ACDC News – Issue 17-06

Career advice on getting dirty

“If you don’t get dirty, you haven’t done your job.” That advice from respected art director Tom Sizemore of The Furrow magazine prompted Christy Lee of Cee Lee Communications to share it recently with readers of the American Agricultural Editors’ Association newsletter, AAEA ByLine.

“…often, the best shots come from getting uncomfortable. From going where we’d rather not go. And from emerging covered with mud, dirt and, ahem, manure.  The more I think about it, the more this advice can be carried over to so many aspects of the agricultural communications industry.”

You can read the article here .


Cultivating uncertainty in science reporting.

Yes, you read that correctly. It’s the title of a recent article from the Knight Center for Environmental Journalism at Michigan State University. Conference panelist Janet Raloff asked, “How can we work with journalists to express [the uncertainty of science] when people are always looking for certainty?” She suggested that “the onus is on journalists not to give readers the false sense that something is black and white, true or false. It is our job as journalists, generally, to cultivate uncertainty. … Readers don’t like that. Neither do editors. Too bad. That’s what the world is like.”

You can read the article here .


Six new research articles in JAC

The first 2017 issue of the Journal of Applied Communications features six reports of new communications research related to various sectors and aspects of agriculture.

  • “Poultry production messaging in two national-circulation newspapers” by Leslie D. Edgar, Donald M. Johnson, and Stuart Estes
  • “Water use in Florida: examining perceptions of water use based on visual images” by Joshua M. Epstein, Lisa K. Lundy, and Alexa J. Lamm
  • “Poultry production messaging: frames and emergent themes in three national newspapers, 1994-2014” by Stuart Estes, Leslie D. Edgar, and Donald M. Johnson
  • “Community-based grazing marketing: barriers and benefits related to the adoption of best management practices in grazing systems” by Audrey E. H. King, Lauri M. Baker, and Peter J. Tomlinson
  • “A case study of using metacognitive reflections to enhance writing skills and strategies in an agricultural media writing course” by Tobin Redwine, Holli R. Leggette, and Brooke Prather
  • “Exploring perspectives of students studying communication toward media access and use: a Q methodological study” by Angel Riggs, Diane Montgomery, and Cindy Blackwell

You can read them here .


“Spillover” effects of ICT – agriculture lagging?

Extensive research on the effects of new information and communication technologies has documented positive effects on productivity. However, a 2016 article in the journal, Economics of Innovation and New Technology, explored “spillover” effects in Canada.

Analysis (1981-2008) by researcher Saeed Moshiri showed that ICT had a positive impact on labor productivity. However, effects varied significantly across provinces, industries and time.

“Specifically, while provinces with higher shares of manufacturing and services in their GDB have reaped the benefits of ICT investment, other provinces primarily dependent on natural resources and agriculture are lagging behind. The industry-level analysis also reveals that manufacturing and services industries have benefited from ICT investment much more than primary sector industries.”

You can read the abstract of this article here . Check with us at docctr@library.illinois.edu for help in gaining full-text access.


Drone governance in 79 African, Caribbean, and Pacific countries

This recent addition to the ACDC collection was published as a working paper in October 2016 by the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA).  It may hold special interest for rural communicators and others in terms of policies, laws, and regulations about (a) permission to conduct aerial work and (b) respecting privacy and property.

Only 15 (19 percent) of the 79 countries had rules or regulations specific to operation of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Six other countries had announced soon-to-be-drafted legislation. The other 58 countries (73 percent) had neither dedicated rules nor pending legislative action regarding UAVs. The existing drone rules varied in content, documentation, and formats in the absence of an international standard.

You can read the report here .


Recent book on communication scarcity in agriculture

A new book, The communication scarcity in agriculture, offers a timely review and roadmap. In it, authors Jessica Eise and Whitney Hodde are not talking about lack of agricultural coverage by media.  Instead, their “communication scarcity” refers to what gets shared (or doesn’t get shared) among key stakeholders in food and agriculture: consumers, policymakers, researchers, agribusiness, and farmers.

Introductory chapters present case examples – “a stark, no-nonsense picture of today’s agricultural conversation in its entirety.” Part 2 features viewpoints and outlooks of guest voices from these stakeholder groups. Authors close by emphasizing the importance of communication and the strengths in diversity of perspectives. They suggest two communication tools for dealing with it: (1) finding common ground and (2) finding areas for compromise in these complex matters of food and agriculture.

You can read the publisher’s abstract and description here . Check with us at docctr@illinois.edu for help in gaining access to full text.


Communicator activities approaching

June 13-16, 2017
“ReNEWal ORLEANS” Annual conference of the Association for Communication Excellence (ACE) in New Orleans, Louisiana. Information: http://conferences.k-state.edu/ace2017

June 20-22, 2017
“Setting the gold standard in agricultural public relations.” Annual meeting of the Agricultural Relations Council in Sacramento, California.
Information: https://www.agrelationscouncil.org/events/

July 22-26, 2017
“Summit on the summit.”  Agricultural Media Summit near Salt Lake City, Utah. Joint meeting of the American Agricultural Editors’ Association, Livestock Publications Council, and the Connectiv Agri-Media Committee. Also site of the national meeting of Agricultural Communicators of Tomorrow.
Information: http://agmediasummit.com/


Expert agricultural reporting

Thanks to sharp-eyed Fred Myers for sharing an example of skilled equine reporting.  It seems a fitting close to this issue of ACDC News.

He reported that AOL filled the screen with this headline several minutes after the running of the Kentucky Derby on May 6:
“Horse Wins 143rd Running of the Kentucky Derby — After a rainy day in Churchill Downs, one horse emerged victorious after completing the race in just over two minutes.”
Pondering that insightful news, Fred observed that “today’s journalism may not be informative but it sure is entertaining.” Maybe an ostrich – or two horses – will win next year.


Best wishes and good searching

Please pass along your reactions, suggestions and ideas. Feel free to invite our help as you search for information. Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter @ACDCUIUC . And please suggest (or send) agricultural communications documents we might add to this unique and valuable collection. We welcome them in hard copy (sent to Ag Comm Documentation Center, Room 510, 1101 S. Goodwin Avenue, Urbana, IL 61801) or in electronic format sent to docctr@library.illinois.edu

ACDC News – Issue 17-05

2017 Pulitzer Prize to a rural community journalist

We are adding to the ACDC collection recent announcement of a rural community journalist who has been selected the 2017 Pulitzer Prize winner in Editorial Writing. He is Art Cullen, co-owner of The Storm Lake Times newspaper, published twice-weekly at Storm Lake, Iowa. His series during 2016 was honored “for editorials fueled by tenacious reporting, impressive expertise and engaging writing that successfully challenged powerful corporate agricultural interests in Iowa.” You can learn more about it and read Cullen’s 10 editorials here .

The award prompted agricultural columnist Alan Guebert to write “Courting courage and foresight.” He shared thoughts about Cullen’s prize-winning coverage of that contentious water controversy. You can read the column here .


