Ray Elizabeth

ACDC News – Issue 05-21

Posted on by Elizabeth Ray

What consumers know, think and do about organic food these days. 

A recent article in the Journal of Extension shed light on that matter through results of a statewide survey among food shoppers in Oregon USA. Among the findings:

  • Seventy-seven percent reported buying organic food in the past six months.
  • About two-thirds gave positive word associations with “organic.”
  • Trust in the accuracy of the U.S. Department of Agriculture organic label varied.

Reference: Consumer knowledge and perceptions about organic food
Posted at: http://www.joe.org/joe/2005august/rb3.shtml

Mixed reactions to the new food pyramid.

We have entered into the ACDC collection some articles about the new MyPyramid food guide introduced by the U.S. Department of Agriculture earlier this year. The documents reveal reactions that range from “generally wide acclaim” to “a Tower of Babel.” On the “Database Search” page you can identify them through Subject searches, using terms such as “nutrition information” and “diets.” Here are a few samples:

“New food pyramid unveiled”
Posted at: http://enews.tufts.edu/stories/042505NewFoodPyramidUnveiled.htm

“Food pyramid is supposed to look simple”
Posted at: http://www.tallahassee.com/mld/tallahassee/news/12346545.htm

“New food and nutrition guide hijacked by giant food companies ”
Commentary posted at: http://www.organicconsumers.org/school/foodpyramid050405.cfm

“Online consumer buzz suggests mixed reactions and indifference to new USDA food pyramid”
Posted at: http://www.marketwire.com/mw/release_html_b1?release_id=94501

Tracing views held by stakeholders in the genetically modified crops (GMO) “debate.”

Among the many surveys that assess attitudes towards genetically modified crops and food, we find some special features in a recent report from South Africa. An article in Environmental Science and Policy described the findings of a perception survey among stakeholders involved in the GMO debate: academia, government, producer and consumer organizations, industry, nongovernmental organizations and churches. Of special note:

  • Findings about which stakeholders emphasize benefits, which emphasize risks.
  • A list of positive and negative statements used in the survey.
  • Indications of differing levels of trust in institutions.
  • A diagramed sociometric network of information exchange among stakeholders in the debate.

Reference: Stakeholder attitudes towards the risks and benefits
Available for purchase online at www.sciencedirect.com

Enhancing family connections.

Many patrons search the Center collection for current research and practice in agriculture-related communications. But recently the ACDC staff helped a user learn more about his family’s history.

The patron requested a 1910 article titled “How the Educator Cracker Idea Was Made Win,” published in Agricultural Advertising. T. N. Barbour, then treasurer of the Johnson Educator Food Co. in Boston, wrote the article. It chronicled the history of Educator Crackers and the company’s related advertising campaign.

Dr. William L. Johnson, who created the Educator Crackers, was the patron’s great-grandfather and Barbour was his grandfather. “This was a most enlightening article in terms of a unique piece of family history that is now scattered hither and yon,” the user said. We are pleased to help make such connections.

Reference: How the Educator Cracker idea was made win

A unique collection of agricultural periodicals. 

Staff Associate Jim Evans sends thanks to John Otte of Farm Progress Companies for recently alerting him to a new periodical, Quarterly Livestock Round-Up. Jim also thanks Laura Lahr, Livestock Marketing Information Center, for providing a copy of the premier issue.

“This is not John’s first contribution to my collection of Volume 1, Number 1 issues of agricultural periodicals,” says Jim. He explains that the collection emerged during his teaching years as a way to help students witness the dynamics of agricultural communicating.

“Along with John Harvey, I have enjoyed this effort for more than 20 years. He and I don’t even know how many premier issues we have between us.” They total in the hundreds and provide a unique perspective on agricultural publishing:

  • They show how different periodicals got launched and reveal the dreams of those who introduced them.
  • They represent some highly creative approaches to agricultural publishing.
  • Across the years, they documented some dramatic changes in the flow of agricultural information.

Seen any new ones? 

Please notify Jim (evansj@uiuc.edu) when you see Volume 1, Number 1 issues of magazines, newspapers, newsletters or other types of periodicals (published anywhere, in print or electronic forms) that are directed to producers, agri-marketers, interest groups or others in the farm-to-fork complex. The periodicals can help preserve an important record of creativity and progress in agricultural publishing.

Ode to the rural letter carriers.

Critics feared that rural free delivery of mail would bankrupt the nation when it became a permanent service in the United States in 1902, according to a feature by Ramsey Campbell published in the Tallahassee Democrat newspaper. “Instead, rural delivery brought the country together. It forced a dramatic improvement in America’s roadways and brought the latest news and information to the countryside.”

The article described how rural free delivery began in the United States and examined the role and work of rural carriers today. “The strong bonds forged by rural carriers are in no danger of being severed.”

Reference: Rural letter carriers maintain tradition dating to Pony Express
Posted at: http://www.tallahassee.com/mld/tallahassee/11985866.htm

Communicator activities approaching

December 1, 2005
Deadline for graduate students to submit research papers for the 2006 International ACE meeting in Quebec City, Canada, June 2006. Three categories: proposal, thesis, dissertation.
Information: http://www.aceweb.org/sigs/research/new.html

January 6, 2006
Deadline for submitting proposals for presentations, panel discussions, workshops or posters at the National Extension Technology Conference (NETC) in Gainesville, Florida, May 8-11.
Information: http://conference.ifas.ufl.edu/netc2006

Creative new agri-terms from Lee Pitts.

