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ACDC News – Issue 02-20

Posted on January 22, 2002 by Hailley Shaw

Conference resources from American Horse Publications.

Guest speakers and moderators furnished summaries and handouts from their presentations at the AHP annual meeting this summer in Park City, Utah. Here are some of those resources available on the AHP web site:

“45 super publication ideas in only 45 minutes (along with 15 bonuses)”
“Small but mighty: workshop for publishers of small publications”
“10 strategies to increase readerships”
“7 steps to strategic planning for editors”
“Marketing research: purposes, types, online tips”
“Advertising roundtable: the inner workings of the advertiser’s mind”
“Working in the horse world”
“Getting started in equine publishing: a workshop for writers, artists and photographers”

Reference: These were posted online at: http://www.americanhorsepubs.org/career_center/resources/index.html

Traditional knowledge – scientific or not?

A research project in India addressed that question recently and came up with a striking answer. Researchers identified 30 indigenous practices used by traditional rice farmers. Then they asked a team of scientists and extension officials from the same region to classify each practice as scientifically “rational” or “irrational.” Findings? ”

It was striking to find that among the thirty resource conserving and risk reducing practices identified it was just to three practices that the scientists and extension officials could not attach any scientific rationality.”

Reference: Use a title search (“Evaluation of indigenous knowledge systems”) or author search (Bonny) for the full citation.

A call for partnership.

Writing in the Journal of Forestry, Robin Wall Kimmerer also reported on relationships between traditional and scientific knowledge, as related to ecosystems in the U.S.

“Although Native peoples’ traditional knowledge of the land differs from scientific knowledge, both have strengths that suggest the value of a partnership between them.”

Kimmerer cited two areas in which traditional knowledge can be especially useful in such a partnership:

Identifying reference ecosystems
Illuminating cultural ties to the land

Reference: Use a title search (“Native knowledge for native ecosystems”) or author search (Kimmerer) for the full citation.

Food biotech debate will become “even more complex.”

A recent article in the Western Producer (Canada) summarized a report from the Canadian Biotechnology Advisory Committee to the federal government about genetically modified food. “Existing GM varieties and technologies are relatively straightforward and simple to test and assess,” according to the report. Future generations of products will contain more complex gene transfer systems and new products with altered nutritional profiles. They “may require additional regulatory measures by government and may even be the subject of broader public debate to determine social acceptability.”

Reference: Use a title search (“GM food debate expected”) or author search (Wilson) for the full citation. The article was posted on: www.producer.com/articles/20020905/news/20020905news05a.html

Favorite comfort foods.

“On a cold and rainy afternoon, you decide that a bowl of chicken soup would hit the spot. While eating, you smile as you recall a rainy day long ago when your mother made you the same kind of soup.” That’s how an article in American Demographics introduced a research report about comfort foods – those foods consumed under a specific situation to obtain psychological comfort.

Results of this nationwide survey? “Potato chips top the list of Americans’ favorite comfort foods, followed by ice cream, cookies, and candy.” However, males and females recorded striking differences in their responses, as did respondents of different ages. Authors also described the influence of mood swings and the sources of cravings for certain foods.

Reference: Use a title search (“Taste of comfort”) or author search (Wansink) for the full citation.

Adoption of IT by small and medium-sized agrifood businesses.

A study reported recently in Outlook on Agriculture examined how such enterprises in Wales use information and communication technologies. Respondents reported that 38 percent already had a website and 58 percent were actively planning one. Half of those with websites said their online sales were increasing; half said sales were static. Authors also examined factors that influenced the adoption of such technologies and the kinds of support that small and medium-sized agrifood enterprises need.

Reference: Use a title search (“Social aspects of the impact”) or author search (Sparkes) for the full citation.

New edition of development communication book.

Sage Publications recently published the second edition of:

Srinivas R. Melkote and H. Leslie Steeves, Communication for development in the Third World: theory and practice for empowerment.

The authors set out to “trace the history of development communication, present diverse approaches and their proponents, critique these approaches as appropriate, and provide ideas and models for development communication in the 21st century. They incorporated development communication literature from the 1990s, with special emphasis on liberation theology and empowerment.

Reference: Use a title search (above) or author search (Melkote) for the full citation.

Mark Twain – farm editor.

If you haven’t yet read Mark Twain’s classic description of his experience as editor of an agricultural paper, then we recommend you do so. Choose a day when you need a lift, a new sparkle in the eye. Enjoy this six-page tale about how Twain filled in for a vacationing editor and, after only one issue, created a stir that boosted circulation to record levels. Yet his tenure was brief. The editor returned early to fire him and call his editorials “a disgrace to journalism.” You’ll learn why Twain left unrepentant.

Reference: Use a title search (“How I edited an agricultural paper”) or author search (Twain) for the full citation.

Question of the day for you.

What was the first attempt to form an association of agricultural editors in the U.S., and when?

Send your reply to ACDC News to: evansj@uiuc.edu ! A free copy of the book, Prairie Farmer and WLS: the Burridge D. Butler Years, will go to the first 10 persons with the correct answer submitted by November 15. (Note: This question is a toughie.)

Professional activity approaching

November 13-17, 2002
“Experience the magic of farm broadcasting.”Annual convention of National Association of Farm Broadcastersin Kansas City, Missouri.Information: www.nafb.com

Best regards and good searching.