15 emerging issues for global conservation and biological diversity

An international team of expert “horizon scanners” recently published a list of “emerging issues likely to affect global biological diversity, the environment, and conservation efforts in the future. “ It’s a wide-ranging list, including issues as diverse as:

  • blockchain technology
  • use of robotics to combat invasive species
  • use of bacteria and fungi to manage agricultural pests
  • development of floating wind farms
  • creation of fuel from bionic leaves and reverse photosynthesis

These and other emerging issues offer special opportunities for agricultural journalists, communicators, and others The article, “2017 horizon scan of emerging issues…,” was published in Trends in Ecology and Evolution .  You can view it online here .


25 stories reflect a passion for videos about farmer innovations

You may brighten your day by learning how many organizations are making, translating, sharing, and using videos about farmer innovations in eight countries of Africa and Asia. A 2016 report, “A passion for video,” features 25 stories from a Writeshop organized by the international NGO, Access Agriculture.

Here are the titles of several stories written:

  • Ready, set, bureaucracy: kick-starting  farmer training videos in Egypt
  • My father taught me to open my eyes (Kenya)
  • The video tricycle (Ghana)
  • No laughing matter: videos blending humor, drama and machinery in Bangladesh
  • Becoming a journalist farmer (Benin)
  • Videos on the radio (Malawi)

You can read these 25 stories here .


New John L. Woods Collection

Hearty thanks to Dr. John L. Woods for contributing his globe-spanning collection of agricultural communications literature to ACDC. This recent contribution added 121 documents to the ACDC collection.

  • They range across 40 years (from 1965-2005).
  • They include communications related to agricultural development and environmental quality in Asia, Pacific Region, Africa, Middle East, Latin America, and the U.S.
  • They consist of books, handbooks, guides, project reports, presentations, research reports, and other formats.
  • They feature strategic communications plans and management, campaign guides, training workshops, cinematography, field worker training and other topics of enduring value for practitioners, researchers, teachers, students, and others.
  • General search engines do not identify most of these materials.

During his career Dr. Woods served on the University of Illinois faculty, as director of Development Training and Communication Planning (DTCP) in the Asia and Pacific Programme of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and as strategic communicator with Chemonics International Inc. To see citations for his contributions, visit the ACDC website http://library.illinois.edu/funkaces/acdc , click on “Start your Search,” and enter “John L. Woods Collection” in the Search box.


Connecting cooking and feminism

A 2015 article in the Australian Journal of Environmental Education picked up on that gap. Researchers noted that in popularized feminist discourse daily cooking has been implicitly defined as second-class status. By examining two local food activist groups, they observed a strong connection between feminism and cooking sustainable foods.

“…it is time to conceptualise a new discourse on the kitchen for a feminist-environmental theory of cooking.”

You can read the abstract here . Check with us at docctr@library.illinois.edu for help in gaining full-text access.


Digging for farm press freedom in Cuba

That is the title of a report we added recently to the ACDC collection from the American Agricultural Editors’ Association newsletter, AAEA ByLine . Owen Roberts of the University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada, wrote it following an AAEA press trip to Cuba. He explored some of the changes and challenges in the flow of information needed by farmers throughout that country.

You can read the report here .


 Where we are finding agricultural communications literature these days

Our search efforts for the ACDC collection continue to take us to interesting new scholarly territory.  You may be interested in some recent examples of journals in which we have found articles featuring agricultural communications in its great breadth:

  • Trends in Ecology and Evolution
  • Journal of Cleaner Production
  • Arab Gulf Journal of Scientific Research
  • International Journal of Online Engineering
  • Environmental Policy and Governance
  • Telematics and Informatics
  • Water Resources Research
  • Perspectives on Psychological Science

Communicator activities approaching

May 25-29, 2017
“Interventions: Communication Research and Practice.” Annual conference of the International Communication Association (ICA) in San Diego, California.
Information: http://www.icahdq.org/page/conference

June 13-16, 2017
“ReNEWal ORLEANS” Annual conference of the Association for Communication Excellence (ACE) in New Orleans, Louisiana. Information: https://www.aceweb.org/page-1854417

June 20-22, 2017
“Setting the gold standard in agricultural public relations.” Annual meeting of the Agricultural Relations Council in Sacramento, California.
Information: https://www.agrelationscouncil.org/events/2017-arc-meeting-sacramento-ca

July 22-26, 2017
“Summit on the summit.”  Agricultural Media Summit near Salt Lake City, Utah. Joint meeting of the American Agricultural Editors’ Association, Livestock Publications Council, and the Connectiv Agri-Media Committee. Also site of the national meeting of Agricultural Communicators of Tomorrow.
Information: http://agmediasummit.com/


 You know how newspaper people are

We close this issue of ACDC News with a thought expressed in a 1990 issue of the National Association of Agricultural Journalists Newsletter. The article explored why ag writers have left newspapers.

“You know how newspaper people are. They have that great sense of humor and they’re always up to something wacky.”


 Best wishes and good searching

Please pass along your reactions, suggestions and ideas. Feel free to invite our help as you search for information. Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter @ACDCUIUC . And please suggest (or send) agricultural communications documents we might add to this unique and valuable collection. We welcome them in hard copy (sent to Ag Comm Documentation Center, Room 510, 1101 S. Goodwin Avenue, Urbana, IL 61801) or in electronic format sent to docctr@library.illinois.edu

ACDC News – Issue 17-04

Warning signals to journalists about “balanced coverage” of environmental issues

Research reported in Environmental Research Letters sends warning signals to journalists who may feel inclined to cover a complex issue by featuring two scientists, one who is convinced of X and one who is not. This search for editorial balance may mislead and confuse because it may not reflect the weight of evidence.

For example, C. Shearer and associates analyzed public concern about the existence of a “secret large-scale atmospheric program” (SLAP) – a concern shared by as much as 17% of the adult population in Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States. They showed the evidence to 77 domain experts and asked them about each of the claims made by SLAP theorists. Experts expressed near-unanimous consensus (76/77) that there was no evidence to support the existence of SLAP.

Authors called for increased assessment and reporting of existing levels of scientific consensus regarding complex, socially-contested environmental issues. (Note: The need would seem to extend beyond environmental issues. Also, while consensus is not science, awareness of consensus levels may add to understanding and improve media reporting.)

You can read a follow-up summary and perspective by E. Maibach and S. van der Linden reported in Environmental Research Letters here .


Innovative project by the British Guild of Agricultural Journalists

Recently we added to the ACDC collection a report in the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists (IFAJ) newsletter about a pioneering project by members of the British Guild. They are seeing results of their efforts to help form the first school-based agricultural training centre in Nepal. Their fund-raising efforts also are supporting a project focused on microcredit for a rural women’s group in Nepal.

Congratulations to the British Guild, partnering with the British charitable organization, Global Action Nepal, in these development efforts.  You can read the IFAJ article here .

