ACDC Newsletter – Page 3 – Funk Library

August News and Research from the ACDC – Issue 22-08

Posted on August 16, 2022 by Rachel Riffe

Click here for a printer-friendly PDF of this issue

How free press in nations fits with environment-friendly policy

An international analysis recently addressed this relationship. Researchers Inma Martinez-Zarzoso and Jennifer Phillips investigated it with a global sampling of countries. They used data across the period 1994-2015.

Results indicated that lack of press freedom is negatively correlated with stringency of environmental policies.

You can read this 2020 research report in Environment and Development Economics by open access via Cambridge University Press here.

“The dangers of big data extend to farming”

We are adding a 2022 article of that title to the ACDC collection. Author Kelly Bronson of the University of Ottawa, Canada, noted in a June issue of The Conversation that scholars and activists have spent years exposing dangerous effects of big data practices on individual privacy and civil liberties.

However, she suggested, agricultural data are likely to have far-reaching detrimental environmental and social impacts. She cited examples and proposed that, beyond data analysis and infrastructure, digital democracy calls for a fundamental redistribution of decision-making power from a small number of corporate stakeholders to a wider group of citizens who can help answer questions such as: What kind of food system do we want? Which farming techniques and technologies will help us get there?

You can read this article here.

Disconnect between what consumers say about fresh produce – and what they eat

Findings of a March 2022 national survey by Dole Food Company indicated that almost half of adult Americans mostly ignore the benefits of eating fresh fruits and vegetables, despite a widespread acceptance as essential to the health of their families. For example:

• 73% agreed that fruits and vegetables are a healthy choice for their families
• 68% said they think fruits and vegetables taste great
• 51% said they associate eating more produce with positively impacting the environment

However, almost half (48%) said they think the general public is still ignorant about the health and environmental impacts of fresh produce.

You can read a brief summary about the survey here.

Smallholder farmers in Pakistan at the frontlines of COVID-19

An analysis from the early period of COVID-19 sheds light on how these farmers viewed COVID-19, how it challenged them, and what they thought about government lockdown strategies. Researcher Muhammad Ammad Khan conducted research among 384 smallholder farmers in Punjab province. Results revealed:
• The vast majority of respondents were highly aware of the disease
• They had positive attitudes toward the government lockdown strategy
• Some were facing great challenges in access to farm inputs, unavailability of farm laborers, high prices, and selling their farm produce

You can read the 2022 article in the Journal of Rural and Community Development here.

How 18 million Americans could move into rural areas – without leaving home

“About 45 million Americans – 14% of the nation’s inhabitants – are currently classified as living in rural areas. That number could jump to 64 million – an increase of nearly 40% – without anyone moving into a new home.” So reported Devon Brenner and Jesse Longhurst in a 2021 report from The Conversation news service. They were referring to a government proposal to move everyone who lives in places with 50,000 to 100,000 from urban to rural life.

“Making the proposed change would mean 144 areas with populations between 50,000 and 100,000, and the 251 counties they occupy, would no longer be classified as ‘metropolitan,’ but rather as ‘micropolitan’ – and therefore effectively rural.”

In this brief article, authors described some possible social and economic implications of the proposal.

You can read it here.

Communicator events approaching

Uncertainties of the COVID-19 health issue continue to prompt flexible event planning. Here are plans of which we are aware, with contact information you can use for details.

September 18-21, 2022
Annual conference of the International Food, Wine, and Travel Writers Conference in St. Petersburg, Florida. Information: https://ifwtwa.org/2022-ifwtwa-conference

September 21-22, 2022
Professional Development Workshop sponsored by the Cooperative Communicators Association (CCA) in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
Information: https://communicators.coop/professional-development/workshops/

September 22, 2022
“Usage of satellite imagery in agricultural journalism.” Online workshop via Zoom, European Network of Agricultural Journalists (ENAJ). Presenter Jan Labohý is chief executive officer of World from Space.
Information: https://enaj.eu/usage-of-satellite-imagery-in-agricultural-journalism/

October 10-12, 2022
“Cultivating. Connecting.” Fall conference of the National Agri-Marketing Association (NAMA) in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Information: https://nama.org/2022-fall-conference.html

October 13, 2022
Annual Harvest Service and Lunch, British Guild of Agricultural Journalists, in London, England. Information: https://www.gaj.org.uk/harvest-service-and-lunch

October 21-25, 2022
“ScienceWriters 2022.” Meeting of the National Association of Science Writers
(NASW) in Memphis, Tennessee.
Information: https://www.nasw.org/events/sciencewriters-2022-memphis/

November 16-18, 2022
National Association of Farm Broadcasting (NAFB). Annual conference in Kansas City, Missouri. Information: https://nafb.com/events/nafb-convention

“He can fix it”

We close this issue of ACDC News with a perspective from ever-alert associate John Otte. He called attention recently to something he heard from an acquaintance about special creativity found in many local rural communities.

This acquaintance recalled growing up where the proprietor of a fix-it shop maintained he could fix anything – except the crack of dawn and a broken heart.

Best regards and wishes

ACDC is a resource for you, so please feel free to invite our help as you search for information. You are welcomed to follow us on Twitter @ACDCUIUCDocNews22-08. And please suggest (or send) agricultural communications documents we might add to this unique and valued international collection. We welcome them in hard copy (sent to Ag Comm Documentation Center, 510 ACES Library, 1101 S. Goodwin Avenue, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL 61801) – or in electronic format sent to acdc@library.illinois.edu

July News and Research from the ACDC – Issue 22-07

Posted on July 12, 2022 by Rachel Riffe

Click here for a printer-friendly PDF of this issue

Rural youths in India turn into citizen journalists

“At a time when the International Human Rights Day was being celebrated with much excitement across the world, a silent story of change was being scripted in the community hall” of a small town in northern India. So began a recent article in The Hans India. It explained how rural youths were telling government officials about challenges plaguing their villages. As citizen journalists, they discussed issues such as child marriage, problems of dowry, gender discrimination, wearing Ghoonghat Pratha, suffering from hunger, and casteism.