Please pass along your reactions, questions and ideas for ACDC. Feel free to invite our help as you search for information. And please suggest (or send) agricultural communications documents that we might add to this unique collection. We welcome them in hard copy (sent to Ag Com Documentation Center, 69 Mumford Hall, 1301 W. Gregory Drive, Urbana, IL 61801) or electronic form (docctr@library.uiuc.edu)

ACDC News – Issue 02-19

Posted on January 22, 2002 by Hailley Shaw

Happy 100th birthday to Successful Farming magazine.

“In October 1902, Edwin Thomas Meredith published the first issue of his new magazine, Successful Farming, with a promise to do all he could to live up to the name.” That’s how current Managing Editor Gene Johnston described the origin of SF in his lead article of the October 2002 issue. “Since 1902, [it] has helped millions of farm families through two world wars, a Great Depression and a farm crisis, $12 soybeans and $8 hogs, too many droughts and floods to count (sometimes in the same year!), and astounding technological advances.”

Other articles in the centennial issue feature the Meredith family, long-time relationships with readers and a 100-year time line of agricultural developments and SF highlights.

Reference: Use title searches (“Our 100th birthday” – “Meet the family” – “Friends for 100 years” – “100 years deserves a celebratio for the full citations. SF articles are posted online at: www.agriculture.com/sfonline

“The media can’t simply report on impressions and feelings.“

In a recent commentary published by The Polling Report, Matthew Robinson argued that “if public polling is to have any meaning at all, the media can’t simply report on impressions and feelings.” He urged media pollsters to test what people know and what facts (if any) they are using to form their opinions. He cited examples in which public attitudes about important issues were based on shallow knowledge, not the “slightest clue.”

Reference: Use a title search (“Do media polls mislead”) of an author search (Robinson) for the full citation.

Damned lies and statistics

Is the title of a recent book about “untangling numbers from the media, politicians and activists.” Author Joel Best emphasized the social nature of statistics and the importance that statistics play in campaigns to create – or defuse claims about – new social problems. “Stat wars” is the term he used to describe the statistical efforts of advocates to support their claims about social problems. Stat wars create confusion, he argued. And he offered examples to reveal a number of oddities and inconsistencies about the use and interpretation of statistics. Among them:

“While we accept the (relatively high) risk of traffic fatalities, we worry about new technology – power lines or computer terminals or food additives – even though those who warn about technological risks usually offer far lower estimates for the number of people harmed by the new threat.”

“The best approach to stat wars is not to try and guess who’s lying or, worse, simply to assume that the people we disagree with are the ones telling lies,” according to the author. “Rather, we need to watch for the standard causes of bad statistics – guessing, questionable definitions or methods, mutant numbers, and inappropriate comparisons.”

Reference: Use a title search (“Damned lies”) or author search (Best) for the full citation.

Toward better science reporting.

A readable new book by Diane Swanson, Nibbling on Einstein’s brain, has taken the reader’s perspective in evaluating media coverage of science. A chapter on “Media Alerts” looks at how reporting can confuse or misrepresent science. An 11-question checklist helps readers review the reporting and critique the ads. (It also can help reporters and ad writers evaluate their own work.)

Other chapters feature:

“Baloney Busters” that look at how science can go wrong.
“Mind Traps” that look at “how the human mind – your mind – can muddle the science news your receive.”

Some examples in the book include science reporting about food.

Reference: Use a title search (“Nibbling on Einstein’s brain”) or author search (Swanson) for the full citation.

“Most farmers still speak as if they were born of man and woman – not spit out of computers,”

Noted Progressive Farmer editor C.G. Scruggs in an editorial nearly 20 years ago. However, he was concerned about a trend toward “gobbledygook spoken by researchers and even farmers we know. Remember where jargon sprang from. It was invented by politicians and some economists whose law is, ‘If you must talk, don’t say anything.'” His editorial offered advice to readers when they hear others use gobbledygook.

Reference: Use a title search (“Words that bother us”) or author search (Scruggs) for the full citation.

Another kind of confusion.

If producers (indeed, all of us) scratch heads these days over terms such as interfacing modules, Veris soil maps and spacial database creation, we might remember that confusion always seems to come with new information technologies. An example caught our eye in a 1925 document that we added recently to the ACDC collection. A U.S. Department of Agriculture survey among farmers, nationwide, at the dawn of radio broadcasting revealed: “.one of the chief reasons why more farmers do not own radio sets is because they feel that operation of the instruments calls for great technical skill. They are confused by such terms as Neutrodyne, Heterodyne and other radio nomenclature.”

Similarly, a writer in Country Gentleman magazine (1922) reported that he “sought an elementary textbook on radio science and was directed to a 600-page text.”

The focus and concepts of information technology may change, but the communications challenges seem to endure and grow.

Reference: Use a title search (“What makes the radio laugh?”) or author search (McMahon) for the full citation.

Surprised that bioengineered foods have been “snuck in.”

Most consumers that took part in focus groups conducted recently by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration expressed great surprise that food biotechnology has become so pervasive in the U.S. food supply. According to the summary report that we have added to the ACDC collection: “The typical reaction of participants was not one of great concern about the immediate health and safety effects of unknowingly eating bioengineered foods, but rather outrage that such a change in the food supply could happen without them knowing about it.”