Five recent articles in the Journal of Applied Communications

Here are the titles and authors of five articles in the fourth 2016 issue of JAC . It is published by the Association for Communication Excellence in Agricultural, Consumer, and Environmental Sciences (ACE):

  • “Viewer perceptions and preferences for Farmweek” by McKayla Brubaker, Quisto Settle, and Elizabeth Gregory North
  • “Making a case for McDonald’s: a qualitative case study examining the McDonald’s ‘Our Food Your Questions’ campaign” by Laura M. Gorham, Courtney Gibson, and Erica Irlbeck
  • “Promoting commodities through comic books: a framing analysis of the Captain Citrus campaign” by Tiffany M. Rogers, Joy N. Rumble, and Lisa K. Lundy
  • “Tweeting with authority: identifying influential participants in agriculture-related water quality Twitter conversations” by Ashlan E. Wickstrom and Annie R. Specht
  • “Exploring perspectives of the student competencies needed to advocate for agriculture” by Garrett M. Steede, Laura M. Gorham, and Erica Irlbeck

You can read them here .


How to tap into the archives of ACE

Eighty-five years of historical records involving a pioneering agricultural communicator organization in the U.S. are archived in the National Agricultural Library of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. They involve ACE – known today as the Association for Communication Excellence in Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Life and Human Sciences. Earlier titles included the American Association of Agricultural College Editors and Agricultural Communicators in Education.

The collection contains 50 boxes of organizational records dating back to the first gathering of land-grant college editors in 1913 at the University of Illinois. Records span the years from 1913 to 1998. They provide a first-hand view of development in this professional and scholarly field.

You can review a description and finding aid for these materials here .


Negative views of GM food – reflecting more than low levels of science education

Decisions about GM food are rarely about one issue and notably not just (or even mainly) about “the science.” Those perspectives emerged recently in the journal, New Genetics and Society. Liz Harfull, ACDC associate in South Australia, alerted us to the 2017 report of research by Heather Bray and Rachel Ankeny, University of Adelaide. The highly educated women in their qualitative research had many questions that they viewed as unanswered and looked for a higher level of discussion about their concerns.

“…it may be time for more sophisticated and broader engagement about genetic modification, against the backdrop of more complex considerations of values including those associated with food choice.”

You can read the journal article here .


Role of local TV weather forecasters in climate change education

An article in PLOS ONE (November 2015) offered evidence that local television weathercasters can play an important role in educating the public about climate change. Researchers used a telephone survey of 2,000 Virginia residents. Findings revealed that “exposure to local TV weather forecasts can increase viewers’ perceptions of extreme local weather events, which in time can increase their awareness about the impacts and reality of climate change.”

Results highlighted the importance of trust. Authors emphasized that it will be important for climate change communicators, including TV weathercasters, to display and maintain good, scientific credibility.

You can read the article, “Local climate experts,” here .


Communicator activities approaching

April 22-29, 2017
33rd Annual Conference of the Association for International Agricultural and Extension Education (AIAEE) in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Information: http://www.aiaee.org

April 26-28, 2017
“Go big” 2017 Agri-Marketing Conference of the National Agri-Marketing Association (NAMA) in Dallas, Texas.
Information: http://nama.org/amc/home-2017

May 25-29, 2017
“Interventions: Communication Research and Practice.” Annual conference of the International Communication Association (ICA) in San Diego, California.
Information: http://www.icahdq.org/page/conference

June 13-16, 2017
“Renewal” Annual conference of the Association for Communication Excellence (ACE) in New Orleans, Louisiana. Information: https://www.aceweb.org/page-1854417

June 20-22, 2017
“Setting the gold standard in agricultural public relations.” Annual meeting of the Agricultural Relations Council in Sacramento, California.
Information: https://www.agrelationscouncil.org/events/2017-arc-meeting-sacramento-ca

July 22-26, 2017
“Summit on the summit.”  Agricultural Media Summit near Salt Lake City, Utah. Joint meeting of the American Agricultural Editors’ Association, Livestock Publications Council, and the Connectiv Agri-Media Committee. Also site of the national meeting of Agricultural Communicators of Tomorrow.
Information: http://agmediasummit.com/


Have you ever felt this?

We close this issue of ACDC News with an insight from John Muir about writing:

“Writing is like a glacier, grinding every inch of the way.”


Best wishes and good searching

Please pass along your reactions, suggestions and ideas. Feel free to invite our help as you search for information. Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter @ACDCUIUC . And please suggest (or send) agricultural communications documents we might add to this unique and valuable collection. We welcome them in hard copy (sent to Ag Comm Documentation Center, Room 510, 1101 S. Goodwin Avenue, Urbana, IL 61801) or in electronic format sent to docctr@library.illinois.edu

ACDC News – Issue 17-03

 

Artists can scream – scientists can’t

Recently we added to the ACDC collection an article in Yale Climate Connections reporting how visual artists are advancing dialog on climate. Author Lisa Palmer reported how artists have begun to:

  1. Address the nuances of science, making the story both scientifically rigorous and yet accessible
  2. Make climate change issues tangible to a public that tends to think the issue is remote from them in time and space

Palmer cited examples and observed that artists and scientists, working together, may provide new and innovative outlets for authoritative climate science and policy education.

You can read the article here .


Thirteen new agricultural communications research papers

We are adding these conference papers to the ACDC collection from the Agricultural Communications Section of the recent Southern Association of Agricultural Scientists (SAAS) conference in Mobile, Alabama. Topics range from local food messaging and Twitter discourse about food waste to branding in Extension and consumer response to animal slaughter videos.

You can read them here .


Wow — 175 years of agricultural publishing

A new digital exhibit on the ACDC website features the recent 175 th anniversary of Prairie Farmer , America’s oldest farm magazine. It has served Illinois readers continuously since early 1841. Caeli Cleary, agricultural communications senior and ACDC student assistant, developed the 13-slide exhibit. It highlights a few of the dramatic changes in agriculture and rural life which Prairie Farmer has covered (and influenced) across those years. We hope you may enjoy viewing it, as part of our digital exhibit series.

You can view it here .


Rural journalism can still be mighty risky

For years, ACDC has tracked freedom of information issues related to rural areas and the lives of residents. Covering agriculture can be mighty risky, even life threatening. News from the independent non-governmental organization, Reporters Without Borders, offers recent examples:

  • In southern Chad, a community radio station was closed by local authorities for covering disputes between herders and cultivators regarding land use. The station manager was detained.
  • Journalist Mae Azongo in Liberia received threats and was forced into hiding for reporting about female genital mutilation in rural areas, the plight of small farmers, and local development issues.
  • Three journalists were among eight persons lynched during a health team visit to a remote part of Guinea to inform people about dangers of the Ebola virus.
  • An indigenous Mayan community radio station was closed by local authorities. Community representatives and journalists were threatened and roughed up for defending ancestral land.

You can learn more about these incidents and read other examples here .


What the public and local decision makers want to know about water use

Recent survey research in Florida measured general public interest in 12 water subject areas. Priorities ranged from fertilizer and pesticide management (most interest – 39%) to landscape buffers (16%). City and county officials ranked their areas of interest from community actions concerning water issues (23%) to forest management (3%).

Authors of this article in the Journal of Agricultural Education found that decision makers had a significantly less positive attitude towards agricultural water use than did the general public.

You can read the 2016 article here .