The district collector commended students for advancing the important role of media as a pillar of democracy and for helping build nationhood.

You can read the article online here.

A call: Let’s expand constructive efforts to address destructive social conflicts

Recently we added to the ACDC collection a 13-page road map to address the “destructive-conflict-as-usual way in which the U.S. and so many other societies now commonly address complex, large-scale, intractable conflicts…”

It was written in 2019 by Guy Burgess and Heidi Burgess of the Conflict Information Consortium, University of Colorado. They argue that such conflicts represent the single greatest threat to humanity and the planet. They drafted this statement to describe the challenge and invite suggestions for a broad collaborative effort to manage conflict in constructive rather than destructive ways.

You can read the statement here.

“There’s a lot the Postal Service can do”

A new document in ACDC features a 202l interview with Lisa Graves, political activist and senior fellow of the Center for Media and Democracy. She emphasized the unique, valuable role of the U.S. Postal Service and identified several ways in which it might be more fully engaged in public service. Among the ideas she suggested:

A hub for internet access
A charging station for electric cars
An informal gathering place in local communities
Banking services for underbanked communities

You can read this interview here.

How consumers view climate change these days

“Concern about climate change is real for consumers surveyed recently by The Packer,” a news enterprise serving the food industry. Among the respondents, 87% rated addressing climate change as important (25%), very important (24%) or extremely important (38%) to their overall sustainability priorities.

Here are the top five reasons they cited:

Combat climate change
Improve human health
Reduce food waste
It’s the responsible thing to do
Reduce air pollution

You can read a summary of the survey findings here.

A lingering environmental case study of not listening

“The people of Flint are still suffering,” read the headline of a January 2022 article we have added in ACDC. The article features an interview with investigative reporter Jordan Chariton of the independent news network Status Coup News. This conversation involves a controversial decision in 2014 to switch the source of drinking water in Flint, Michigan – and follow-up disputes about continuing effects of heavy metal poisoning on residents.

Reporter Chariton said “…there’s been a lot of …’we hear you and we’re going to do everything for you.’ But if you talk to the people of Flint, they are still screaming for help.” He also observed that “the local media of Michigan has essentially continued this narrative that the water is fine now, and let’s move on.”

You can read the interview here.

Communicator events approaching

Uncertainties of the COVID-19 health issue continue to prompt flexible event planning. Here are plans of which we are aware, with contact information you can use for details.

July 16-20, 2022

“On point.” Agricultural Media Summit in Raleigh, North Carolina. Sponsored by the American Agricultural Editors’ Association (AAEA), Connectiv Agri-Media Committee, and Livestock Publications Council (LPC).

Information: https://agmediasummit.com

July 20-24, 2022

International Society of Weekly Newspaper Editors. Conference in Louisville, Kentucky. Information: https://iswne.org/annual_conferences

September 21-22, 2022

Professional Development Workshop sponsored by the Cooperative Communicators Association (CCA) in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

Information: https://www.communicators.coop/professional-development/workshops/

October 10-12, 2022

National Agri-Marketing Association (NAMA). Fall conference in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Information: https://web.nama.org/events/2022-fall-conference-402/details

November 16-18, 2022

National Association of Farm Broadcasting (NAFB). Annual conference in Kansas City, Missouri. Information: https://nafb.com/events/nafb-convention

Dealing with life

We close this issue of ACDC News with a piece of advice about observing and dealing with life. It comes from Jerry Apps in his 1998 book, Rural Wisdom.

“Remember to listen for the whispers and look in the shadows.”

Best regards and wishes

ACDC is a resource for you, so please feel free to invite our help as you search for information. You are welcomed to follow us on Twitter @ACDCUIUC. And please suggest (or send) agricultural communications documents we might add to this unique and valued international collection. We welcome them in hard copy (sent to Ag Comm Documentation Center, 510 ACES Library, 1101 S. Goodwin Avenue, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL 61801) – or in electronic format sent to acdc@library.illinois.edu

ACDC News – Issue 22-06

Posted on June 27, 2022 by Rachel Riffe

Click here for a printer-friendly pdf of this issue.

“Media need to treat every day as Earth Day”

The climate crisis is an emergency that demands urgent, sustained attention and action – not a fleeting mention once a month, according to a recent article by Julie Hollar. She was writing on the website of Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR), a media watchdog group based in New York City.

“Any further delay in concerted anticipatory global action on adaptation and mitigation will miss a brief and rapidly closing window of opportunity to secure a livable and sustainable future for all.”

You can read the thought piece here.

First of the 2022 articles in JAC

Four new research articles appear in the first 2022 issue of the Journal of Applied Communications. You can read them online, along with four papers delivered at the most recent conference of the Association for Communication Excellence in Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Life and Human Sciences (ACE).

“Persuasive effects of metaphors regarding gene-editing in agriculture” by Nellie Hill, Courtney Meyers, Nan Li, David L. Doerfert, and Venugopal Mendu
“Characteristics and motivational factors of American equine journalists” by Zoe B. Bowden, Ricky W. Telg, and Lisa K. Lundy
“Influence of message theme on consumer perceptions of lab grown meat” by Kellie Kubacak, Courtney Meyers, Hannah L. Ford, Nan Li, and Lindsay Kennedy
“Labs and landscapes virtual reality: Student-created forest conservation tours for informal public engagement” by Whitney Stone, Jamie Loizzo, Jacqueline Aenlle, and Peyton Beattie

You can read the articles here.