Reference: Use a title search (“Report on consumer focus groups”) or author search (Levy) for the full citation. The report was posted on: http://vm.cfsan.fda.gov/~comm/biorpt.html

Is the rural press still ahead of colleges?

“The agricultural journals have led the agricultural colleges from three to fifteen years in making transitions and additions to subject materials,” said C.C. Taylor in a report at the 1922 National Country Life Conference. The writer had studied subject materials of U.S. agricultural journals and agricultural college curricula in seven states during the previous 42 years.

Have you seen other comparative studies of this nature? If so, please let us know about them.

Reference: Use a title search (“Rural press as an educational agency”) or author search (Taylor) for the full citation.

A father-son chat about farming.

“Tell me, Dad,” said the son, “does owning your own farm make you more independent?” “It sure does, son. I get to work any time I want to before 7 in the morning and leave whenever I feel like it any time after 10 at night.”

Professional activities approaching

November 3-5, 2002
“Marketing – find the right fit.” Marketing superworkshopsponsored by Agricultural Communicators in Educationin Fort Worth, Texas.Information: www.aceweb.org

November 13-17, 2002
“Experience the magic of farm broadcasting.”Annual convention of National Association of Farm Broadcastersin Kansas City, Missouri.Information: www.nafb.com

Best regards and good searching

ACDC News – Issue 02-18

Posted on January 22, 2002 by Hailley Shaw

When will I see you again?

Under-cooked meats straight from the barbecue were the target this summer of a food safety campaign in the United Kingdom. A 30-second TV ad from the Food Standards Agency showed uncooked, pink meat in the middle of a sausage sizzling on the grill. Background music? It was the 1973 Three Degrees hit song, “When will I see you again?” Similar radio ads ran for four weeks.

This campaign responded to results of a 2001 survey — 12 percent of UK consumers said they had food poisoning in the last year.

Reference: Use a title search (“TV ad asks”) for the full citation. The news report about this campaign was posted on http://www.food.gov.uk/news/newsarchive/66067

Health concerns of neighbors.

What kinds of health concerns underlie the conflicts and heated debates that have marked the emergence of large-scale swine production operations? A recent article in the Journal of Agricultural Safety and Health reviewed and analyzed research about public health concerns of neighbors exposed to emissions from confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs). Results indicated that concerns involve more than odor.

Reference: Use a title search (“Public health concerns”) or author search (Thu) for the full citation.

Improved public view about swine farmers.

An advertising campaign by the Ontario (Canada) Pork Producers Marketing Board is reported to be influencing public views about how swine farmers are treating the environment. A report in Marketing magazine indicated that “83% of people surveyed see hog farmers as committed to improving the environment on farms, a 17-point shift since the launch of our advertising.” Findings are based on tracking studies from the spring 2002 campaign, first stage of a three-year advertising and marketing strategy.

Reference: Use a title search (“The other side of the story”) or author search (Vidoczy) for the full reference. The report was posted online (August 12, 2002) and archived at: www.plant.uoguelph.ca/safefood/archives/animalnet-archives.htm

When the public gets a bigger picture – a longer view – of clear-cutting.

The public generally dislikes this forest management practice. However, findings of a study in Washington State suggested that certain kinds of information about the practice can influence public views. Messages used in the study included information about why cutting is done, what the area would look like in the short term and what it would look like in the long term.

Reference: Use a title search (“Effects of an informational intervention”) or author search (Kearney) for the full citation.

Lost lessons from World War II.

Remove barriers to consumption before trying to change food habits. A recent study reported in the Journal of Public Policy and Marketingunderscored this oft-ignored lesson, and others, through a review of research conducted during World War II. At that time, U.S. citizens were encouraged to incorporate protein-rich organ meats into their diets – meats such as liver, tongue, hearts, kidneys, sweetbreads, pork feet and ox tails. More than 200 studies were conducted to help identify effective ways of adjusting food habits of Americans. Those studies, mostly unpublished, “restructured social norms, changed perceptions of taste, and helped assimilate variety into the U.S. diet.”

Reference: Use a title search (“Changing eating habits”) or author search (Wansink) for the full citation.

“The purpose of college publicity.is not to advertise the institution.”

So reported Henry Jackson Waters, president of Kansas State Agricultural College, in a 1916 address to the American Association of Agricultural College Editors. The ACDC collection contains this speech in which Waters argued: “The institution has no right to impose upon the newspapers in any such manner. If you are preparing your reading notices to advertise the institution, you should be required to put ‘advertisement’ at the end of the story and pay the regular rate for the space it occupies. Your business is to disseminate information.”

Reference: Use a title search (“The agricultural college and its editor”) or author search (Waters) for the full citation.

Rural communication – as broad as communication itself?

Harold Hoffsomer used a perspective parallel to that in analyzing the relationship between the academic fields of rural sociology and sociology. Rural sociology, he argued, “is related to the discipline as a whole and to its several component areas.” Similarly, from that perspective, rural communication relates to communication theory, processes, systems and methods as a whole. The unique dimensions of it involve subject content, audiences, settings, approaches and other special applications. Your thoughts?

Reference: Use a title search (“Rural sociology: its origin”) or author search (Nelson) for the full citation.

Favorite music in farm homes (45 years ago).