Peace, conflict and other themes in communicating about development

Agriculture, health, women and children, environment, and population serve as major themes in reference to development throughout the world. A 2016 analysis of development themes in Mindanao expanded that list considerably. Researcher Nef Luczon analyzed development themes of independent films and videos (2010-2014) produced in that region of the Philippines.

Findings identified prominent themes anchored on:

  • Peace and conflict situations
  • Human rights
  • Indigenous peoples and their ancestral domains

You can read the abstract of the Media Watch journal article here . Check with us at docctr@library.illinois.edu for help in gaining full-text access.


Viewing farmland prices – echoes from a century ago

In a manuscript we added recently to the ACDC collection long-time agricultural editor Donald Murphy reported this view expressed by a farm reader of Wallaces Farmer (serving Iowa) in about 1907. More than a century later, it carries a familiar ring.

The reader recalled that raw, unimproved land in his section of northwestern Iowa in 1875 was selling for $4.50 per acre.  By 1880 it had risen to $7.00.  Then there was the prospect of a railroad and in 1882 the price of raw land jumped to $12.50. And by 1883 to $25 an acre.  He said he believed this advance is all more or less by speculation and that present prices of farm produce did not warrant the present prices of these lands.


Communicator activities approaching

April 2-8, 2017
2017 World Congress of the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists (IFAJ) in Gauteng and the West Cape, South Africa.

Information: http://www.ifaj-congress.org

April 22-29, 2017
33rd Annual Conference of the Association for International Agricultural and Extension Education (AIAEE) in Minneapolis, Minnesota USA.
Information: http://www.aiaee.org

April 26-28, 2017
“Go big” 2017 Agri-Marketing Conference of the National Agri-Marketing Association (NAMA) in Dallas, Texas USA.
Information: http://nama.org

May 25-29, 2017
“Interventions: Communication Research and Practice.” Annual conference of the International Communication Association (ICA) in San Diego, California.
Information: http://www.icahdq.org/page/conference

June 20-22, 2017
Annual meeting of the Agricultural Relations Council (ARC) in Sacramento, California USA.
Information: http://www.agrelationscouncil.org/events/2017-arc-meeting-sacramento-ca


I’d better repeat that

We close this issue of ACDC News with a reminder from novelist and philosopher André Gide who, decades ago, opened a lecture by noting:

“All of this has been said before, but since nobody listened, it must be said again.”


Best wishes and good searching

Please pass along your reactions, suggestions and ideas. Feel free to invite our help as you search for information. Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter @ACDCUIUC . And please suggest (or send) agricultural communications documents we might add to this unique and valuable collection. We welcome them in hard copy (sent to Ag Comm Documentation Center, Room 510, 1101 S. Goodwin Avenue, Urbana, IL 61801) or in electronic format sent to docctr@library.illinois.edu

ACDC News – Issue 17-02

What drives consumer purchase of green products

A recent article in the International Journal of Communication reported on beliefs and objectives that underlie green purchasing by Americans. Researchers used the term “green purchasing” to refer to the purchase and use of products that are less harmful to the natural environment or climate. Examples cited included solar panels, organic foods, and organic nonfood products. The study involved a structural model of climate change consumer activism.

Results supported the perspective that people who are motivated to take action on climate change believe it is real, human caused, dangerous, and solvable.” Findings suggested that these same beliefs underlie consumer activism. “Communication that creates concern about global warming and enhances beliefs about the power of consumer action is likely to stimulate green consumption.”

You can read the article here


Tracking consumers as promiscuous grocery shoppers

Undergraduate students at the University of Georgia got a first-hand look at food stores and shopping patterns in a recent class research project. A study reported in the Journal of Food Distribution Research (March 2016) described how class members gathered information from more than 3,000 food shoppers. Among the findings and conclusions:

  • “Food shoppers are promiscuous in their willingness to try many different grocers”
  • “For overall shopping experience, regional chains scored the highest CSI [consumer satisfaction index] and convenience stores the lowest CSI.”
  • “The significance of the survey is for students to learn smarter shopping and understand how goods are priced and marketed.”

You can read the abstract of this journal article (“Is being big better?”) here


Finding balance in society

Thanks to Hugh Maynard of Qu’anglo Communications and Consulting, Quebec, Canada, for this insight. It comes from a French extension movie on fertilizing walnut trees:

“Except for the whiz bang of technology, things haven’t changed much in a century.”

It fits a broader perspective that any sustainable society needs two dimensions. One involves experimentation and innovation. They help the society adapt to change. The other (just as important) involves a foundation of “what’s known and been found to work,” for stability over time.


“Five ways to cover the honey industry as a business reporter”

That is the title of a recent article by Debbi G. McCullough in the National Center for Business Journalism website. Citing information from the National Honey Board, the author touches on where most honey is produced in the U.S., varied uses of honey, crops dependent on honey, trends in honey importing and instances of honey fraud.

You can read the article here


When women weren’t broadcasting about agriculture

A useful professional reminder came to our attention recently when Colleen Callahan – first woman president of the National Association of Farm Broadcasting (2002) – was recognized in Illinois as one of 10 pioneering women. She explained:

“I was lucky enough to get an interview at Channel 3 in Champaign, even though the job was in Peoria. During the interview, I was asked one question I’d anticipated : ‘What will farmers think when they hear a woman talking about agriculture?’ I said I’d use my dad as a model listener. I already know what he expects – if I can present the material in a clear, concise manner, it shouldn’t make any difference whether it’s a man, a woman, or a dog barking out the information. They took a chance and it worked out for Midwest Television and me for 32 years.”


A decade of service: ICT in Agriculture

Congratulations to co-editors Ehud Gelb and Andy Offer, authors, and sponsors who are observing a remarkably-successful decade for their public domain e-book, ICT in Agriculture .

“Our e-Book’s ultimate goal was and remains an encouraging reference tool specifically geared for would-be ICT in Agriculture policy-makers, hands on and conceptual developers, extension, agents of change, disseminators, ICT producers, and their product’s end users,” explains Dr. Gelb of Hebrew University, Rehovot, Israel.

You can see 10-year statistics of the continuing use of this resource throughout the world here


Communicator activities approaching

February 15-18, 2017
“Innovative approaches to Extension for upliftment of poor and tribal farmers.” 6th International Conference of the International Society of Extension Education (INSEE) in Dawn, Udaipur, Rajasthan, India.
Information: http://www.inseeworld.com/seminars.htm

April 2-8, 2017
2017 World Congress of the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists (IFAJ) in Gauteng and the West Cape, South Africa.
Information: http://www.ifaj-congress.org

April 22-29, 2017
33rd Annual Conference of the Association for International Agricultural and Extension Education (AIAEE) in Minneapolis, Minnesota USA.
Information: http://www.aiaee.org

April 26-28, 2017
“Go big” 2017 Agri-Marketing Conference of the National Agri-Marketing Association (NAMA) in Dallas, Texas USA.
Information: http://nama.org/amc/schedule

June 20-22, 2017
Annual meeting of the Agricultural Relations Council (ARC) in Sacramento, California USA.
Information: http://www.agrelationscouncil.org/events/2017-arc-meeting-sacramento-ca


Another example of “missed signals” in communicating

We close this issue of ACDC News with an example of “missed signals” in rural travel:

Customer:  “I want a ticket to New York City.”
Airline agent:  “By Buffalo?”
Customer:  “I guess that’s OK, if the saddle is comfortable.”