Potential of social network analysis: A case study involving organic food

We recently added a research report about the potential value of social network analysis in understanding consumer perceptions of organic food. An international team of researchers compared the results of 14 studies carried out by using standard research methods with those based on 344,233 posts by 73,380 Instagram users.

Both approaches identified four key areas as factors important to consumers buying organic food: (1) health consciousness, (2) ecological motives, (3) taste, and (4) hedonism.

You can read the journal article by open access for individual use here.

Recognizing a new collection

Sincere thanks to retired communicator Chris Scherer for alerting us to his collection of professional books. Copies of some are already in the University of Illinois Library. However, more than half involve communications related to agriculture and we had not been aware of them. So we are reviewing the books we don’t have and preparing citations for the ACDC database and search system. As a result, online visitors will soon be able to identify and gain access to detailed agricultural communications information otherwise difficult to find.

Books in the new Chris Scherer Collection feature excellent information for professional journalists and communicators as well as researchers, students and others. Subjects range across writing, layout and design, trends in advertising and public relations, and the history of women in journalism.

Check with ACDC Associate Jim Evans if you would like to learn more about this collection – or if you have agricultural journalism and communications materials for which you might like to find a home.

Record-high worry about hunger

“One year after the coronavirus pandemic upended Americans’ lives and caused an economic crisis, worry about hunger and homelessness in the country eclipsed concerns about 13 other national issues for the first time. The 55% of U.S. adults who say they personally worry ‘a great deal’ about these consequences of poverty marks an eight-percentage-point increase since last year and the highest in 20 years of measurement.”

We recently added this Gallup news item to the ACDC collection. You can read further details about recent results of annual Gallup Poll research here.

Communicator events approaching

Uncertainties of the COVID-19 health issue continue to prompt flexible event planning. Here are plans of which we are aware, with contact information you can use for details.

June 21-23, 2022

Agricultural Relations Council (ARC). Annual meeting in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Information: https://agrelationscouncil.org

June 27-July 3, 2022

“Smarter farming and food production for green and sustainable growth.” 2022 World Congress of the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists (IFAJ) in Vingsted, Denmark. Hosted by the Danish Food and Agricultural Journalists.

Information: https://ifaj2020.dk

July 16-20, 2022

Information: https://agmediasummit.co

July 20-24, 2022

International Society of Weekly Newspaper Editors. Conference in Louisville, Kentucky. Information: https://iswne.org/annual_conferences

September 21-22, 2022

Professional Development Workshop sponsored by the Cooperative Communicators Association (CCA) in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

Information: communicators.coop/professional-development/workshops/

October 10-12, 2022

National Agri-Marketing Association (NAMA). Fall conference in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Information: https://web.nama.org/events/2022-fall-conference-402/details

November 16-18, 2022

National Association of Farm Broadcasting (NAFB). Annual conference in Kansas City, Missouri. Information: https://nafb.com/events/nafb-convention

From misery freed

We close this issue of ACDC News with an epitaph by Oliver Goldsmith:

“Here lies poor Ned Purdon, from misery freed,

Who long was a bookseller’s hack.

He led such a damnable life in this world

I don’t think he’ll wish to come back.”

Offering information and best regards

ACDC is a resource for you, so please feel free to invite our help as you search for information. You are welcome to follow us on Twitter @ACDCUIUC. And please suggest (or send) agricultural communications documents we might add to this unique and valued international collection. We welcome them in hard copy (sent to Ag Comm Documentation Center, 510 ACES Library, 1101 S. Goodwin Avenue, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL 61801) – or in electronic format sent to acdc@library.illinois.edu

ACDC News – Issue 22-05

Posted on May 23, 2022 by Kevin Wiggins

Click here for a Printer-Friendy-PDF of this issue

Rural worries about new Postal Service delays

We have added a news item from Daily Yonder addressing the possible impacts of recent-approved delays in mail shipments by the U.S. Postal Service.

Since early October, the USPS has been authorized to delay shipments of first-class mail – letters, bills, tax documents, and the like. Deliveries that “normally took three days now take upward of five days.” The change helps address the rising expenses of the Postal Service. However, author Kristi Eaton reports, “Advocates and researchers who study the postal system continue to worry about the effect the changes will have on rural America.”

You can read more about this rural information issue here.

Checking her career interest in full-time ag freelancing

Agricultural journalist Sabrina Halvorson “decided to spend a year as a full-time freelancer to see what I could learn from that.” Since the 1990s she had freelanced on the side of a full-time job. As her year ended recently, she reported on her experience to Agricultural Communicators Network/AAEA members in the ByLine newsletter. Among the freelancing tips she offered:

Don’t wear yourself out. “Work is only part of life.”
Find the spices (topics) you like.
Find someone to be your cheerleader

You can read her report, “Finding balance in freelancing,” here.

“Making the case for ugly produce”

How should the fresh produce industry communicate about off-shaped carrots and other vegetables? A report of this title in The Packer trade periodical addresses the question. Findings of new university research suggest the produce industry should avoid simply treating them as ugly, inferior food that should be worthless.

“Explaining the value of misshapen vegetables –that they are as healthful as their picture-perfect counterparts and buying them reduces food waste – could help improve sales of ‘ugly’ produce,” said senior study author Brian Roe.

You can read the report here.

Recent recognition in rural community journalism

A North Carolina family with seven decades of outstanding public service has received the 2021 Tom and Pat Gish Award. This award is sponsored by the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues based at the University of Kentucky.