A 1957 radio listenership study in Iowa revealed big differences in the music preferences of farm women, men, girls and boys. For example, here are the top-ranked “favorite” types of music that each group identified:

Farm women, over 19:	Waltzes and “sweet” music	62%
	Current popular music	52%

Farm men, over 19:	Waltzes and “sweet” music	58%
	Western and country music	52%

Farm girls, 13 to 19:	Current popular music	88%
	Rock and roll, rhythm and blues	72%

Farm boys, 13-19:	Rock and roll, rhythm and blues	88%
	Current popular music	87%

Reference: Use a title search (“Farm radio audience figures”) for the full citation.

And some favorite stories.

We enjoyed running across a batch of hoop snake, joint snake, horsehair snake and doodlebug tales shared by readers in issues of the Illinois state farm paper, Prairie Farmer, during the 1920s. Here’s an example from one reader: “As I was hoeing corn one day I saw a large hoop snake come rolling toward me. I jumped to one side, but it hit the hoe handle with its horn, and in two hours the handle had swelled until it burst the eye of the hoe. What is your comment on that?” The editor’s reply: “I’m speechless.”

Professional Activities Approaching

October 17-19, 2002
45th Annual Meeting, National Market News Association inPhoenix, Arizona.Information: www.ams.usda.gov/poultry/mncs/nmna/nmna.htm

November 3-5, 2002
“Marketing – find the right fit.” Marketing superworkshopsponsored by Agricultural Communicators in Educationin Fort Worth, Texas.Information: www.aceweb.org

November 13-17, 2002
“Experience the magic of farm broadcasting.”Annual convention of National Association of Farm Broadcastersin Kansas City, Missouri.Information: www.nafb.com

Best regards and good searching.

ACDC News – Issue 02-17

Posted on January 22, 2002 by Hailley Shaw

Twelve new ACE research papers.

Here are the titles of 12 research papers presented at the recent Agricultural Communicators in Education (ACE) conference in Savannah, Georgia:

Thanks to help from the Research Special Interest Group of ACE, we are pleased to help announce these useful research reports and make them available to you in full-text electronic format.

Examples of our scattered literature.

These ACE research reports offer a good example of the widely varied sources of literature relevant to agricultural communications. You will notice (in the reference sections) a considerable range of journals that the researchers used and cited. Here are a few examples from off the beaten path: Newspaper Research Journal, Risk Analysis, New Yorker, The Economist, Information Technology and People, International Journal of Management Science, Food Control, Current Anthropology.

Quick turnaround.

We try to respond quickly and helpfully to requests for documents that ACDC visitors identify through their online searching. One of our quickest responses occurred recently when a searcher needed information for a fast-approaching project deadline. She had scouted locally (and online) for print copies or other full texts of documents identified earlier through her ACDC searching. So she checked with us, gave us the titles and numbers of documents she needed and, within a day, had 12 documents (about 80 pages of information) in hand.

At such times we appreciate anew our policy of maintaining a documentation center rather than merely a citation database.

Users benefit through our access to documents that we add to the ACDC collection. All documents that online searchers identify are available here at the Center or elsewhere within the University of Illinois Library. This policy, one of our first and most basic, seems especial important because a large share of information about agriculture-related communicating is not available in full-text electronic form.

Dining out — pigging out.

A healthy dining campaign may help improve beliefs and attitudes toward healthy menu choices, but it may not influence what diners order in restaurants. Findings of a study presented at the 2002 annual meeting of the American Agricultural Economics Association suggested: “While higher income, time pressured individuals recognize the importance of healthy dining, they are less likely to view healthy menu items as appealing.” Authors described their social marketing campaign and offered recommendations for health education efforts.

Reference: Use a title search (“Responses to a healthy dining campaign”) or author search (Acharya) for the full citation. The paper was posted on: http://agecon.lib.umn.edu/cgi-bin/pdf_view.pl?paperid=4457&ftype=.pdf

A call for “truth commission” food ads.

“Every commercial for food and drugs should be taxed — with the proceeds going to pay for ‘truth commission’ ads from independent researchers.” That proposal came early this year from Norman Solomon, writing in the Media Beat section of the Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR) web site. His reason: “We’re besieged by advertising that tells us what to put in our mouths — but doesn’t tell us relevant information that we need to know.”

Reference: Use a title search (“A modest proposal”) or author search (Solomon) for the full citation. The commentary was posted on: www.fair.org/media-beat/020620.html

Another approach: food labels “named and shamed” as misleading.

An “Honest Food Labelling” campaign by the United Kingdom Consumers’ Association is highlighting 19 summer-season products considered to have misleading labels. A news report in PA News cited several examples, including a brand of crème fraiche that the marketer “claimed had 50% less fat, but still contained 15g. in every 100g.”

Reference: Use a title search (“Misleading labels”) or author search (Hiscott) for the full citation. The report was posted online at: www.plant.uoguelph.ca/safefood/archives/fsnet-archives.htm

Farmers and fear appeals.

You probably have seen many research studies about the kinds of safety-related message appeals that influence farmers and others. Findings have been decidedly mixed. Here’s a recent farm safety study indicating that “.narrative-based messages and messages incorporating fear appeals are more favorably evaluated by farmers than messages that simply inform farmers or messages that rely on statistics.”