Best wishes and good searching

Please pass along your reactions, suggestions and ideas. Feel free to invite our help as you search for information. Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter @ACDCUIUC . And please suggest (or send) agricultural communications documents we might add to this unique and valuable collection. We welcome them in hard copy (sent to Ag Comm Documentation Center, Room 510, 1101 S. Goodwin Avenue, Urbana, IL 61801) or in electronic format sent to docctr@library.illinois.edu

ACDC News – Issue 17-01

A New Year thought

We introduce this “Welcome, 2017” issue of ACDC News with a thought from Ralph Waldo Emerson about the key role of mindsets and communicating with one’s self. His perspective resonates here in ACDC as we gather what is known about communicating well (or poorly) in the huge and vital food and agriculture enterprise – within and among nations – local to global:

“What lies behind us
and what lies before us
are small matters
compared to what lies within us.”


Using data mining and social media analysis to monitor food crises

A research team in Germany explored how information from public-accessible internet sources, like Twitter and Wikipedia, can be harnessed for food crisis communication. They monitored messaging about the outbreak of Shiga Toxin-producing Escherichia coli 0104:H4 (EHEC) in Germany and neighboring countries starting in 2011.

Researchers found, for example, how they could measure public interest in the topic and gain early warning from online resources, detecting food safety issues that represent potential threats. Findings also shed light on methods for managing these complex tasks.

You can read the article in the International Journal of Food System Dynamics here .


Do food firms advertise and price to maximize profits?

No, they may deviate significantly from profit maximization. That finding is reported in a 2016 research report we have added to the ACDC collection. Two University of Connecticut economists studied advertising and pricing strategies in four food industries: beer, carbonated soft drinks, ready-to-eat cereal, and yogurt during 2005-2011. Findings suggested that entry-deterrence can account for deviation from short-term profit maximization. For example:

  • When potential entrants are extremely uncompetitive or extremely competitive, incumbent firms may reduce advertising and raise prices to signal their strength.
  • Incumbent firms’ use of lower prices and higher advertising may encourage entrance by signaling that there is great potential for profits.

You can read the conference research paper here .


Congratulations – 175 th anniversary of Prairie Farmer

Congratulations to Prairie Farmer (serving farmers of Illinois) on 175 years of continuous publishing, “making it the oldest magazine in America.” It stands as an amazing story of service, impact, and resilience.

You can read a news release about the achievement here .

Also, we would report that the ACDC collection includes more than 125 books, articles, reports, and other literature about Prairie Farmer , dating back to 1885. These resources involve, for example:

  • Special issues
  • Features involving the editorial staff
  • Content analyses
  • Readership reports
  • Reports of publishing innovations and ownership changes
  • Impact and contributions
  • Articles about communicating rural-urban issues

You can view the full list of citations at http://library.illinois.edu/funkaces/acdc . Go to “Start your Search” and enter “Prairie Farmer” in the search box.


What a scattered body of literature

We have often expressed our amazement at the wide scatter of literature about communications related to agriculture. The challenge is not due to lack of organization or focus; the challenge is simply broad and huge. Communications scholar Steven Chaffee caught the essence of it more than 30 years ago:

“Communication is just too central to all human activity not to attract the interests of economists, psychologists, sociologists, political scientists, anthropologists, and historians.”


His list is incomplete, of course, in terms of agricultural communications

This subject area extends far beyond human interactions in the social sciences and humanities. Communications is also central in the entire food complex, natural and physical sciences, engineering and technology, and all other fields of human activity. Here are a few sample journals in which we have found agricultural communications literature recently:

Biological Conservation
Trends in Plant Science
New Genetics and Society
Ecological Informatics
Food Chemistry
Nature Biotechnology
Global Environmental Change

This is why we scout so broadly for literature that can serve the interests of agricultural communications practitioners, researchers, teachers, students, and others. Human communicating is at the heart of agriculture.


Earliest Gallup report on consumer interest in organic foods

Forty-five percent of Americans were trying to include organic foods in their diets during 2014 when Gallup, Inc., first included them in the annual Consumption Habits survey. We recently added that benchmark report to the ACDC collection.  Among the findings:

  • Fifteen percent said they actively tried to avoid organic foods.
  • Organic foods ranked in the middle of the list of 12 others measured – trailing fruits and vegetables by a wide margin, but well ahead of fat, soda and sugar.
  • Americans who reported living in a big or small city were more likely to eat organic foods than those in towns or rural areas (50 percent versus 37 percent).
  • Inclusion of organic foods was highest in the West (54 percent) and lowest in the East (39 percent)

You can read that baseline summary here .


Communicator activities approaching

January 27, 2017
Deadline for research papers to be presented at the 2017 meeting of the Association for Communication Excellence in Agriculture, Natural Resources and Life and Human Sciences (ACE) on June 12-15, 2017, in New Orleans, Louisiana USA. At least one author must be an ACE member.
Information: Research Director Courtney Gibson at Courtney.d.gibson@ttu.edu

February 15-18, 2017
“Innovative approaches to Extension for upliftment of poor and tribal farmers.” 6th International Conference of the International Society of Extension Education (INSEE) in Dawn, Udaipur, Rajasthan, India.
Information: http://www.inseeworld.com/seminars.htm

April 2-8, 2017
2017 World Congress of the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists (IFAJ) in Gauteng and the West Cape, South Africa.
Information: http://www.ifaj-congress.org

April 22-29, 2017
33rd Annual Conference of the Association for International Agricultural and Extension Education (AIAEE) in Minneapolis, Minnesota USA.
Information: http://www.aiaee.org

April 26-28, 2017
“Go big” 2017 Agri-Marketing Conference of the National Agri-Marketing Association (NAMA) in Dallas, Texas USA.
Information: http://name.org/amc/home-2017


As the 35 th anniversary of ACDC passes

How many languages are represented in the Agricultural Communications Documentation Center?

Most material in the ACDC collection involves English language. However, 82 languages are represented currently in the literature of this collection. Huge needs and potentials remain.


Best wishes and good searching

Please pass along your reactions, suggestions and ideas. Feel free to invite our help as you search for information. Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter @ACDCUIUC . And please suggest (or send) agricultural communications documents we might add to this unique and valuable collection. We welcome them in hard copy (sent to Ag Comm Documentation Center, Room 510, 1101 S. Goodwin Avenue, Urbana, IL 61801) or in electronic format sent to docctr@library.illinois.edu

ACDC News – Issue 16-12

Warm holiday greetings

As this Illinois prairieland settles in for winter season, we extend warm holiday greetings to you. Thank you for your interest in efforts here at the University of Illinois to identify and share useful research, news, and perspectives for strengthening communications related to agriculture, broadly defined and globally.


Here are some holiday ideas from decades ago

Check our new digital exhibit, “November and December holidays from American agricultural publications.” Looking back to 1902, it catches Christmas memories, poetry, recipes, ads for holiday gifts, and do-it-yourself holiday crafts and gift ideas. They come from our new Volume One Number One Collection of Agricultural Periodicals. ACDC crew member Elizabeth Ray developed this special holiday feature.