We close this issue of ACDC News with some words that “really ought to be,” according to Lee Pitts, as quoted in Farm World:

  • Intaxicated: When a cowman celebrates for having to pay income taxes for the first time in 20 years.
  • Calfling: An animal that is caught in that uncomfortable stage between being an immature calf and a highly hormonal yearling. Kind of like a teenager.
  • Internot: An auction market that doesn’t broadcast its sale on the Internet.

Reference: Some words that really ought to be

When you see interesting items you cannot 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 communication documents we might add to this unique collection. We welcome them in hard copy (sent to Ag Com Documentation Center, 510 LIAC, 1101 S. Goodwin Avenue, Urbana, Illinois 61801) or electronic form at docctr@library.uiuc.edu.

 

November, 2005

ACDC News – Issue 05-20

Posted on by Elizabeth Ray

Marketing into chaos 

Is the title of an article published recently in AgriMarketing magazine. It describes how “manufacturers and purveyors of animal identification technology and services are using collaboration and good old-fashioned competition to get the ball rolling.” Reports from several agri-marketers and communicators examined the complex issues involved in developing a national animal identification and tracking program in the interest of assuring safe food for consumers.

Reference: Marketing into chaos
Posted at: http://www.agrimarketing.com/show_story.php?id=34882

Are farms and rural towns “decoupling?” 

We should not assume so – and it is not that simple – according to results of a recent case study in South Huron County, Ontario, Canada. In-depth interviews of farm and town residents revealed, for example:

  • Local farmers and town residents agreed on the main challenges confronting local farmers, but differed on the ranking of those challenges.
  • Town residents appeared knowledgeable about the nature of modern farming, but their knowledge was “shaped more by generalized secondary accounts … than by specific knowledge of local trends and issues.”
  • Town residents acknowledged that farm populations were in decline. However, they did not come to as bleak a conclusion as farmers with respect to the economic and social implications of the decline.
  • “It is in the farm community, and not in town, that we see the strongest beliefs about, and perceptions of, the decoupling of farm and town interests.”

Reference: Across the divide (?)

A feature on food detectives.

We have added to the ACDC collection an article in the Star-Tribune (Minneapolis, Minn.) about one of the most vocal among interest groups that focus on safe food. It is the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), “one of the most reviled enemies of big food companies.” Reporter Thomas Lee interviewed Michael Jacobson, the executive director of CSPI, about the purpose, progress and approach of the organization. The article also included perspectives of the Center for Consumer Freedom, founded in 2001 by the food industry.

Reference: The group that came in from the fringe

Great need for cancer information in rural areas.

Studies in rural Kansas led researchers to report recently in the Journal of Health Communication: “There is a great need for widespread dissemination of cancer information resources in rural areas.” They called for information directed to two audiences in rural communities: physicians and rural residents.

Reference: Cancer information needs in rural areas
Summary and access information posted at: http://www2.gwu.edu/%7Ecih/journal/JHClink/newsletter3_summaries.htm#v10n3_engleman

Painted cows as walking billboards.

An unusual form of outdoor advertising came to our attention recently. According to a news report from Sarasota County, Florida, an online casino used “bovine billboards” dyed bright pink and purple. Representatives of the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) reportedly supported this advertising technique because one of the cow-signs said, “Go Veg.”

Reference: Cows painted pink, purple
Posted at: http://www.nbc6.net/print/4814153/detail.html

Beware of the Information Age. 

We continue to get requests for a 20-year-old journal article of that title by French editor Gérard Blanc. Writing in Development: Seeds of Change, he raised points that remain relevant for communicators. Among them:

•  “What we are witnessing is not a transition towards a postindustrial society … We are witnessing the industrialization of data, information, knowledge, even wisdom, in a process which tries to apply to this field of human activity the basic principles of industrial society: standardization, mass production, maximization of output, synchronization of activities, concentration, centralization, etc.”

•  “Information gives the illusion that mankind has conquered space and time. But it is only an illusion: remember that the map is not the territory. Computer and satellite networks give us only images of our neighbors thousands of miles away: we do not really see them, we do not feel them, we just contemplate synthetic reconstructions of a distant reality.”

•  “There is a recurrent discourse on ‘information democracy,’ the ‘new information order,’ etc. It is a trap which may flood developing countries under a heap of useless electronic garbage they will not be able to interpret and use effectively.”

Reference: Beware of the Information Age

Several new books that involve rural communications.

You may be interested in three 2005 books we have added recently:

Gary Krug, Communication, technology and cultural change. Includes a discussion about how rural U.S. families “learned the news” before they received rural free delivery of mail, beginning in 1896.

Aurora Wallace, Newspapers and the making of modern America. Includes a description of farm reporting by the Des Moines (Iowa) Register newspaper.

Darin Barney, Communication technology. A section about “digital divides” examines how Aboriginal residents of Canada suffer from unequal access to the Internet

Reference: Use title searches to see full citations, including content subjects.