Thompson-High family has owned the twice-weekly News Reporter in Whiteville, North Carolina, since 1938. Since then, it “has continued to show courage, integrity and tenacity by holding accountable local public officials – especially those in the criminal justice system – despite significant financial adversity, reader and advertiser boycotts, personal attacks and threats against family members’ lives, and taking smaller profits to better serve its readers, but always looking ahead.”

You can read more about this honored community journalism here.

Is there growth in gardening?

In this COVID era, “the seed aspect is definitely an angle that the business journalist should look at when reporting on this topic.” So advised Kenechi Anigbogu in a recent article from the National Center for Business Journalism. He offered several possible approaches for covering it in any part of the world:

Look at the seed retailers to examine trends they are noticing
Talk with a horticulturist based in your area of coverage
Check the rise of food prices because consumers may look to gardening as a means of beating inflation

You can read the article here.

Communicator events approaching

Uncertainties of the COVID-19 health issue continue to prompt flexible event planning. Here are plans of which we are aware, with contact information you can use for details.

June 6-9, 2022

“Culture, Color, Creativity.” Annual Institute of the Cooperative Communicators Association (CCA) in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Information: https://www.communicators.coop/professional-development/cca-institute/

June 12-14, 2022

“Reimagined: ACE and all that jazz.” Annual conference of the Association for Communication Excellence in Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Life and Human Sciences (ACE) in Kansas City, Missouri. Information: https://aceweb.org

June 21-23, 2022

Agricultural Relations Council (ARC). Annual meeting in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Information: https://agrelationscouncil.org

June 27-July 3, 2022

Information: https://ifaj2020.dk

July 16-20, 2022

Information: https://agmediasummit.com

July 20-24, 2022

International Society of Weekly Newspaper Editors. Conference in Louisville, Kentucky. Information: https://iswne.org/annual_conferences

October 10-12, 2022

National Agri-Marketing Association (NAMA). Fall conference in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Information: https://web.nama.org/events/2022-fall-conference-402/details

November 16-18, 2022

National Association of Farm Broadcasting (NAFB). Annual conference in Kansas City, Missouri. Information: https://nafb.com/events/nafb-convention

An Irish blessing

We close this issue of ACDC News with an Irish blessing:

“May the face of every good news

And the back of every bad news

Be towards us.”

Offering information and best regards

ACDC News – Issue 22-04

Posted on April 18, 2022 by Kevin Wiggins

Click here for a printer-friendly pdf of this issue

Journals and journal editors – guardians of the agricultural sciences

This enduringly important perspective appeared in a 1982 Rural Sociology article we added recently to the ACDC collection. Researchers William Lacy and Lawrence Busch used national surveys of agricultural journal editors and agricultural scientists in 13 disciplines to examine the role of professional journals in research. Survey results also revealed the criteria that authors and editors use in submitting and selecting articles for publication. Findings reinforced the vital roles that editors play in the agricultural research process.

You can read the article abstract here via ResearchGate or request the full article pdf.

No Till Farmer magazine recently celebrated a “triple crown”

Mike Lessiter, president of Lessiter Media, reports that the celebration featured:

60 years since the first commercial no-till plots in Kentucky
50 years since his father, Frank Lessiter, launched this magazine to serve information needs of farmers who use no-till and strip-till methods
30 years since the first National No-Tillage Conference

The celebration also featured a “Museum of No-Till History” – 2,064 square feet of vertical displays at the recent conference in Louisville, Kentucky. Displays included more than 500 photos, 40 factoids and 50-plus charts and illustrations. “Once we were looking for it, every place we turned yielded more historical discoveries…”

You can view the Museum boards here.

Seven biggest ethical issues facing the agricultural industry

We are adding to the ACDC collection a 2019 posting in the ethics hotline, Ethical Advocate. It identified seven ways to improve agricultural ethics in the U.S. They addressed issues such as safety of food, treatment of animals and use of chemicals.

One cited issue involved the sharing of information – for instance, warning a fellow farmer of a parasite or pest issue versus letting a problem ruin a farm. “Sharing information to help each other helps the entire industry and the world as a whole.”

You can read the brief article here.

Required food labeling information – not all offered online

Findings of a recent research report in Public Health Nutrition indicated that information provided regularly to consumers in conventional food retail settings in the USA is not being uniformly provided online. For example, required details about nutrition and allergens were present, conspicuous and legible for an average of only 36.5% of the food and drink products surveyed. Researchers concluded that “at a minimum, the entire required nutritional information panel should be made conspicuously and immediately visible and legible under ordinary purchase conditions online.”

You can read the 2021 article here.

Update on what food is “natural”

The 2021 Food and Health Survey by the International Food Information Council (IFIC) showed that one-third of Americans regularly buy foods and beverages because they are labeled as “natural.” Also, most Americans said they view a product labeled “all natural” as healthier than a product that is not, even if they have the same Nutrition Facts label.

“But does ‘natural’ really mean what we think it means?” IFIC explains that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) “…considers ‘natural’ to mean that nothing artificial or synthetic has been put into a food that wouldn’t be expected to be there.” The definition “is not meant to address food production, processing or manufacturing methods. Nor is it indicative of a food’s nutritional or health benefit.”

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) regulates meat, poultry and egg products – but not shell eggs. It considers a natural meat and poultry product as “containing no artificial ingredient or added color and is only minimally processed.”

The IFIC report suggests to food shoppers, “…remember that there is no formal definition for the term and head for the Nutrition Facts label for details about its healthfulness. Just because it’s ‘natural’ doesn’t mean it’s healthier.”

You can read the full article here.

Communicator events approaching

Uncertainties of the COVID-19 health issue continue to prompt flexible event planning. Here are plans of which we are aware, with contact information you can use for details.