Reference: Use a title search (“Stories or statistics?”) or author search (Morgan) for the full citation.

One big gossiping family.

More than 20 years ago when Arthur C. Clarke looked at new communication technologies and the developing world he predicted: “Sometime during the next century, the human race will become one big gossiping family.” Are we on the trail?

Reference: Use a title search (“New communication technologies”) or author search (Clarke) for the full citation.

Professional activities approaching:

October 8-10, 2002
“Agriculture is Expanding.” 2002 Agribusiness Forum sponsored byNational Agri-Marketing Association in Kansas City, Missouri.Information: www.nama.org/forum

October 17-19, 2002
45th Annual Meeting, National Market News Association inPhoenix, Arizona.Information: www.ams.usda.gov/poultry/mncs/nmna/nmna.htm

November 3-5, 2002
“Marketing – find the right fit.” Marketing superworkshopsponsored by Agricultural Communicators in Educationin Fort Worth, Texas.Information: www.aceweb.org

Best regards and good searching.

ACDC News – Issue 02-16

Posted on January 22, 2002 by Hailley Shaw

Whatever happened to low-power television for rural areas?

In 1980 the Federal Communications Commission envisioned what Sterling and Kittross described as a “new age of neighborhood television stations and rural services where none existed thus far..” It launched a low-power television (LPTV) system and invited applications for such stations that might be constructed at relatively low cost. Two things happened, according to the authors in their history of American broadcasting:

Applicants (including large retail marketers) flooded the FCC with hundreds of applications that slowed and complicated the process due to legal, political, procedural and other aspects.
“The other problem was more serious and long lasting – how to support such tiny stations. Advertisers were not usually interested in their miniscule audiences, and few stations could afford the fees to secure programming for pay-TV.”

By the end of 1988, only 455 LPTV stations were on the air in the U.S., mainly in rural and some suburban areas. Currently, more than 2,300 of such stations operate. Have you seen reports about ways in which they are serving rural areas and interests? If so, please let us know.

Reference: Use a title search (“Stay tuned”) or author search (Sterling) for the full citation.

“Unlimited possibilities for rural America.”

A recent article in Rural Cooperatives magazine from the U.S. Department of Agriculture suggested that “broadband communications may offer rural areas across America the ability to develop new alternatives to reliance on farm income and erase the economic gap between town and country once and for all.” It cited examples involving telemedicine and distance education services.

Reference: Use a title search (“Closing the gap”) or author search (Thompson) for the full citation.

Proceedings of National Extension Technology Conference 2002 are available online in the form of abstracts, power point presentations and full-text papers.

Here are some of the topics addressed in sessions of NETC 2002 that took place during May at Pennsylvania State University:

High tech, high touch extension programs
Virtual private networking
The psychology of interactions between humans and web sites
Imaging migration
Extension-related uses of distance education
Videoconferencing
Web page management
Protecting your Internet privacy
High and low tech methods of developing extension publications

Reference: The sessions were posted on: www.netc2002.psu.edu

Needed: less reverence for mass communication research.

Robert Lindsay’s comments of more than 25 years ago still provoke thought about approaches to communication research in support of agricultural and rural development. In a Media Asia article that we added recently to the ACDC collection, Lindsay suggested that “what mass communication research requires as much as anything is a rapid dissipation of the reverence with which it is treated, especially in institutions of higher learning.”

“I think we academics – professors especially but including advanced-standing aspirants to our ranks – spend far too much time in pseudo-serious theorising, in wafting to the ceilings of our classrooms and laboratories great, obfuscatory clouds of pontification about communication ‘theory,’ about models and methodological trivia and hypotheses null-and-nonsensical.” The University of Minnesota communications faculty member suggested research areas and approaches that he thought more deserving of attention.

Reference: Use a title search (“Descending from the clouds”) or author search (Lindsay) for the full citation.

New student-produced ag college magazine (online).

A report from the University of Missouri explains that students and faculty of the MU College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources “stay posted these days by visiting: http://cafnrcornerpost.com. There they find the new Corner Post news site, launched in February by students of the MU agricultural journalism program as an ongoing on-line publication.” Students researched the need, then designed and planned the site in several classes under the guidance of faculty advisor Marilyn Cummins.

Visitors to the site can find news of college and student events, calendars, opinion pieces, job and internship information “and even some fun stuff.”

Experimenting with field days.

Rural-urban communicating is one purpose of some new approaches being tried for field days, according to a recent article by Rich Fee in Successful Farming magazine. He cited an example in Minnesota and examined some other forces that are leading research stations, extension educators, marketers and others to re-examine their use of field days.

Reference: Use a title search (“Field days are changing”) or author search (Fee) for the full citation.

To whom should safe food handling campaigns be addressed?

Men. College graduates. Higher income households. People younger than 65 years. A recent nationwide study reported in the Journal of Food Protection indicated that these groups of U.S. consumers use relatively less-safe practices in handling and washing fresh produce.

Reference: Use a title search (“Safety of consumer handling”) or author search (Li-Cohen) for the full citation. The article was posted on: http://ernesto.catchword.com

“None so deaf as those who don’t want to hear.”

Crispin Tickell used that expression in a recent Science commentary to describe problems of communicating about climate change. It is always hard to give climate change the appropriate public urgency, Tickell noted, even when the existence of human-driven climate change is not in doubt. “Making unwelcome changes now to avoid possible consequences in an uncertain future is a difficult proposition to sell to anyone.”