Communicator activities approaching

November 9-11, 2005
“NAFB and Farm Broadcasting – Positioned for the Future.” Annual convention of the National Association of Farm Broadcasters in Kansas City, Missouri USA.
Information: http://www.nafb.com

November 18, 2005
Deadline for submitting proposals for breakout or poster sessions at the 2006 International ACE meeting in Quebec City, Canada, June 2-6.
Information: http://www.aceweb.org/proposals/2006/index.aspx

December 1, 2005
Deadline for graduate students to submit research papers for the 2006 International ACE meeting in Quebec City, Canada, June 2-6. Three categories: proposal, thesis, dissertation.
Information: http://www.aceweb.org/sigs/research/new.html

January 6, 2006
Deadline for submitting proposals for presentations, panel discussions, workshops or posters at the National Extension Technology Conference (NETC) in Gainesville, Florida, May 8-11.
Information: http://conference.ifas.ufl.edu/netc2006

Upper Midwest Scandinavian humor “alive and well.” 

Thanks to an alert reader who noted that the “Whatever happened to rural humor?” article we cited earlier this month missed the lively, earthy humor of Ole, Lena and Sven. It is “now circulating on the Internet.” Indeed. We close this issue of ACDC News with a sample about Ole as food communicator:

Ole had trouble putting “Happy Birthday” on a cake. His main problem was getting the cake in the typewriter

When you see interesting items you cannot 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.

Want a personalized search demonstration, online or by phone? 

Let us know if you might like for us to take part in class sessions or other settings – online or by conference call. We will be pleased to identify resources in the Center that may serve your interests, demonstrate how to search the collection or discuss agricultural communications literature and sources.

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

October, 2005

ACDC News – Issue 05-19

Posted on by Elizabeth Ray

What online users want in a Web site. 

A marketing team at Kansas State University Research and Extension used feedback from 12 selected publics in Sedgwick County to help address the issue. Those publics ranged from producers and youth to school personnel and media representatives. Findings varied among publics, but quantitative findings suggested that users were most likely to use the Web:

  • For personal or business use more than for entertainment or buying products.
  • For research information, details about upcoming events, or addresses or phone numbers.
  • For video files, online newsletters or discussion boards about topics of interest.

Researchers concluded that users prefer (a) functionality over visual appeal, (b) simplicity, and (c) easy access/navigation to information users want.

Reference: Audience analysis of potential Web users 
Posted at: http://www.oznet.ksu.edu/marketing/documents/SedgCoFeedback_FullReportMarch04.pdf

Do the sentiments of market advisors influence commodity prices? 

In a recent master’s degree project, Michael Matwichuk used model estimates to analyze relationships between the prices of six commodities and the recommendations of market advisory services.
Among his findings:

  • Recommendations were strongly influenced by recent returns of market participants. He found a significant causal relationship “when returns are presumed to precede investor sentiment [expressed in recommendations], but not vice versa.”
  • Price predictability was evidenced in the live cattle market.
  • “Statistical evidence that the commodity markets are predictable over the long-horizon framework might be unreliable.”

Reference: Market advisory service sentiment indicators

Transforming agricultural knowledge into a product for sale.

We have added to the ACDC collection dozens of articles about extension services during what has been described as the “current ideological transition toward global capitalism.” William M. Rivera is among those who have provided thoughtful analyses about the changing nature of agricultural information and the forces that are shaping extension. You may be interested in an article he wrote for the Journal of Agricultural Education and Extension (live link below). He examined these changes and forces, and identified some potential roles for public and private extension services internationally.

Reference: The changing nature of agricultural information
Posted at http://library.wur.nl/ejae/jaeev07n01p05.pdf

Public positive about the food enterprise. 

Food sectors held three of the top four rankings in a recent Gallup Organization survey to learn how Americans view 25 business/industry sectors. Here are the sectors that ranked highest, in terms of net positive responses:
  • Restaurant 50 percent
  • Computer 47 percent
  • Farming/agriculture 45 percent
  • Grocery 43 percent

What sectors do you think ranked lowest?

Reference: New Gallup survey finds
Posted at: http://www.restaurant.org/pressroom/pressrelease.cfm?id=1137

Whatever happened to rural humor? 

Fred Whitehead raised that question last year in a commentary we found in the Star-Tribune (Casper, Wyoming).

“When I was growing up in western Kansas, I became aware, by way of reading Mark Twain, that one of our great gifts to the world was rural American humor,” Whitehead wrote.

He cited examples of comic exaggeration, boasting and pretense-squashing that illustrate how rural pioneers used humor to cope with their fears, failures and insecurities. He questioned whether today’s mass media, corporate culture and reliance on government support are eroding “our lively old democratic pleasure of storytelling.”

All cultures have lively heritages of rural humor. Let us know whenever you see discussions about this important subject in articles, books or other forms.

Reference: Whatever happened to rural humor?
Posted at: http://www.casperstartribune.net/articles/2004/07/25/editorial/forum/d968fc4dfc1bd4e487256edc001c2cb2.prt

Communicator activities approaching

October 22-26, 2005
Joint meeting of the National Association of Science Writers and the Council for the Advancement of Science Writing in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania USA.
Information: http://www.nasw.org

November 8-9, 2005
“Customer-focused marketing.” 2005 Agribusiness Forum sponsored by the National Agri-Marketing Association in Kansas City, Missouri USA.
Information: http://www.nama.org

November 9-11, 2005
“NAFB and farm broadcasting – positioned for the future.” Annual convention of the National Association of Farm Broadcasters in Kansas City, Missouri USA.
Information: http://www.nafb.com

An “Editor’s Creed” (50 years old, but still frisky). 

We close this issue with some ever timely advice to writers. It came from the editor of the Bulletin, published by the American Institute of Biological Sciences. We found it in the March 1955 issue of AAACE, the journal of the American Association of Agricultural College Editors.