June 6-9, 2022

“Culture, Color, Creativity” Annual Institute of the Cooperative Communicators Association (CCA) in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Information: https://www.communicators.coop/professional-development/cca-institute/

June 12-14, 2022

“Reimagined: ACE all that jazz.” Annual conference of the Association for Communication Excellence in Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Life and Human Sciences (ACE) in Kansas City, Missouri. Information: https://aceweb.org

June 27-July 3, 2022

Information: https://ifaj2020.dk

July 16-20, 2022

Information: https://agmediasummit.com

The most important part

We close this issue of ACDC News with a thought from Sallie Tisdale in “Travel guide to the end of life.”

“Few of us communicate really well. We think explaining ourselves is key, but listening is the most important part.”

Offering information and best regards

ACDC News – Issue 22-03

Posted on March 15, 2022 by Kevin Wiggins

Click here for a printer pdf of this issue

120 Years and Counting

Congratulations to Successful Farming magazine staff members as they observe 120 years of serving families who make farming and ranching their business.

The December 2021 issue noted that founder Edwin T. Meredith launched SF in 1902. “He was given the deed to a failing newspaper as a wedding gift with a note attached: ‘Sink or swim.’ … “We’re proud to uphold the tradition of serving American farmers and ranchers with every issue.”

The University of Illinois Library and those of us in ACDC are pleased to help preserve and make those issues available for historical research, as well as document the life and influential career of Meredith as publisher and U.S. Secretary of Agriculture.

Access to and use of libraries and the internet among ag academics and extension workers in South Africa

We recently added an article about this topic in the February 2022 issue of Library Philosophy and Practice. Researchers selected a sample of extension workers and agriculture academics from the University of Zululand to address this matter.

Findings revealed that internet facilities were not adequate in extension offices in rural areas, leading to minimum use of them. Also, most extension workers did not have access to library facilities and seldom used them as information sources. Academics used the internet regularly. They had high access to libraries but made little use of them.

The authors offered suggestions for improving access and use of both information sources.

You can read the e-journal article here.

Changing rural community journalism in areas of declining population

A survey of county commissioners, chamber of commerce executives, and journalists in western Kansas (U.S.) examined perceptions and attitudes toward change in a region of declining population. Findings reported by David Guth in the Journal of Applied Journalism and Media Studies showed a strong preference for locally generated news content and a belief that rural journalists should be both objective and community boosters.

“There was skepticism towards the Internet as a source of local news.”

You can read this article here.

Environmental impacts of U.S. food waste

We are adding to the ACDC collection a recent report from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) about the environmental impacts of food loss and waste. More than one-third of the food produced in the United States is never eaten, according to the analysis. And food waste is the “single most common material landfilled and incinerated…”

According to the report, each year U.S. food loss and waste embodies, for example:

140 million acres of agricultural land, an area the size of California and New York combined.
9 trillion gallons of blue water, equal to annual water use of 50 million American homes.
779 million pounds of pesticides
14 billion pounds of fertilizer

You can read the full EPA report here.

How ag media are covering soil conservation practices

A University of Wisconsin research team recently completed a study of online news stories about soil conservation in the four most-read agricultural print media outlets in Wisconsin. Researchers focused on 10 soil conservation practices and examined 68,401 stories in those periodicals between 2002 and 2020.

Practices of tillage agriculture, manure management, and grazing appeared most often. During recent years, numbers of stories about other practices such as cover crops grew significantly. Extension and the federal government were cited most frequently in stories.

You can read a summary report here

Communicator events approaching

Uncertainties of the COVID-19 health issue continue to prompt flexible event planning. Here are plans of which we are aware, with the contact information you can use for details.

March 30-April 3, 2022

Annual conference of the Society of Environmental Journalists (SEJ) in Houston, Texas. Information: https://conference2022.sej.org/agenda

June 6-9, 2022

Annual Institute of the Cooperative Communicators Association (CCA) in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Information: https://www.communicators.coop/professional-development/cca-institute/

June 12-14, 2022

“Reimagined: And all that jazz.” Annual conference of the Association for Communication Excellence in Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Life and Human Sciences (ACE) in Kansas City, Missouri. Information: https://aceweb.org

June 27-July 3, 2022

“Smarter Farming and Food Production for Green and Sustainable Growth.” 2022 World Congress of the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists (IFAJ) in Vingsted, Denmark. Hosted by the Danish Food and Agricultural Journalists.

Information: https://ifaj2020.dk

July 16-20, 2022

“On Point.” Agricultural Media Summit in Raleigh, North Carolina. Sponsored by the American Agricultural Editors’ Association (AAEA), Connectiv Agri-Media Committee, and Livestock Publications Council (LPC).

Information: https://agmediasummit.com

What we really need

We close this issue of ACDC News with an insight from poet R. M. Ryan:

“What we really need are poems to polka to.”

Offering information and best regards

ACDC News – Issue 22-02

Posted on February 15, 2022 by Kevin Wiggins

Click here for a printer-friendly pdf of this issue

Record number of journalists behind bars

A 2021 global prison census revealed that the number of reporters jailed for their work hit a global record of 293, up from 280 in 2020. We noted this news from the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

“It has been an especially bleak year for defenders of press freedom … China remains the world’s worst jailer of journalists for the third year in a row, with 50 behind bars. Myanmar soared to the second slot after the media crackdown that followed its February 1 military coup. Egypt, Vietnam, and Belarus, respectively, rounded out the top five.”

You can read the report here.

“So, yes, the risks are higher out there”

Another article about risks facing rural journalists has been added to the ACDC collection. Posted at philippinereporter.com, it involved an interview with Patricia Evangelista of the Rappler digital media company, based in Manila, Philippines. Evangelista was honored as the Marshall McLuhan Fellow at BoniFest 2019.

