes, several hundred, I guess.”

Yes, you are correct. The traveler was talking to one of the richest men in west Texas.

Title: Cow people

Please get in touch with us when you see in this collection interesting items you cannot find, locally or online.

Reach us at docctr@aces.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 the Agricultural Communications Documentation Center. Feel free to invite our help as you search for information. And please suggest (or send) agricultural communications documents we might add to this unique collection. We welcome them in hard copy (sent to Ag Com Documentation Center, 510 LIAC, 1101 S. Goodwin Avenue, Urbana, IL 61801 ) or electronic form at docctr@aces.uiuc.edu

October 2006

ACDC News – Issue 06-19

Posted on January 1, 2006 by Elizabeth Ray

How cut flowers stay fresh, from Holland around the world.

Have you ever wondered how this is possible for such a highly perishable, fragile product? If you have, you will find helpful insights in an article published by the Journal of Strategic Information Systems. Authors Judith Heezen and Walter Baets describe the Dutch Flower Auctions and reveal the vital role of accurate, fast-moving information. They also analyze the potentials and impacts of information technologies, including video auctioning.

Title: Impact of electronic markets

International lessons for better farmer-scientist communicating.

A United Kingdom case study has led to suggestions “inspired by communication models in developing countries.” Writing in Science Communication, Belinda Clarke notes that farmers in Europe and North America tend to obtain information about new research from the agricultural press or, increasingly, from representatives of companies promoting new products. “There is little opportunity for direct communication between farmers and researchers.”

Clarke’s global tour identified several universal needs and prompted recommendations for:

More one-on-one interactions between farmers and researchers.
Movement away from one-way lecture formats.
More use of participatory approaches.

Title: Farmers and scientists
Abstract available free and full-text available by subscription from: http://scx.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/25/2/198

Cycling onto the Internet.

An article in Appropriate Technology describes an innovative way to provide agricultural information.

“When Laotian farmers in Phon Kham village want to see the price of rice in their nearest market town, they can do it now by accessing the Internet, but it’s a two person operation. The second person is needed to pedal a bicycle-driven generator which produces the power to work the computer. Once up and running, the farmer can see the price of rice, find out what the weather is doing or send an e-mail to a friend.”

Title: Laotian villagers cycle onto the Internet

Tips on photographing livestock.

Do you photograph livestock? If so, you might check a new “how-to” feature on the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists (IFAJ) web site. Tips offered in the feature come from several award-winning livestock photographers, the ACDC collection and other sources. We produced it recently through a professional development partnership with IFAJ.

Title: In the blink of an eye
Posted at: http://www.ifaj.org/pd/photographing_livestock.htm

“Who speaks for the journalism of Main Street?”

We do, said H. Brandt Ayers, publisher of a community newspaper, the Anniston Star (Alabama USA), in a recent column about his craft. “…and we think we have something to teach Big Journalism media who seem to have lost connection with the people they serve.”

Here are several ingredients Ayers identified for effective Main Street journalism:

• Stand up for justice. “We did some old-fashioned crusading.”
• Hop on the Big Story. “That lights our fire.”
• Clothe a tough or complex story in “the simple uniform of normality.” Examples: (1) A reporter’s moving biography of the family’s irascible, beloved mule charted 50 years of Southern economic change. The last line: “They came and dragged Kate away with a tractor.” (2) A reporter told how “morale rose and anxiety over integration eased at a rural high school when new black football players helped the team to a winning season.”
• Keep it local. “Sometimes it gets bumpy, because our relationship with community is less distant than a corporate chain newspaper, more caring. We scold, support, console and chide. We hurt and are hurt, and we love – like any slightly dysfunctional family.”
• “Get it straight; get it whole … and give a damn!”

Title: Above all, give a damn
Posted at: www.annistonstar.com/opinion/2006/as-columns-0521-bayerscol-6e19q0346.htm

New video – “Telling the World about Agriculture.”

Those who attended the recent Congress of the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists (IFAJ) in Norway viewed a new anniversary film. Journalists from throughout the world took part in “Telling the World about Agriculture.” According to producer Markus Rediger:

“They talk about globalization and other current questions from their point of view. All stress the meaning of a world-wide network for the exchange of information, opinions and questions.”

The film, in DVD format, is financed by sponsors and can be ordered free of charge. A short version is available for viewing from the home page of: www.lid.ch (scroll down).

It is not enough to ask consumers if they would or would not eat GM foods.

Results of recent research in Australia suggest that such questions do not do justice to the complexities of public attitudes about genetically modified foods. For instance, a study for Biotechnology Australia led Craig Cormick, Manager of Public Awareness, to report how consumer attitudes may depend on the type of food.

“For example, Australians claim they are more likely to eat packaged foods containing GM ingredients and GM cooking oils than they are likely to eat GM vegetables.”

Title: Public attitudes towards GM foods
To see similar articles, search for Craig Cormick at: http://www.biotechnology.gov.au

Communicator activities approaching

October 25-27, 2006
World Congress on Communication for Development in Rome, Italy. Organized by the Development Communication Division, World Bank; Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations; and The Communication Initiative.
Information: http://www.devcomm-congress.org/worldbank/macro/2.asp

October 25-29, 2006
Annual conference of the Society of Environmental Journalists in Burlington, Vermont USA. Information: http://www.sej.org/confer/index1.htm

November 9-11, 2006
Fifth Conference of the Asian Federation for Information Technology in Agriculture. (AFITA) in Bangalore, India.
Information: http://www.insait.org/afita0.pdf

November 15-17, 2006
“Farm and rural horizons.” Annual convention of the National Association of Farm Broadcasting (NAFB) in Kansas City, Missouri USA.
Information: www.nafb.com

On making things clear in the rural wilds.

We close this issue of ACDC News with an example of how easy it is to stumble over our wordings and meanings. We found it in an August, 1878, issue of the Chicago Tribune, via ProQuest Historical Newspapers.

“The Rev. Murray has been bitten by a wildcat in Maine, but the cat was old and tough, and will probably get over it. – Free Press. “

Please get in touch with us when you see in this collection interesting items you cannot find, locally or online.

Reach us via contact form. Tell us the titles and/or document numbers. We will help you gain access.

October 2006