If you’ve got a thought that’s happy –
Boil it down.
Make it short and crisp, and snappy –
Boil it down.
When your brain its coin has minted,
Down the page your pen has sprinted,
If you want your effort printed –
Boil it down.

Take out every surplus letter –
Boil it down.
Fewer syllables the better –
Boil it down.
Make your meaning plain – express it,
So we’ll know – not merely guess it,
Then, my friend, ere you address it,
Boil it down.

Skim it well, then skim the skimmings –
Boil it down.
Trim it, then retrim the trimmings –
Boil it down.
When you’re sure ‘twould be a sin – to
Cut another sentence in two
Send it in, and we’ll begin to –
Boil it down.

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

October, 2005

ACDC News – Issue 05-18

Posted on by Elizabeth Ray

Personalities that help farmers cope.

Five personality styles emerged as prominent in a study among landholders who were undergoing extended economic hardship in central western Queensland, Australia. These farmers tended to be vigilant, conscientious, solitary, serious and sensitive.

The findings raised a caution flag for communicators and educators. Authors reported that these five personality styles have a feature in common: the group situation poses problems and creates stress for them. “Current government policy has favoured groups as the preferred method of learning, and yet our findings indicate their preference for a one-to-one style approach.”

Reference: The influence of personality. 
Posted at: http://library.wur.nl/ejae/jaeev07n03p04.pdf

How agricultural scientists view the media.

A 2005 article in Science Communication examined relationships between agricultural scientists and the news media. Here are a few of the results from a Web-based survey:

  • These agricultural scientists expressed neutral to negative perceptions of all news media and national news media.
  • They were more positive about local than national coverage of agricultural news.
  • Male and female agricultural scientists responded differently about their media relations skills, their interest in media training and their methods for communicating crisis situations to the news media.
  • Fewer than half had received media relations training.
  • They expressed most interest in learning about crisis-related communications and writing newspaper columns.

Reference: Trying to relate. 

Presentations from the 2005 IFAJ Congress.

Thanks to planners who have posted speeches presented at the recent Congress of the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists (IFAJ) in Thun, Switzerland. Here are some presentations that focused most directly on agricultural journalism:

“Welcome” by David Markey, president of IFAJ.
Reference: Speech by David Markey. 
Posted at: www.ifaj2005.ch/_aktuell/referate/markey_david/20050831_davidmarkey_e.pdf

Claudia Wirz, Of farmers and journalists.
Posted at: http://www.ifaj2005.ch/_aktuell/referate/wirz_claudia/20050903_claudiawirz_e.pdf

Ruedi Hagmann, “The Swiss agricultural press is changing.”
Posted at: www.ifaj2005.ch/_aktuell/referate/hagmann_ruedi/20050903_hagmann_speech_e.pdf

Markus Rediger, “Communication between farmers and the public.”
Posted at: www.ifaj2005.ch/_aktuell/referate/rediger_markus/20050903_rediger_speech_e.pdf

Grassroots media – the oxygen of democracy.

This title caught our eye in a 1983 article we entered recently into the ACDC collection. It spoke to the challenges facing rural newspapers and other village media in India.

Grassroots media “provide awareness to the people about their environment, stimulate understanding of their problems and identify opportunities available to them for a better life. They also guide them in formulating programmes to solve their problems and fulfill their needs, goals and aspirations.”E-mail, Web sites, cell phones, microbroadcasting and other new means of communicating might redefine “grassroots media” a bit, compared with 20-plus years ago. However, reminders about the unique importance of local interactions – in all their forms – seem enduringly and increasingly important, across time and place.

Reference: Grassroots media.

Questions coming our way.

You may be interested in the kinds of special information requests we are receiving at the Center these days. Here are some examples:

  • Distribution, use and effectiveness of agricultural news releases
  • Readership of e-mail newsletters
  • Ethics in agricultural publishing
  • Safety campaigns related to electric energy
  • Gender roles and relationships on farms
  • Interactions between activists and food companies
  • History of Agri-Marketing magazine
  • Electronic communications for adult learning
  • Effective use of member publications in agricultural organizations
  • Readership, focus, content and design of publications in colleges of agriculture
  • Education needs of future agricultural writers

Teachers and students:

Do you need ideas for research projects, class reports or other activities that involve agriculture-related communications? We will be pleased to help you search the ACDC database or otherwise scout for current, historical or future-oriented topics that interest you.

Just get in touch with us at: docctr@library.uiuc.edu. We can work by e-mail or phone. Or let us know if you would like for us to take part in class sessions (e.g., by teleconference) about the ACDC collection and how you can explore it.

Communicator activities approaching

October 22-26, 2005
Joint meeting of the National Association of Science Writers and Council for the Advancement of Science Writing in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania USA.
Information: www.nasw.org

November 8-9, 2005
“Customer-focused marketing.” Agribusiness Forum of the National Agri-Marketing
Association in Kansas City, Missouri USA.
Information: www.nama.org

November 9-11, 2005
“NAFB and Farm Broadcasting – Positioned for the Future.” Annual conference of the National Association of Farm Broadcasters in Kansas City, Missouri USA.
Information: www.nafb.com

Advice on hair care.

We close this issue of ACDC News with a piece of advice about personal care from a Canadian agricultural periodical. Readers of the British American Cultivator (Upper Canada, 1842-1847) were told:

“To prevent the Hair following off, wash the head once a day with good old Jamaican rum.”

If you decide to try the technique, please keep us posted on your results.

Reference: The agricultural periodicals of Upper Canada.