Asked about the risks she and other journalists face for reporting events or issues that are political, she replied: “There are risks. I think, though, that the risks at least for people like me are not as terrible as for people out in the provinces reporting without the support of news agencies. Rappler has my back. If something happens to me, they will be there. But for all the journalists out in the provinces who are fighting the good fight they don’t have what we have. So, yes, the risks are higher out there and it’s them we have to look to…and thank for what they do.”

You can read this Q/A piece here.

He really captured the uniqueness of radio

The recent passing of respected farm broadcaster Lee Kline highlights his special skills in capturing the inherent features of rural media. His broadcasting career with WHO Radio, Des Moines, Iowa, spanned 64 years. A two-time recipient of the Oscars in Agriculture Award for excellence in radio, he also received dozens of other honors from agricultural organizations and associations. He was known for “his warm interviewing style, natural curiosity, recording of unique sounds, and an ability to prompt heart-felt stories from farmers, families, business people, celebrities, and politicians.”

Across the years, we have gathered into the ACDC collection examples of Lee’s exemplary broadcasting skills. Some are in the form of program segments on audio cassettes in three volumes (2000-2002). They include unique sounds such as talking birds, old fiddlers, auctioneers, storytellers, jumping tractors, Iowa mockingbirds, riding in a glider, and the Perry popcorn lady. Examples also feature his award-winning Oscars in Agriculture entries.

Let us know here if you would like to learn more about his career and/or arrange to hear some of his creative work.

Feedback about the proposed FDA traceability rule

We have added to the ACDC collection a report from the fresh produce industry about record-keeping regulations proposed recently by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). It came last month from a diverse team of food safety and quality assurance leaders. In their analysis, members emphasized that a “one size fits all approach to traceability will not work for this industry.” Their insights touched on all sectors of the fresh produce supply chain – from the grower-shipper to the distributor, retailer and foodservice provider.

You can read the report online here.

“How to sell good international stories”

Veteran Brazilian journalist Luis Vieira recently offered several recommendations for freelancers to use in marketing international stories with a specific focus in the agriculture sector. Among them:

Don’t be afraid of pitching these international stories
Start by pitching stories for which you have good angle, considering your professional profile
Remember that editors assess the quality of your report as well as the potential interest of readers
Keep a close eye on current trends and activities in countries in which you have the most interest

You can read this item in the Ag Communicators Network AAEA ByLine newsletter here.

Communicator events approaching

Uncertainties of the COVID-19 health issue continue to prompt flexible event planning. Here are plans of which we are aware, with the contact information you can use for details.

February 18, 2022

Deadline for posters to be presented at the ACE annual conference in Kansas City, Missouri, June 12-14, 2022.

Information: Cara Lawson at cara.lawson@oregonstate.edu

February 18, 2022

Deadline for outstanding theses and dissertations to be recognized at the ACE annual conference in Kansas City, Missouri, June 12-14, 2022.

Information: Garrett Steede at gsteede@umn.edu

March 30-April 3, 2022

Annual conference of the Society of Environmental Journalists (SEJ) in Houston, Texas. Information: https://conference2022.sej.org/agenda

June 6-9, 2022

Annual Institute of the Cooperative Communicators Association (CCA) in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Information: https://www.communicators.coop/professional-development/cca-institute/

June 12-14, 2022

Annual Conference of the Association for Communication Excellence in Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Life and Human Sciences (ACE) in Kansas City, Missouri. Information: https://aceweb.org

June 27-July 3, 2022

Information: https://ifaj2020.dk

July 16-20, 2022

“On the point.” Ag Media Summit in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Information: https://agcommnetwork.com/unveiling-the-theme-and-logo-for-ag-media-summit-2022

Levels of loving

We close this issue of ACDC News pondering a touching (and perhaps thought-provoking) verse that came to our attention recently:

“St. Mullen of Carlow loved animals so much that he

not only rescued a wren that had been swallowed by a cat,

but also rescued a fly that had been swallowed by the wren.”

Offering information and best regards

ACDC News – Issue 22-01

Posted on January 12, 2022 by Kevin Wiggins

Click here for a printer-friendly pdf of this issue

“There’s no journalism on a dead planet”

Corporate media owners are killing local newspapers, reported Sophia Reuss in a 2019 issue of Briarpatch magazine. “You have to humanize [climate change] and you have to humanize it on a local level, and that’s where the paper comes in.”

She emphasized that when a local media ecosystem functions well, communities are often afforded more direct participation in the public process. Her report cited two case examples of citizens’ activist efforts in Canada using local media with impact.

You can read the article here.

How advanced text mining techniques “could help address critical issues in food and nutrition sciences”

We have added a recent journal article about using advanced digital text mining on social media to improve food production, food safety, and human nutrition. It was published in Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety.

The authors provided an overview of the data sources, computational methods, and applications of text data in the food industry. They illustrated applications of text data analysis with respect to food safety and food fraud surveillance, dietary pattern characterization, consumer-opinion mining, new-product development, food knowledge discovery, food supply-chain management, and online food systems.

You can read the abstract and learn how to purchase the article via IngentaConnect.com here. Or confer with us at acdc@library.illinois.edu

Rural News Network set to launch in 2022

A new journalism consortium addressing “the most critical issues confronting America’s rural communities” will launch in 2022. Fern Siegel announced the introduction recently via Mediapost.com. Rural News Network will be part of the Institute for Nonprofit News (INN) and already is addressing two topics:

Water justice in the rural West
Economic issues in indigenous communities

INN includes more than 350 nonprofit and nonpartisan news organizations dedicated to public service. Rural News Network will address specific rural issues, using 60 independent INN-member newsrooms serving communities across 30 states.