You can view the 14-slide digital exhibit here .


Announcing the 2016 “Word of the Year”

Those involved in agricultural/rural communications can relate to the new “Word of the Year” announced recently by Oxford Dictionaries. It is:

post-truth (adj.): relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief.

The folks at Oxford Dictionaries may have identified “post-truth” as a fitting choice in a year of major political upheaval. However, it also resonates with those involved with interactions related to food, energy, environment and other agriculture-oriented endeavors. The bottom line: it identifies new challenges and needed skills for those who wish to communicate effectively in these complex matters. It presents marching orders for those who teach agricultural communications.

You can read a brief report of the announcement from CopyEditing.com here :


 Three concepts of food

An interview by Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR) sketched three concepts of “food,” as described by Beverly Bell. She is coordinator of Other Worlds, a women-driven education and movement-building collaborative. “Harvesting justice: Transforming food, land and agriculture” is a program area of the organization.

Here are the descriptions she offered:

Food security – “Everyone has the right to adequate quantity of food, to quality of food and to have food on time, that is, when people are hungry and need it.”

Food justice – “Looks at structural racism in the food system, and looks at the need for local community-controlled production for local consumption.”

Food sovereignty – “The right of all people and all nations to have access to their own food, grown domestically to support local production. Food that is agro-ecologically grown, that supports the environment – not undermines it, as industrial agriculture does. Food that looks at questions of inequity and ensures that small farmers and normally excluded communities actually have what they need to grow, which also means the right to land, the right to water, etc.”

You can read the article here .


 The changing role and work of agricultural journalists – a report of nearly 30 years ago

We appreciate the thoughtfulness of Mary Thompson of the Farm Foundation in providing a 1987 report to the Newspaper Farm Editors of America. “NFEA in a Changing World” is the title of this 98-page addition to the ACDC collection. Here is how author Lee Egerstrom described the purpose of it:

“This study attempts to define the components of modern newspaper farm writing, determine how it is done at different newspapers and who directs it, and provide some suggestions for NFEA to take a more important role in shaping agricultural journalism.”

Check with us at docctr@library.illinois.edu if you are interested in learning more about this report of historical interest.


 Fighting the “yuck” factor in eating insects

Providing information about the benefits of eating insects raises intention to eat them – and intention carries over to behavior. Those findings emerged from an experiment in Denmark and Italy. Video interviews informed 282 participants about the individual and societal benefits of introducing insect proteins into human diet. Participants then responded to items about their familiarity with the practice and their intention to follow it. After that, each received a chocolate bar enriched with proteins from crickets. Telephone interviews two weeks later provided follow-up information about consumption of the bars and intentions for consumption of insect-based food. The effects of information from the videos were significant in terms of both intention and behavior.

This 2016 article, “The effect of communication and implicit association on consuming insects,” is not available in full text by open access. You can read the abstract at

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0195666316300411 , Check with lead author Fabio Verneau at veneau@unina.it about full-text access or contact us for help at docctr@library.illinois.edu


 Communicator activities approaching

January 27, 2017
Deadline for research papers to be presented at the 2017 meeting of the Association for Communication Excellence in Agriculture, Natural Resources and Life and Human Sciences (ACE) on June 12-15, 2017, in New Orleans, Louisiana USA. At least one author must be an ACE member.
Information: Research Director Courtney Gibson at Courtney.d.gibson@ttu.edu

February 15-18, 2017
“Innovative approaches to Extension for upliftment of poor and tribal farmers.” 6 th International Conference of the International Society of Extension Education (INSEE) in Dawn, Udaipur, Rajasthan, India.
Information: http://www.inseeworld.com/seminars.htm

April 2-8, 2017
2017 World Congress of the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists (IFAJ) in Gauteng and the West Cape, South Africa.
Information: http://www.ifaj-congress.org

April 22-29, 2017
33rd Annual Conference of the Association for International Agricultural and Extension Education (AIAEE) in Minneapolis, Minnesota USA.
Information: http://www.aiaee.org


 Recognizing our careers

We close this issue of ACDC News with the inspirational remark of a new agricultural communications student in college. She was harking back to her 4-H speaking experience at age 8:

“I have been an agricultural communications major for 10 years, but didn’t know it until recently.”


 Best wishes and good searching

Please pass along your reactions, suggestions and ideas. Feel free to invite our help as you search for information. Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter @ACDCUIUC . And please suggest (or send) agricultural communications documents we might add to this unique and valuable collection. We welcome them in hard copy (sent to Ag Comm Documentation Center, Room 510, 1101 S. Goodwin Avenue, Urbana, IL 61801) or in electronic format sent to docctr@library.illinois.edu

ACDC News – Issue 16-11

 

Five ways to engage the public with climate change

A 2015 article we have added to the ACDC collection featured five “best practice” insights from psychological science about how to improve public engagement with climate change. These insights published in Perspectives on Psychological Science included:

  • The human brain privileges experience over analysis
  • People are social beings who respond to group norms
  • Out of sight, out of mind
  • Nobody likes losing (but everyone likes gaining)
  • Tapping the potential of human motivation

You can learn more about these insights and the policy implications of them here .


 A case report on marketing soda to children in an era of obesity

We have added to the ACDC collection a 2016 case report about that subject from the Center for Science in the Public Interest. Results of a CSPI investigation indicated that some marketing practices of Coca-Cola are inconsistent with the company’s pledges to avoid marketing soda to children under 12 and advertising on children’s television.

“The reason for concern about Coke’s marketing practices is that strong scientific evidence demonstrates that frequent consumption of soda and other sugar drinks contributes to tooth decay, weight gain, obesity, diabetes, and heart disease.”

You can read the article here .


 More on the value of repetition in agricultural writing

The “same old, same old” in reporting ag news

In 1906, the editor of Wallaces Farmer put an unusual twist on the content of farm papers. We share this quote from a manuscript we added recently to the ACDC collection:

“Some of our readers are disclosed to criticize the farmer [ Wallaces Farmer ] because it says the same things over and over again at about the same time of the year each year.  Well, then, how can we help it? Our table has been piled up for the last two weeks with letters from farmers asking us what kind of grass seeds to sow under innumerable different conditions, how to thicken up pastures the coming year, how to take care of the spring pigs, etc . . . . we suspect that some of our readers who complain in this way need to learn these same lessons over again, just as many persons who attend church who complain that the preacher tells the same old story.”


Coaching method helps livestock producers (and environment) in Australia

A supported learning methodology based on coaching proved highly effective in achieving practice change and adoption on farm. This finding appeared in a 2016 article in the Rural Extension and Innovation Systems Journal .

Authors described methods and results of an analysis of the Farm300 project of Meat &Livestock Australia. Among the impacts achieved:

  • 123 advisors upskilled
  • 23 coaches recruited
  • 333 producers participated (representing 60,000 head of cattle, 540,000 head of sheep and 455,000 ha of land area)
  • Increased profit by 24%
  • Decreased total greenhouse gas emissions by 7 percent
  • Decreased greenhouse gas emissions intensity by 24%

You can read the journal article here .