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

September, 2005

ACDC News – Issue 05-17

Posted on by Elizabeth Ray

I could write a book

 Is the title of a lively new one by Roy Reiman, viewed widely as the most innovatively successful rural-rooted publisher of our time. A subtitle summarizes his remarkable career path: “The behind-the-scenes story of Reiman Publications, a company that began in the basement, was built on ‘wild ideas’ and became a publishing empire that sold for $760 million.”

How can magazines survive – even prosper – without advertising?
Is it possible that readers can and will write most of the copy for a magazine?
Are they subscribers – or friends?
Can one of the nation’s largest publishers operate without organizational charts?
How does the “wince factor” work?

Readers will find a fascinating world of answers and ideas as the author shares his experiences in launching and developing (occasionally dropping) 15 magazines – from The Pepperette (1963) and Farm Wife News (1970) to Birds and Blooms (1995) and Cooking for 2 (2005).

Reference: I could write a book
Information: 1-800-558-1013

New Agricultural Media Study released.

We have added to the ACDC collection a summary of results of a 2004-2005 survey among a representative sample of U.S. producers. This printed summary was made available during a presentation at the recent Ag Media Summit in Wisconsin. Harris Interactive, Inc., conducted the survey for Agri-Council of American Business Media. Among the highlighted findings:

  • Ag media are as important as ever. “Most farmers and ranchers are using the same amount or more agricultural media than they did 3 or 4 years ago and expect to spend similar amounts of time in the next 3 to 4 years.”
  • “Farmers and ranchers use many sources of agricultural media and information, and most are used with a high degree of frequency.”
  • “Most respondents rely on ag media to help them make purchase decisions and the youngest among them indicate the greatest reliance.”
  • “…ag magazines or newspapers, ag newsletters, and ag dealers/retailers are among the most highly regarded sources, while telemarketers are the least highly regarded source of information.”
  • “The Internet is growing in importance as a source of information used by farmers and ranchers as majorities are online or plan to be in the future.”

Reference: Agricultural Media Study

Note: We are taking steps to get a copy of the full report for deposit in the ACDC collection.

Investing in agricultural information.

A study reported recently in the Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics examined use of market consultants and market information systems by 1,617 grain and cotton producers in four states. Results showed that 15 percent of the producers hired market consultants for an average of $411 a year. Thirty-seven percent of the producers bought market information systems/services for an average of $291 a year.

Reference: Target markets for grain and cotton marketing consultants

Effects of photographs about complex farming issues.

One-sided versus two-sided use of photographs came under study in a project reported in Media Psychology. Researchers found that one-sided use of photographs strongly influenced public perceptions about the economics of farming. Respondents viewed reports that featured either (a) no photograph, (b) a photograph exemplifying one side of the issue [rich farmers or poor farmers] or two photographs exemplifying both sides of the issue [rich farmers and poor farmers]. Researchers urged the balanced use of photographs for multifaceted issue reports.

Reference: Effects of photographs on news-magazine reports on issue perception

How physicians, nurse practitioners and dietitians feel about food biotechnology and genetic engineering.

Generally “positive” was the theme reported recently by a team of researchers in the Journal of Environmental Health. Results from their survey showed that physician respondents held more positive attitudes than nurse practitioners or registered dietitians. Physicians and nurse practitioners supported the use of genetic engineering to improve plant resistance to pests. Dietitians tended to support nutritional-improvement technology.

Reference: Health professionals hold positive attitudes

“When science and business clash, ethics must rule.” 

Jenny Luesby, editor-in-chief of Novis Group, opened a recent commentary with that advice to associates in the nutrition industry.

“The consumer is out there making decisions that balance benefits and risks often without sight of the risks: no wonder there is a sensation when a risk floats into public view. … We look, we assess, and we say what we think is useful: that is, we grossly simplify. But that demands everything from us ethically. It is simply not good enough – ever – to fall back on seeing only that which we want to see. To dismiss a study that may threaten our livelihood as ‘scientifically flawed,’ and therefore not TRUE, is a serious charge. And we must take it seriously. The burden of proof rests with us.”

Reference: The business of food safety
Posted at: http://www.foodproductiondaily.com/news/printNewsBis.asp?id=61508

Communicator activities approaching

September 22-24, 2005
50th anniversary meeting of the Canadian Farm Writers’ Federation in Lloydminster, Alberta, Canada.
Information: http://www.cfwf.ca

September 28- October 2, 2005
Annual conference of the Society of Environmental Journalists in Austin, Texas
Information: http://www.sej.org/confer/index1.htm

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

October 22-26, 2005
Joint meeting of the National Association of Science Writers and the Council for the Advancement of Science Writing in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Information: http://www.nasw.org

Agricultural journalism faculty position.

The Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education and Communication at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln seeks an agricultural journalism faculty member.
Information: http://aglec.unl.edu

Freelance writer celebrating.

In closing, we pass along this piece of inspired writing from the 2005 Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest. Sponsored by the Department of English and Comparative Literature at San Jose State University, the contest is a “whimsical literary competition that challenges the entrants to compose the opening sentence to the worst of all possible novels.” We found our featured entry by Lawrence Person listed under “Miscellaneous Dishonorable Mentions.”“Inside his cardboard box, Greg heated a dented can of Spaghetti-O’s over a small fire made from discarded newspapers, then cracked open his last can of shoplifted generic beer to celebrate the 10th anniversary of his embarkation on a career as a freelance writer.”Posted with other award winners at: http://www2.sjsu.edu/depts/english/2005.htm

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.