You can learn more about this consortium and the initial projects here.

“Expanding broadband in the black rural south”

A recent 36-page report of that title has been added to the ACDC collection. Written by Dominique Harrison, it was published October 6 by the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, Washington, D.C. It focused on needs and potentials for broadband in 152 rural counties with populations that are at least 35 percent African American. Among the findings:

38% of the African Americans in that area lack home internet access, compared with 18 percent of all Americans, nationwide.
Access is either not available or they lack the financial means to purchase service.
Expanding broadband can help improve employment, incomes, education, and health care in that area.

You can read the report here.

How to interview a “dud”

“Unfortunately, not every person we interact with has the radiant, outgoing personality of a cooperative communicator,” observed Editor Mark Johnson in the Cooperative Communicators Association e-newsletter, CCA Connect. “Usually, we can either deal with these types quickly and move on or avoid them altogether. But what happens when we are tasked with interviewing a dud?”

“Don’t give up until you give it the old college try,” he advised. And he offered five tips about how to do so. You can read the item here.

Communicator events approaching

Uncertainties of the COVID-19 health issue continue to prompt flexible event planning. Here are plans of which we are aware, with contact information you can use for details.

February 13-14, 2022

National Agricultural Communications Symposium in conjunction with the annual meeting of the Southern Association of Agricultural Scientists in New Orleans, Louisiana. Information: https://www.saasinc.org

February 18, 2022

Deadline for posters to be presented at the ACE annual conference in Kansas City, Missouri, June 12-14, 2022.

Information: Cara Lawson at cara.lawson@oregonstate.edu

February 18, 2022

Deadline for outstanding theses and dissertations to be recognized at the ACE annual conference in Kansas City, Missouri, June 12-14, 2022.

Information: Garrett Steede at gsteede@umn.edu

June 6-9, 2022

Annual Institute of the Cooperative Communicators Association (CCA) in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Information: https://www.communicators.coop/professional-development/cca-institute/

June 12-14, 2022

Annual Conference of the Association for Communication Excellence in Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Life and Human Sciences (ACE) in Kansas City, Missouri. Information: https://aceweb.org

July 16-20, 2022

“On the point.” Ag Media Summit in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Information: https://agcommnetwork.com/unveiling-the-theme-and-logo-for-ag-media-summit-2022

On revealing secrets

We close this issue of ACDC News with a bit of ever-timely Old Farmer’s Advice which Paul Hixson kindly shared with us:

“Lettin’ the cat outta the bag is a whole lot easier than puttin’ it back in.”

Offering information and best regards

ACDC News – Issue 21-12

Posted on December 13, 2021 by Kevin Wiggins

Click here for a printer-friendly pdf of this issue.

When it’s OK to say “I don’t know”

“Leading your company with decisiveness can seem like the way to go,” Amy Sowder of The Packer observed in a recent article. “It’s strong. Firm answers can encourage employees to feel confident and secure in their company. Employees need assurance, especially in these uncertain times.”

However, speakers in a COVID-19 Environment session of the 2020 United Fresh Washington Conference also emphasized that sometimes it’s better to tell your employees that you don’t know. For example:

Remaining silent until you have an answer for your next step during a crisis can cause employees even more stress.
Silence may make employees think their leaders don’t care.
Have a plan for when you don’t know.
Make space for employees to talk, to ask questions, and to hear updates from you.

You can read this brief and ever-timely article here.

“Reinforcing the rural status quo” in a river system

Media coverage of health and politics involving Australia’s largest river system came under review in a recent article in the journal, Environmental Communication. Researchers conducted a critical discourse analysis of rural radio coverage of issues in the Murray-Darling River system. In particular, they analyzed national coverage in the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) “Country Hour” program. Findings prompted them to note a “constrained range of discourses…largely due to journalists assigning framing power to a limited group of elite agricultural and political sources and legitimating their ideological positions especially through the program presenters’ contextualizing commentary.” They also noted “some significant absences – the voices of people who live in the Basin, including First Nations and others with environmental concerns.”

“As scholars who desire to be actively participating subjects in a global environment, we take up (Arjun) Appadurai’s invitation to imagine a time soon when the Murray-Darling will be heard on its own terms, not only on Australia’s rural airwaves, but throughout the land.”

This article is available for purchase from the publisher. You can read the abstract and get details about how to purchase the article from the publisher here. Feel free to check with us at acdc@library.illinois.edu for help.

Where the produce industry is missing the boat on consumption

How is consumption of fresh fruit and vegetables not increasing at record margins each year? Alex DiNovo, president of DNO Produce group of companies, Columbus, Ohio, asked that question in a recent issue of The Packer.

“We need a concise, unapologetic, and perhaps even edgy approach to marketing ourselves as an industry,” he suggested, perhaps along the line of what the milk industry did. It began the Dairy Checkoff program nearly 40 years ago, forming an organization to grow consumption and trust through promotion, research, and nutrition education. “…as an entire industry, we are far more powerful than on a commodity-by-commodity basis.”

You can read the commentary here.

Small-town newspapers and heinous crimes

We recently added a journal article that examined the role of small newspapers when bizarre and shocking crimes are committed locally. The study by Kristy Hess and Lisa Waller focused on three towns in regional Australia “that have been represented in metropolitan and international news media as ‘dead zones’ after shocking crimes.”

Findings indicated that while small newspapers lack the power to overturn negative media representations of their communities they do have the authority to instruct their readership in how to respond to the events themselves and the negative representations by big media.