“Yogurt wars” over advertising claims

We recently added to the ACDC collection two articles on the “yogurt wars.” Two well-known yogurt-producing companies, Chobani and Dannon, had a legal battle over one company’s advertising campaign against the other. Dannon filed an injunction to stop Chobani ads from claiming the chemical sweeteners Dannon uses are possibly harmful. A judge ruling sided with Dannon. This decision still legally allows Chobani to advertise the idea of natural ingredients being better than artificial ones.

You can read more about the matter here .


Farm radio programming valued by Nigerian farmers: a 2016 analysis

All technology transferred to a probability sample of farmers in Imo State, Nigeria, through agricultural radio was relevant to them – and effective.  Those results appeared in a 2016 article in the Net Journal of Agricultural Science . Researcher J.I.K. Njoku invited respondents to assess the relevance of what they learned through radio programming about 10 farming practices. The practices ranged from cropping tips and dry season vegetable production to snailery, fish farming and non-ruminant vaccination.

The majority of farmers considered all the agricultural technologies disseminated to be relevant to their farming needs, with the messaging appropriate and useful.

You can read the article here .


At the 35 th anniversary

How many countries are represented in the Agricultural Communications Documentation Center?

The ACDC collection currently represents literature about agriculture-related communications in 210 countries.


Communicator activities approaching

February 15-18, 2017
“Innovative approaches to Extension for upliftment of poor and tribal farmers.” 6 th International Conference of the International Society of Extension Education (INSEE) in Dawn, Udaipur, Rajasthan, India.
Information: http://www.inseeworld.com/seminars.htm


Relating to strangers

We close this issue of ACDC News with something that caught our eye in a recent article published in the journal, American Nineteenth Century History . It featured Joseph Dennie, unfettered editor of the Farmer’s Weekly Museum , Walpole, New Hampshire, during the late 1790s.  According to the author:

“…he never met a stranger he could not look down upon.”


Best wishes and good searching

Please pass along your reactions, suggestions and ideas. Feel free to invite our help as you search for information. Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter @ACDCUIUC . And please suggest (or send) agricultural communications documents we might add to this unique and valuable collection. We welcome them in hard copy (sent to Ag Comm Documentation Center, Room 510, 1101 S. Goodwin Avenue, Urbana, IL 61801) or in electronic format sent to docctr@library.illinois.edu

ACDC News – Issue 16-10

 

Gathering history of the GM crops debate in the UK

Writing in Nature News, Prof. Vivian Moses of King’s College, London, recently announced an emerging archive. It is being developed to preserve the history of debate in the United Kingdom over genetically modified crops. These resources currently cover the period 1975-2012 and are being collected at the Science Museum in London. The 10 collections identified on the website are from UK scientists and others involved in research, policy and other aspects of GM crops. These materials take many forms. They include media interviews, press clippings, audio tapes of broadcasts, reports and lectures, souvenir items and other communications aspects.

You can read the article, including detailed contact information, here .


Several local story ideas for covering food waste

We recently added to the ACDC collection a brief article by Rian Bosse in the website of the National Center for Business Journalism. Here are some of the ideas offered for local media coverage involving food waste:

  • What environmentally-friendly restaurants are doing to reduce their waste
  • Steps that local supermarkets are taking to do the same
  • What local governments are doing to promote recycling, composting and reduction of food waste

You can read the article, “Food and money: the big problem of wasting food,” here .


Take the spotlight off causes of climate change

That message came from a recent analysis of how climate can be communicated to the agricultural sector. A team of university researchers approached the analysis through a review of research and a survey among climatologists in the Midwest U. S.  Findings led them to encourage climate scientists to emphasize direct impacts of climate on agricultural management systems, providing information that is location-specific and operation-specific. They suggested that by using the concept of adapting to changing conditions, climatologists can minimize the trust-eroding controversy associated with climate causality.

You can read this 2015 article, “Climatologists’ communication of climate science to the agricultural sector,” here .


Some encouraging news
How U.S. consumers have been rating the food industry

Recently we added to the ACDC collection the summary report of a Gallup poll released August 15. It revealed that U.S. consumers consider three sectors of the food industry among their four top-rated business sectors. Respondents were asked to indicate whether their overall view of various business sectors was very positive, somewhat positive, neutral, somewhat negative and very negative.  Here are responses to the four top-rated business sectors:

Restaurant industry:               66% total positive – 7% total negative
Computer industry:                 66% total positive – 13% total negative
Grocery industry:                    54% total positive – 18% total negative
Farming and agriculture:        55% total positive – 20% total negative

The Federal Government emerged as the worst-rated sector.
You can read the full summary of results here .


Thanks to a new contributor

We express appreciation to Paul Hixson, whose contribution of agricultural communications materials was processed recently into ACDC. Paul is retired from his position as chief information officer of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His earlier experience included long-time service, including leadership, in the Office of Agricultural Communications (now Information Technology and Communication Services) in the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences. He has had a wealth of domestic and international experience in this field.

Paul’s contributions include valuable historical and reference materials related to:

  • Administration, training activities, newsletters and other resources of the International Program for Agricultural Knowledge Systems (INTERPAKS)
  • Helping establish an academic program in rural communication at Bogor Agricultural Institute, Indonesia
  • References involving media and methods for Extension communications

You can identify these materials by using the ACDC search system at http://library.illinois.edu/funkaces/acdc . Go to “Start your Search” and enter “Paul Hixson Collection” in the search box. The list of citations will appear.


At our 35 th anniversary:

How many authors are represented in resources of the Agricultural Communications Documentation Center?Currently, 34,786 persons are represented as authors of literature in the ACDC collection.


Surefire tool for impressing others with our writing

A classic resource for “writing to impress” came into ACDC recently, as part of the new Paul Hixson Collection. It dates back to 1977 and the author is not identified. However, we all may find it helpful, even today.

The author created an Extension Phrase Generator which “can be of great help when your copy seems too simple, or when you don’t know what to say, but you want it to sound good.”

As a service to readers, the ACDC team now offers this wonderful tool – a surefire way to generate great copy for your Extension (or other) writing. You can retrieve the Phrase Generator here for your impressive writing ahead. Have fun.


Communicator activities approaching

October 21, 2016
Deadline for Professional Development Proposals and Poster Abstracts for the Agricultural Communications Section of the 2017 Southern Association of Agricultural Scientists (SAAS) meeting on February 4-7 in Mobile, Alabama USA
Information: https://sites.google.com/a/extension.org/saasagcomm/

October 30-November 3, 2016
Professional Development Conference of the International Food, Wine and Travel Writers Association in San Diego, California USA
Information: http://ifwtwa.org/2016/04/2016-ifwtwa-annual-conference.html

November 9-11, 2016
“Waves of Opportunity.” Seventy-third annual conference of the National Association of Farm Broadcasting (NAFB) in Kansas City, Missouri USA
Information: http://www.nafb.com

February 15-18, 2017
“Innovative approaches to Extension for upliftment of poor and tribal farmers.” 6 th International Conference of the International Society of Extension Education (INSEE) in Dawn, Udaipur, Rajasthan, India.
Information: http://www.inseeworld.com/conference.htm


Early guide to poultry confinement

We close this issue of ACDC News with some advice offered in the February 23, 1906, issue of Wallaces Farmer .  A subscriber talked about the value of giving chickens room to run in the farm yard.