September, 2005

ACDC News – Issue 05-16

Posted on by Elizabeth Ray

Sources of mistrust – consumers, media and the food industry.

An article in the British Medical Bulletin identifies nearly a dozen causes of “the current air of mistrust that seems to exist between the media, the food industry and the consumer.” Here are some of the causes cited, including several that have not been aired prominently:

•  More efforts to modulate consumers’ perceptions of risk.
•  Increased environmental awareness in the industrialized world.
•  New bacteria emerging, others adapting to modern food production practices.
•  Less ability of consumers to control the safety of their own food.
•  Internationalizing food supply with accompanying increase in food safety problems.
•  Proliferation and globalization of media.

Reference: The relationship between the media.
Information about online access via: http://gateway.ut.ovid.com/gw2/ovidweb.cgi

Can publishers really afford to be ethical? 

“In my case, I believe yes,” the World President of the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists (IFAJ) told those attending the Agricultural Media Summit in Milwaukee, Wisconsin USA, early this month. IFAJ President David Markey owns and manages IFP Publishing, based in Dublin, Ireland. It publishes more than 30 periodicals that serve agriculture and other industries.

Sharing some of his experiences and perspectives, he concluded: “…at the end of the day in business, your good name and the good name of your staff and company is all you have. … it’s a fine line we walk and at the end of the day we are only human. Ethics, morals, principles, integrity – whatever you choose to call them, should be the control standards and judgement basics of our industry.”

Reference: Can publishers really afford to be ethical?
Posted online in the “Professional Development” page of: http://www.ifaj.org

Photography on the frontier.

If rural photography interests you, we would mention a recent book by Paul Clee, Photography and the making of the American West. Photography emerged, as a new information technology, at about the same time as the American West was being explored and settled. In this book, the author “looks at the early history of photography in the United States, the photographers who recorded life on the frontier, and how their vision and artistry shaped public opinion about the West.”

Reference: Photography and the making of the American West.

Recent books about food and conservation issues.

These three newly added books include information about the communication aspects of food safety and natural resource management:

What is local rural radio these days? 

James O’Brien raised that question in a Rural Society article from the Centre for Rural Social Research, Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga, Australia. “A single press of a button can now allow a radio announcer in Sydney – who has never been to Wagga – to pass comment about the local weather. That button can allow them to tell you what is on at your local cinema or hotel.”

The question – not unique to Australia – prompted O’Brien to call for a new localism based on context for local matters. “If more networked programs means the local staff can concentrate on stories and issues that really are important locally, then we will be winners. Unfortunately, the quality of localism may well decline, as stations, under the pressure of increased competition, fail to consolidate their strengths and take the easy options.”

Reference: Life at the outpost.
Posted at: http://www.csu.edu.au/research/crsr/ruralsoc/v2n4p17.htm

Welcome to Carolyn Sanford 

This month as new graduate assistant in the Agricultural Communications Documentation Center. A candidate in the Graduate School of Library and Information Science, Carolyn brings to the Center valuable experience and interest in communications, teaching and librarianship. Her previous degrees involved journalism (BA, University of Missouri) and international affairs (MA, Washington University).

Carolyn has professional experience in media relations, writing, editing, retail sales and elementary school teaching. In 1997 she received the Master Communicator Award from the International Association of Business Communicators (Central Illinois Chapter). We look forward to working with her and know she will add to the progress and service of the Center.

Communicator activities approaching.

September 7-10, 2005
Annual conference of the Association of Food Journalists in San Francisco, California.
Information: http://www.afjonline.com

September 8-10, 2005
48th annual workshop of the National Market News Association in Atlanta, Georgia.
Information: http://www.ams.usda.gov/nmna

September 22-24, 2005
50th anniversary meeting of the Canadian Farm Writers’ Federation in Lloydminster, Alberta, Canada.
Information: http://www.cfwf.ca

September 28-October 2, 2005
Annual conference of the Society of Environmental Journalists in Austin, Texas.
Information: http://www.sej.org/confer/index1.htm

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, 2006.
Information: http://www.saasinc.org/orlando2006/orlando_mainpage.asp

Early food advertising.

Would you believe that advertisements for food products date back nearly 350 years? The first food advertisement in England appeared in the Publick Advertiser on May 26, 1657, according to a reference we have added to the ACDC collection.And what food product was advertised? It was coffee – touted for some impressive qualities. Among them:“Closes the orifices of the stomach,
fortifies the heat within,
quickeneth the spirits and
maketh the heart lightsom”

Reference: The history and development of advertising

 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.

 August, 2005

ACDC News – Issue 05-15

Posted on by Elizabeth Ray

Embrace science, but do it carefully.

That advice about “linking science to paddocks” came from a scientist who spoke at a communications session of the National Landcare Facilitator Community Conference in Victoria, Australia, during March.

“We can become so isolated in our ivory towers and hide behind our specialist languages. But we need you to keep our science on track – focused on real problems,” said David Freudenberger. “Any of us can see a patch of dead trees in a low lying part of a paddock. But it takes multiple minds and eyes to fully perceive or understand why the trees are dead.” Sample minds and eyes he cited: farmer, ecologist, hydrogeologist, resource economist and local facilitator.

Reference: Science – a certain way of knowing
Posted at: http://www.landcarefacilitator.com.au/htmlpages/geelongconf/presenters%20papers/david%20freudenberger.pdf

Learning to clap with two hands.