Reference: Use a title search (“Communicating climate change”) or author search (Tickell) for the full citation. The article was posted (August 2, 2002) on: http://131.104.232.9/agnet-archives.htm

Molehills and mountains.

The following observation by Christian Grote caught our eye in an article that we added to the ACDC collection involving information imbalance in Asia:

“A mole hill in front of one’s own door is always more interesting than the mountain elsewhere.”

Professional activities approaching

September 18-20, 2002
“Looking back to Our Future.” Fall meeting of AgriculturalRelations Council in Chicago, Illinois.Information: www.nama.org/arc/future-index.html

October 8-10, 2002
“Agriculture is Expanding.” 2002 Agribusiness Forum sponsored byNational Agri-Marketing Association in Kansas City, Missouri.Information: www.nama.org/forum

October 17-19, 2002
45th Annual Meeting, National Market News Association inPhoenix, Arizona.Information: www.ams.usda.gov/poultry/mncs/nmna/nmna.htm

Best regards and good searching.

ACDC News – Issue 02-15

Posted on January 22, 2002 by Hailley Shaw

Competitive intelligence for tobacco public relations.

A recent article in the American Journal of Public Health described how the tobacco industry collects information about public health groups. Methods cited include information gathering under false pretenses, covertly taped strategy sessions, public relations spies at meetings, and others. The author concluded that “public health advocates often make light of tobacco industry observers, but industry surveillance may be real, intense, and covert and may obstruct public health initiatives.”

Reference: Use a title search (“Tobacco industry surveillance”) or author search (Malone) for the full citation. The journal article [92(6): 955-960] was posted on: www.ajph.org

Are the Internet and mobile phones changing life styles?

Not much in Japan, according to a national sample of 2,818 Japanese 16 years and older. Authors of the study that is reported in NHK Broadcasting Studies2002 found: “Many people are tapping the new media, using mobile phones and the Internet. They tend to feel that not much has changed in their daily lives by adopting these media.” When asked whether the Internet will change their future life style, 38 percent said the Internet “will change things” while 31 percent said it “won’t change things.”

Among the respondents employed in agriculture, forestry and fisheries, 30 percent reported that they use mobile phones. Internet use was low within this occupational group, with only 5 percent using both mobile phones and the Internet.

Reference: Use a title search (“Will the Internet take the place”) or author search (Shuichi) for the full citation.

Lots of farm radio listeners.

“Imagine a radio network with 440 million listeners – more than the combined population of the United States, Canada and Mexico. That network exists in the Developing Countries Farm Radio Network (DCFRN), Toronto, Canada,” according to Julienne Spence and Sarah Andrewes in a recent Agri Marketing feature. They explained that DCFRN has “educated radio listeners in developing countries since 1979 and established itself as the leading rural radio network for farmers.” In this article they described the formation, philosophy and approach used by this network that now spans 70 countries with more than 500 partner stations and 600 members. Funding comes primarily from donations and the Canadian International Development Agency.

Reference: Use a title search (“Spanning the globe”) or author search (Spence) for the full citation. The article was posted (June 2002 issue) on: www.agrimarketing.com

Farm broadcaster says this probably tops the list.

“As I reflect back upon the many great things I have been involved in, this probably tops the list,” said Ed Slusarcrzyk of the Ag Radio Network, Utica, New York in the July issue of the National Association of Farm Broadcasters Chats newsletter. This article reported on recent activities of Slusarcrzyk and a colleague concerning Uganda. They took part in a conference of the East African Rural Broadcasters Association involving representatives from about 55 East African radio stations that serve millions of rural listeners. The report included a description of follow-up activities sparked by this interaction.

Reference: Use a title search (“Radio in Uganda”) or author search (Slusaracrzyk) for the full citation.

“Communicating about biotechnology” is the theme of a special issue of the online journal, AgBioForum.

Articles in this recent issue examine how consumers form perceptions about new technologies, such as agricultural biotechnology. Titles include:

“A primer on risk: an interdisciplinary approach to thinking about public understanding of agbiotech”
“Sending messages nobody wants to hear: a primer in risk communication”
“The dynamics of scientific controversies”
“Communication of food-related risks”
“Opinions about biotechnologies”
“Public perceptions and willingness-to-pay a premium for non-GM foods in the US and UK”
“The public debate on agrobiotechnology: a biotech company’s perspective”
“Mass media communications about agrobiotechnology”
“Compartmentalization: implications for food biotechnology coverage”

Reference: Use title searches for the full citations. The issue (Volume 4, Numbers 3 and 4) was posted online at: www.agbioforum.org

Netwar – “a much more fruitful avenue of study.”

A commentary by ePublic Relations Ltd. noted that much of the AgBioForum issue was devoted to risk theory – risk perception, risk management and risk communications. “Unfortunately, such devotion to understanding risk offers only limited insight into appreciating the opposition to biotechnology.” The commentary suggested that biotech communicators “adopt the mindset of a netwarrior” and described an all-channel network approach.

Reference: Use a title search (“21st century PR”) for the full citation. The commentary was posted on:www.epublicrelations.org/PRWarIdeas.html

Three kinds of change-related communicating.