You can read this article, “The Snowtown we know and love,” in Rural Society here.

Scholars need to address rural health care ethics more rigorously

We recently added a 2006 research report about this subject in the American Journal of Bioethics. The research team members based that conclusion on their review of health care literature focused on rural America between 1966 and 2004. They identified 55 publications that specifically and substantively addressed rural health care ethics. Only seven (13%) were original research articles; most were descriptive summaries of research and general commentaries.

This article is available for purchase from the publisher. You can read the abstract and get details for full access here. Feel free to check with us at acdc@library.illinois.edu for help.

Communicator events approaching

Uncertainties of the COVID-19 health issue continue to prompt flexible event planning. Here are plans of which we are aware, with contact information you can use for details.

January 28, 2022

Deadline for research papers to be presented at the annual conference of the Association for Communication Excellence in Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Life and Human Sciences (ACE) in Kansas City, Missouri, June 12-14, 2022,

Information: Shannon Norris at norriss@nmsu.edu

February 13-14, 2022

February 18, 2022

Deadline for posters to be presented at the ACE annual conference in Kansas City, Missouri, June 12-14, 2022.

Information: Cara Lawson at cara.lawson@oregonstate.edu

February 18, 2022

Deadline for outstanding theses and dissertations to be recognized at the ACE annual conference in Kansas City, Missouri, June 12-14, 2022.

Information: Garrett Steede at gsteede@umn.edu

June 12-14, 2022

Annual Conference of the Association for Communication Excellence in Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Life and Human Sciences (ACE) in Kansas City, Missouri. Information: https://aceweb.org

July 16-20, 2022

“On the point.” Ag Media Summit in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Information: https://agcommnetwork.com/unveiling-the-theme-and-logo-for-ag-media-summit-2022

A year-end toast

We close this year-farewell issue of ACDC News with an Irish toast:

“May the roof above us never fall in,

And may we friends gathered below

Never fall out.”

Offering information and best regards

ACDC is a resource for you, so please 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 valued international collection. We welcome them in hard copy (sent to Ag Comm Documentation Center, Room 510, 1101 S. Goodwin Avenue, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL 61801) – or in electronic format sent to acdc@library.illinois.edu

ACDC News – Issue 21-11

Posted on November 10, 2021 by Kevin Wiggins

Click here for a printer-friendly PDF of this issue

The lost art of being a food merchant

We have added to the ACDC collection a recent article about creativity and training needs in the produce departments of food stores. Veteran food executive Mike O’Brien emphasized the need to deliver a positive, unique, and memorable experience for shoppers.

“It comes down to trust, empowerment and education,” he said. “Many supermarkets find that letting their people get creative is a key part of the puzzle, so nurturing a company culture that supports a beyond-the-basics approach is essential. … It is somewhat of a lost art in today’s fast paced world of data, low price and lack of labor.” Automating and executing by corporate dictum “won’t get you what you really want…”

You can read his suggestions here in this Produce Market Guide article.

Hold government, other players accountable with investigative agricultural reporting

Journalists in the agriculture sector should do all they can to hold regulators, policy executives and private-sector players accountable for transparency, efficiency and development of the sector. So advised Ini Ekot while speaking to agricultural reporters and editors on “Investigating the Agricultural Sector” at a three-day intensive training in Abuja, Nigeria. The Premium Times Centre for Investigative Journalism organized this program.

Participants also learned of existing constitutional empowerment for journalists to hold leaders accountable in African countries such as Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Gambia.

You can read this 2019 article in Guardian Nigeria here.

News deserts and ghost newspapers: Will local news survive?

“This report is the fourth on the state of local news produced by the Hussman School of Journalism and Media at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. It measures what has been lost, while also assessing what must be done if we are to nurture and revive a vibrant news landscape in the third decade of the 21^st century.” Penelope Muse Abernathy, Knight Chair in Journalism and Digital Media Economics, authored the 121-page research report (2020).

You can read the report here.

Simplistic journalism and rural America as a scapegoat

“There are ways for the industry to support better and more incisive reporting on rural communities.” So reported Sarah Jones, a staff writer for New York Magazine, in a 2019 article we have added from Dissent Magazine. Decrying fabricated, stereotyped reporting about rural people and matters, she suggested that journalists “take steps to ensure that rural communities are empowered to tell their own stories.”

You can read the article by open access here.

Potentials and limitations of citizen journalism initiatives

Researchers Kalyani Chadha and Linda Steiner explored this timely topic through a case study involving rural and tribal communities in central India. The citizen journalism enterprise, CGNet Swara, was initiated to act as a bridge between those communities and professional news outlets. Findings revealed “failure to ‘bridge’ the citizen-professional divide and to position the experiment in terms of the larger public sphere” as a force for democracy.

You can read the article in Journalism Studies by open access from the publisher here.

Communicator events approaching

Uncertainties of the COVID-19 health issue continue to prompt flexible event planning. Here are plans of which we are aware, with contact information you can use for details.

November 17-19, 2021

“Harvesting News for Rural America,” Convention of the National Association of Farm Broadcasting (NAFB) in Kansas City, Missouri.

Information: https://nafb.com

February 13-14, 2022

National Agricultural Communications Symposium in conjunction with the annual meeting of the Southern Association of Agricultural Scientists in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Information: https://www.saasinc.org

June 12-14, 2022

Annual Conference of the Association for Communication Excellence in Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Life and Human Sciences (ACE) in Kansas City, Missouri.

Information: https://aceweb.org

Pondering the future of agricultural journalism

We close this issue of ACDC News with an observation we enjoyed and appreciated from Betsy Freese when she was executive editor at Meredith Corporation in Des Moines, Iowa:

“I would like to see a robot try to do what I do.”