Freudenberger’s observation above reminds us of another image for creating effective interaction between local knowledge and agricultural science and extension.

“Rural development in Africa has been constrained because the people who regarded themselves as the ‘developers’ were clapping with one hand,” said O. T. Kibwana and associates in the Journal of Agricultural Education and Extension. Authors described positive experience with a “participatory technology development” approach used in Ethiopia and Tanzania. It begins “not with problem analysis but rather by linking up with local problem-solving initiatives.”

Reference: Clapping with two hands
Posted at: http://library.wur.nl/ejae/jaeev07n03p01.pdf

Rural weeklies used fewer information sources.

Researcher John Hatcher found a relationship between the number of sources used in weekly newspapers and the diversity of the communities in which they circulate. His content analysis involved 40 issues of 10 weekly newspapers in New York State communities of varied racial diversity.

He found a positive correlation. “A newspaper serving one of the boroughs of New York, for example, was found to use more than 193 sources over the course of four editions, compared with as few as 23 in four editions of a paper that served a more rural community,” he reported. He called for more research focused on a disparity between the resources that exist at community newspapers serving rural and metropolitan areas.

Reference: Ordinary people and the weekly newspaper
Posted at: http://list.msu.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0411c&L=aejmc&F=&S=&P=23453

Nutrition reporters want more training.

An article we have added from Journalism and Mass Communication Educator highlighted an ironic situation. On one hand, content analyses show that food, nutrition and health issues are increasingly popular in media. On the other hand, research suggests that only about one-third of the reporters who cover those issues feel confident in doing so. Author Jeffrey Hampl called for cross-disciplinary approaches – combining journalism education with health-related education.

Do we hear a familiar ring in this call? Curricula in agricultural journalism and communications offer a long-time, successful model for cross-disciplinary journalism education. Hampl’s call points to opportunities for new cross-disciplinary curricula and options – programs that innovatively cross education in journalism and communications with education in foods, human nutrition and health.

Reference: Conflicts of interest and hyperbole: nutrition in the media

An agricultural publisher helped envision journalism education in the U.S.

He was Norman J. Colman, publisher of Colman’s Rural World (in existence today as Missouri Ruralist). Historical analysis led Stephen Banning to observe in a monograph we added to the ACDC collection: “The concept of professional journalistic education did not begin with Joseph Pulitzer as some traditional histories assert.” Instead, recent evidence indicates that members of the Missouri Press Association pursued the concept of school-based journalism education as early as 1869.

Colman, an officer of the Association in 1868, “specifically cited the need for [journalism] education as part of the pattern set up by the classical professions.” He later served as the first Secretary of the United States Department of Agriculture.Reference: The cradle of professional journalistic education.
Posted at: http://www.scripps.ohiou.edu/mediahistory/mhmjour4-1.htm

Ethical issues in communicating about food and agriculture.

The seventh edition (2005) of Media Ethics: Cases and Moral Reasoning includes examples of ethical issues in communicating about food and agriculture. Among the cases and topics:

  • An aborted newspaper exposé of Chiquita Brands International.
  • The Alar apple scare.
  • Risk reporting about food irradiation, growth hormones in dairy cattle, genetically modified food, and mad cow disease.
  • Direct-to-consumer advertising of nutrition and health products.
  • Syringe-in-Pepsi-can episode

Communicators and educators may find these cases useful in professional improvement sessions, class discussions and other settings.

Reference: Media ethics: cases and moral reasoning

Thanks and best wishes go to John Sanders

Graduate assistant in the Agricultural Communications Documentation Center during the past year. John received his master’s degree in library and information science here at the University of Illinois during May and completes his assistantship in the Center this month. As part of the ACDC team he strengthened the database management system, helped expand use of direct links in citations and ACDC News, helped position us for more digital archiving and sharing of documents, helped the collection grow and served in other ways. We wish him the best in his career ahead.

Communicator activities approaching

September 7-10, 2005
Annual conference of the Association of Food Journalists in San Francisco, California.
Information: http://www.afjonline.comSeptember 8-10, 2005
48th annual workshop of the National Market News Association in Atlanta, Georgia.
Information: http://www.ams.usda.gov/nmna

September 22-24, 2005
50th-anniversary meeting of the Canadian Farm Writers’ Federation in Lloydminster, Alberta, Canada.
Information: http://www.cfwf.ca

September 28- October 2, 2005
Annual conference of the Society of Environmental Journalists in Austin, Texas.
Information: http://www.sej.org/confer/index1.htm

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

Reach out and touch a chicken (online).

A news item added recently to the ACDC collection reports on a new Internet device created by researchers at the National University of Singapore. According to Wired News, the Touchy Internet system “connects users to a real chicken via a chicken-shaped doll, computer sensors and a Webcam link.” When a user “pets” from afar the live bird (wearing a lightweight jacket) feels the touch in the same place stroked. The item offered no explanation of what happens if the chicken prefers not to be touched.Reference: New Internet tool encourages users to reach out
Archived June 9, 2005 at: http://archives.foodsafetynetwork.ca/animalnet-archives.htm

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.

 August, 2005

ACDC News – Issue 05-14

Posted on by Elizabeth Ray

30 years of national rural television.

This month marks the 30th anniversary of the nationally syndicated weekly television program, “U. S. Farm Report.” Farm broadcaster Orion Samuelson of WGN Continental, Chicago, Illinois, hosted the first program in this durably popular series during the week of July 14, 1975.