“A yard full of a dozen hens and roosters ought to be 30 feet by 150 feet for the best results.  A hen would pine away in a yard any smaller.”


Best wishes and good searching

Please pass along your reactions, suggestions and ideas. Feel free to invite our help as you search for information. Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter @ACDCUIUC . And please suggest (or send) agricultural communications documents we might add to this unique and valuable collection. We welcome them in hard copy (sent to Ag Comm Documentation Center, Room 510, 1101 S. Goodwin Avenue, Urbana, IL 61801) or in electronic format sent to docctr@library.illinois.edu

 

ACDC News – Issue 16-09

Eight new research reports from ACE

These research articles are in the second 2016 issue of the Journal of Applied Communications , which is published by the Association for Communication Excellence in Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Life and Human Sciences (ACE):

  • “A content and visual analysis of promotional pieces used in a communication campaign for the Arkansas [Commodity] Promotion Board.” by Amy Hughes, Tara L. Johnson, Leslie D. Edgar, Jefferson D. Miller and Casandra Cox
  • “Branding the berries: consumers’ strawberry purchasing intent and their attitude toward Florida strawberries” by Taylor K. Ruth and Joy N. Rumble
  • :Managing Extension’s internal brand: employees’ perceptions of the functions and descriptors of Extension” by Quisto Settle, Lauri M. Baker and Scott Stebner
  • “Opening the doors to agriculture: the effect of transparent communication on attitude” by Joy N. Rumble and Tracy Irani
  • “Reaching millennials: implications for advertisers of competitive sporting events that use animals” by Jackie Hill, Mallory Mobley and Billy R. McKim
  • “Student expectations and reflections of a study away course experience to Washington, D.C.” by Courtney Meyers and Shannon Arnold
  • “Teaching convergence in 21 st Century undergraduate agricultural communication: a pilot study of backpack multimedia kits in a blended, project-based learning course” by Jamie Loizzo, Abigail Borron, Amanda Gee and Peggy A. Ertmer
  • “The role of dissonance and schema: an exploration of Florida public perception after the DWH (Deepwater Horizon) oil spill” by Laura M. Gorham, Joy N. Rumble, Kacie L. Pounds, Angie B. Lindsey and Tracy Irani

You can read these articles here .


Words of caution about evaluating food safety education

Caution was the byword from a recent meta-analysis of 79 studies about the effectiveness of food safety education efforts in North America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand. Reporting in BMC Public Health , a research team found that “many different education interventions were found to be effective in uncontrolled before-and-after studies.” Randomized and non-randomized controlled trials prompted moderate to high confidence in interventions involving:

  • Community and school-based educational training on behaviours of children and youth.
  • Video and written instructional messaging on behavioural intentions in adults
  • University-based education on attitudes of students and staff

However, “risk-of-bias and reporting limitations and the presence of significant heterogeneity between studies resulted in low and very low confidence in these findings.”

You can read “A systematic review and meta-analysis of the effectiveness of food safety education interventions for consumers in developed countries” here .


The “digital divide” – so faceless, so placeless

“Who are these supposed people without an Internet connection in today’s day-and-age? Where are these places that have been left behind? And is it really that big of a deal?

Megan Tady asked those questions in a blog we added recently from the Free Press website:  The article includes links to a speech and story from a family trying to run a farm on dial-up in rural North Carolina.

You can read the 2010 article here .


Great variation in cellphone ownership in sub-Saharan Africa.

A 2015 Gallup World Poll in 28 sub-Saharan countries of Africa revealed great variation in mobile phone ownership – and “vast disparities between urban and rural communities.” For example:

  • Mobile phone ownership varied from 87 percent in Nigeria to 21 percent in Madagascar
  • Median cellphone ownership was 61 percent in the 28 countries
  • In all but a few countries, urban residents were significantly more likely to own a cellphone than residents of rural areas. The biggest gap was in Sierra Leone where ownership varied from 83 percent (urban) to 35 percent (rural).

You can read the summary report here .


Welcome to a new ACDC team member

We extend a warm welcome to Elizabeth Ray, new graduate assistant in the Agricultural Communications Documentation Center. She began the appointment this month as she enters the Master of Library and Information Science degree program here at the University of Illinois. In that role, she will serve as assistant manager and web master.

Elizabeth is a 2015 graduate of the University of Illinois with a Bachelor of Arts degree in history. She brings to the Center useful experience gained in retail, food wholesaling, bakery management, customer service, data management, image processing and other areas. Activities of ACDC will help her pursue her special interests in archives and archiving.

You can reach Elizabeth at ejray2@illinois.edu .


A bibliometric analysis opened our eyes – 35 years ago

As we observe the 35 th anniversary of ACDC in 2016 our thoughts turn to a bibliometric analysis led by Chandra Prabha, our pioneer graduate assistant. In 1981 she was a doctoral candidate in library and information science. This analysis involved agricultural communications literature published during a 10-year period (1970-1979). Findings proved to be a real eye-opener for us. Until then, we had little idea of how much agricultural communications literature existed.  For example, findings revealed:

  • A substantial body of literature about agricultural communications existed
  • That body of literature was growing at about 14 percent a year
  • It was found widely scattered. Findings showed that 336 periodicals contained references about agricultural communications during that period. The top-ranked periodical provided only 6 percent of all such articles. The top 10 periodicals provided only 28 percent of all articles. There was no nucleus of periodicals devoted essentially to agricultural communications

Those findings became our marching orders – to help identify, gather and make available this important body of information. They set a vision for what has become the Agricultural Communications Documentation Center.

You can read that 1982 journal article here .


Communicator activities approaching

September 21-25, 2016
Annual conference of the Society of Environmental Journalists in Sacramento, California.

Information: http://www.sej.org/calendar/list/sej-annual-conferences

September 29-30
“Vote CCA”  Professional Development Workshop of the Cooperative Communicators Association at the National Cooperative Bank in Arlington, Virginia.
Information: www.communicators.coop or on Facebook

November 9-11, 2016
Waves of Opportunity.” Seventy-third annual conference of the National Association of Farm Broadcasting (NAFB) in Kansas City, Missouri.
Information: http://www.nafb.com


Stay alert when you interview about fishing

We close this issue of ACDC News with an example of “missed signals” in aquatic communicating:

Visitor:  “Good lake for fish?”
Fisherman:  “Must be. I can’t persuade any to come out.”


Best wishes and good searching

Please pass along your reactions, suggestions and ideas. Feel free to invite our help as you search for information. Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter @ACDCUIUC . And please suggest (or send) agricultural communications documents we might add to this unique and valuable collection. We welcome them in hard copy (sent to Ag Comm Documentation Center, Room 510, 1101 S. Goodwin Avenue, Urbana, IL 61801) or in electronic format sent to docctr@library.illinois.edu