We noted them recently while reviewing the proceedings of a 1970 workshop about communicating with the rural disadvantaged. Participants heard a suggestion from Louis A. Zurcher, Jr., that they consider three kinds of change-related communication:

Communication for change. Transmits motivational messages – encouragement to join, to learn, to be trained, to receive service, to modify some set of personality or social characteristics
“Such communication can be informative, educational, and accomplish at least some degree of poverty amelioration.”
Communication of change. Transmits what is happening or has happened that impinges upon the conditions that sustain poverty. “This form of communication can create a sense of legitimacy, of effectiveness, for poverty intervention attempts.”
Communication as change. Combines both of the other kinds, and “adds an important perspective of the change process. … The characteristics of both the advantaged and disadvantaged are seen to be part of the same overall social milieu and to have points of similarity as well as difference.” This perspective, he argued, helps maintain feelings of self-esteem and control in one’s social and physical environment.

Reference: Use a title search (“Characteristics of the disadvantaged”) or author search (Zurcher) for the full citation.

Communication – not always a change agent.

A deceptively simple observation by N. L. Chowla might speak to those today who are surprised or disappointed by the lingering agricultural biotechnology “debate” and other contentious issues. Chowla wrote in a 1983 issue of Media Asia:

“Communication is like a two-edged sword which works both ways – for reinforcement as well as for change.”

Reference: Use a title search (“Change – an Indian overview”) or author search (Chowla) for the full citation.

Professional activities approaching.

September 6-8, 2002
Meeting of North American Agricultural Journalists at St. Paul, Minnesota.
Information: http://naaj.tamu.edu/meetings.htm

September 12-14, 2002
“The Atlantic Odyssey.” Annual meeting of the Canadian Farm Writers’
Federation at Fredericton, New Brunswick.
Information: www.cfwf.ca

September 18-20, 2002
“Looking Back to Our Future.” Fall meeting of Agricultural Relation
Council in Chicago, Illinois.
Information: www.nama.org/arc/future-index.html Back to top

Best regards and good searching.

ACDC News – Issue 02-14

Posted on January 22, 2002 by Hailley Shaw

Report of the petrified pony.

Humor has long been a tradition in rural journalism. It was evident, for example, in a 1896 article about a petrified pony. According to this report, which appeared in Farm and Field, Denver, two cowboys on a cattle roundup in the Texas panhandle noticed that “their tired ponies neighed and whinnied as if they were aware of the presence of another animal.” Indeed, nearby they discovered a broncho standing tethered to a bush at the summit of a little knoll. “The pony was petrified, not a hair or hoof amiss.”

Reference: We didn’t enter this report into the ACDC collection, but can direct you to it. See Agricultural History 31(4) : 33 (October 1957). Please feel free to pass along other examples of rural humor, especially as it involves communicating.

What producers can gain in $$ from using weather information.

Research by the International Research Institute for Climate Prediction suggests that farmers’ use of climate forecasts related to the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) offers financial value. At a recent outlook conference, James Hansen of the Institute reported these results of retrospective decision analyses:

Use of ENSO information on small-to-medium-sized field crop farms in southern Georgia offered a potential value of $4-6 per hectare.
The potential value of such information when used for corn and wheat management on such farms was about $5-15 per hectare.
In south Florida, producers who based planting decisions for winter-grown tomatoes on ENSO phases could increase average income by about $800 per hectare.

“Results of these and other similar studies are still quite tentative,” Hansen said. “.Nevertheless, our analytical studies and interactions with agricultural decision makers have convinced us that viable options do exist for using climate forecasts to improve farm decision making.” Such findings add to the ACDC collection of more than 150 documents about the economic value of agricultural information.

Reference: Use a title search (“Use of climate forecasts”) or author search (Hansen) for the full citation. The report was posted on: www.usda.gov/oce/waob/oc2002/speeches/Hansen.pdf

“Agriculture needs honest comment.”

Anthony Rosen of Britain suggested in a recent issue of IFAJ News (International Federation of Agricultural Journalists) that agricultural journalists face three major “uncertainties – or perhaps, challenges:”

Contraction of agricultural publications and the subsequent limitation on advertising revenues.
“.interference by proprietorial influences, usually politically inspired, which may oblige journalists to follow a specific line whatever their own beliefs.”
“.the sad demise of the journalistic commentator who is, all too frequently, being replaced by the simple reporter.” Rosen argued that “The agricultural industry is entitled to expect its journalists to do more than simply report, even if word perfectly, the statements of the politicians and farm leaders.”

Reference: Use a title search (“Introspect”) or author search (Rosen) for the full citation. The commentary was posted on: www.ifaj.org/newsletter/IFAJMay02.pdf

Three philosophies of rural communicating.

In his book, Go to the people, James Mayfield discussed three approaches to communicating with the rural poor:

One-way system of communication. “It is quite common in a bureaucratic environment for communication to be based upon a one-way system in which orders are given, plans presented, requirements announced, procedures established, and goals defined with little or no feedback from those receiving them.”
Two-way system of communication. “Administrative systems seeking to improve their communication networks often adopt a two-way method that requires the receiving elements to acknowledge their understanding and awareness of the orders, plans, or procedures in order to give the sender of the directive some confirmation that the message has been understood.”
Shared awareness system of communication. “.a more profound level of communication” that “requires extensive staff training in team building, interpersonal skill development, conflict resolution, problem identification, and role negotiation skills.”