An introductory news release (part of the ACDC collection) explained:

“The half-hour series…will offer viewers across the land a total information service about the United States ‘ most important and timely business, Agribusiness.”

Reference: WGN Continental Productions to produce “U. S. Farm Report”

False assumptions about participatory approaches.

In a recent book, Shirley White acknowledged that participatory approaches to rural and other development projects are expected to result in more active citizens. Such approaches also are expected to make citizens more responsible for their own futures and more capable of achieving goals and maintaining courses of action and direction. However, she argued, four misconceptions can make such assumptions false. The “myths” she identified:

  • Development facilitators are capable of promoting meaningful participation among local people.
  • Local people will automatically wish to become involved.
  • Results of capacity building, through participation, are always positive.
  • Participatory approaches will cure all development ills.

Her discussion about involving people in participatory processes addressed these challenges, which seem to apply in any social setting.

Reference: Involving people in a participatory process

Hesitating to speak out about biotechnology.

A “spiral of silence” regarding this subject seems at work within the U. S. public, according to research by Susanna Hornig Priest and associates. Spiral of silence theory suggests that those who see themselves in a minority hesitate to make their views publicly known in fear of isolation, criticism or other social consequences. Responses to a 2002-2003 U.S. survey revealed that religious and environmentalist voices tended to be quieted, especially in comparison to voices that make explicit reference to science, or to its use or effects.

“The social power of scientific rhetoric in U.S. culture undoubtedly gives special weight to those arguing from a scientific point of view and a sense of confidence to those who feel they understand the science. Conversely, those who frame their arguments in terms of the inherent wrongness (or foolishness) of altering the biological world…may be less outspoken. These dynamics, along with university and industry domination of news accounts in the early years, help explain why dissent over biotechnology in the U.S. appeared to be lower – and more different from levels of dissent in much of Europe – than it actually was.”

Reference: Public discourse and scientific controversy
Posted at: http://list.msu.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0411c&L=aejmc&F=&S=&P=11982

Recent trends in rural broadband access.

Rural access to broadband Internet service in Nebraska USA grew to 57 percent in early 2005, according to a survey by the Nebraska Information Network. That is up 15 percent from early 2004.

An article we added recently to the ACDC collection reported that 82 privately owned telecommunications companies in Nebraska now provide local loop broadband access transport. The types of transport provided, in decreasing order, are: DSL (Digital Subscriber Loop) on fiber and/or copper, wireless, cable modems and fiber to the (home) premises.

Reference: Broadband coverage in Nebraska 
Posted at: http://extension.unl.edu/tangents/tangents_contents4-05.htm

Ag communications education – ahead of the convergence curve.

“Media companies are fast realizing the value of cross training,” Reggie Borges reported in a recent issue of Presstime. This report, added recently to the ACDC collection, noted how media convergence is calling for reporters to be adept in print journalism, on-air broadcasting, photography and other media skills.

Digital aspects may be relatively recent, but education in such a mixture of media skills sounds familiar to many agricultural journalism and agricultural communications students in North America. For years, their curricula have incorporated media “cross training” – long before the concept became popular.

Reference: Cross-training for convergence.

On that note,

Congratulations to communications educators and students at the University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada. SPARK (Students Promoting Awareness of Research Knowledge) recently received the communications award in the first Agri-Food Innovation Awards program that recognizes outstanding contributions made by Canadian innovators.

“Developed in 1989 by Owen Roberts, director of research communications at U of G, SPARK is hailed as a model for teaching students how to effectively transfer science-based agri-food and health knowledge to targeted audiences including media, consumers, farmers, agri-business and the research community, and to enhance students’ future employability.”

Reference: U of G earns awards for agri-food innovation.
Posted at: http://www.uoguelph.ca/mediarel/archives/008170.html

Predicting revisions to cattle on feed reports. 

On average, market analysts do not correctly anticipate them, according to recent findings reported in Agribusiness journal. Researchers Jeffrey Mills and Ted Schroeder examined this matter, citing cattle on feed (COF) reports as “the most important source of cattle supply information for the beef industry.”

They found no evidence that users of these reports should be concerned about bias in the revisions. However, “if analysts’ prerelease estimates are different from the initial COF report, this does not signal any useful information about future probable COF revisions.”

Reference: Are cattle on feed report revisions random and does industry anticipate them?

Not exactly what they meant. 

Some risks of trying to communicate across cultures about food and drink products appeared in a recent book, Brand Failures. You may be interested in some of the translation problems that author Matt Haig identified:
  • In Italy, a campaign for “Schweppes Tonic Water” fell flat when consumers translated the product as “Schweppes Toilet Water.”
  • KFC’s slogan, “finger-lickin’ good,” came out as “eat your fingers off” when translated into Chinese for the Hong Kong market.
  • Frank Perdue’s poultry campaign created confusion in Spain when the line, “It takes a strong man to make a tender chicken,” was translated as “It takes an aroused man to make a chicken affectionate.”
  • Pepsi’s advertising slogan, “Come alive with the Pepsi generation” came across in Taiwan as “Pepsi will bring your ancestors back from the dead.”

Apart from revealing some cultural quicksand, Haig’s collection of “the 100 biggest brand mistakes of all time” involved nearly 20 food and drink brands.

Reference: Brand failures

Communicator activities approaching

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

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

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 AAvenue, Urbana, IL 61801 ) or electronic form at docctr@library.uiuc.edu.

July, 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