He cited experiences in various countries suggesting that “rural development facilitators can have their effectiveness greatly increased both in terms of working together and in terms of working with farmers.”

Reference: Use a title search (above) or author search (Mayfield) for the full citation.

Fitting digital technology into development is the focus of Communication, technology and the development of people, a book that we added recently to the ACDC collection.

Drawing upon experience with the World Bank, author Bernard Woods sketched the inadequacies of approaches that treat people largely as means to development (rather than the focus of it) and define it in terms of economic growth. He discussed neglect of the communication sector in conventional approaches to development, outlined and encouraged the development of digital development systems for public use, and suggested a new framework (decentralized, cross-sectoral, interactive) for thinking about the human dimension of development.

Reference: Use a title search (above) or author search (Woods) for the full citation.

Shift from hardware to human beings.

Woods’ emphasis on people-centered paradigms for development echoes a conclusion by Usha Vyasulu Reddi in Rethinking development communication. Reddi concluded, “Unless the focus on the use of communication technologies shifts from the hardware to human beings and the society it is meant to improve, we shall not be able to deal with basic issues.” Otherwise, according to Reddi, these technologies will result in widened economic and knowledge gaps between the haves and have-nots, centralized control of technology and information in traditional world centers, cultural imperialism and other problems.

Reference: Use a title search (“New communication technologies”) or author search (Reddi) for the full citation.

Early, early radio featured fruit.

Reports about the pioneer days of rural radio broadcasting in the U.S. usually begin with the early 1920s. Actually, a chronology in the book Stay tuned traces it to at least as early as 1904. In that year, United Fruit Company began to “build its network of radio stations in Central America and Caribbean countries to coordinate banana shipping.”

Reference: Use a title search (above) or author search (Sterling) for the full citation.

New report examines rural-urban common ground.

“Urban and agricultural communities: opportunities for common ground” is the title of a new 124-page report from the Council for Agricultural Science and Technology (CAST), Ames, Iowa. A 12-scientist task force pursued two objectives:

“.to move our thinking beyond agriculture’s traditional production and rural roots focus, and.”
“.to identify components of contemporary agriculture that can be a resource for civic leaders and planners who are challenged by issues of sprawl, vacant city lots, public desire for safe local food, and community livability.”

Authors identified possible initiatives in public policy, planning, higher education, research and partnerships/collaboration.

Reference: Use a title search (above) for the full citation. The report was posted at: http://www.cast-science.org/castpubs.htm#urbanagricultural

Professional activities approaching.

September 6-8, 2002
Meeting of North American Agricultural Journalists at St. Paul, Minnesota.
Information: http://naaj.tamu.edu/meetings.htm

September 12-14, 2002
“The Atlantic Odyssey.” Annual meeting of the Canadian Farm Writers’ Federation at Fredericton, New Brunswick.
Information: www.cfwf.ca Back to top

Best regards and good searching.

ACDC News – Issue 02-13

Posted on January 14, 2002 by Hailley Shaw

Needed: more agricultural reporting beyond the political sound bites.

Three major challenges face agricultural journalists today, said Anthony Rosen in a recent issue of the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists (IFAJ) newsletter. They include:

Contraction of agricultural publications caused by “the virtual world-wide economic recession in farming and the subsequent limitation on advertising revenues.”
“Interference by proprietorial influences, usually politically inspired, which may oblige journalists to follow a specific line whatever their own beliefs.”
“Third, and most importantly, is the sad demise of the journalistic commentator who is, all too frequently, being replaced by the simple reporter.”

Reference: Use a title search (“Introspect”) or author search (Rosen) for the full citation. The commentary was posted online at www.ifaj.org/newsletter/IFAJMay02.pdf.

Reporting on the “shabby science that’s swaying public opinion.

“Recently we added to the ACDC collection a news report from Canada about a call for “creation of a special agency to discredit the misleading information purposely being circulated to sway public opinion against the livestock industry.” This call came from an agricultural engineer who recommended creating an advocacy group or a special agency dedicated to making “people in the scientific and journalistic world accountable for the information that they are producing.”

Reference: Use a title search (“Manitoba engineer calls”) for the full citation. The article was posted on: www.foodsafetynetwork.ca

Rural life and people swept toward urbanism by new technologies?

Ronald R. Kline’s recent book, Consumer in the Country, reveals a “surprising persistence of rural culture” in the face of rapid technological and social change in rural America during the past 80 years. His historical analysis traced the introduction of the telephone, radio, automobiles, electricity and other technologies into rural areas. Findings prompted him to question whether “the telephone, the automobile, radio and electricity were autonomous social forces that revolutionized rural life in ways predicted by promoters.”

Farm people use new technology in innovative ways to create their own forms of modernity, Kline observed. Also, he called attention to signs of a continued ruralization of urban America. Recent examples: popularity of country music and pickup trucks

Reference: Use a title search (above) or author search (Kline) for the full citation.

“Metropolitan agriculture may have a promising future –

Providing urban and rural areas can work out their differences and begin to work together.” That vision and communications challenge came recently from Lorna Michael Butler, a speaker at the Agriculture Outlook Forum 2002 in Washington, D.C. She examined the history of rural-urban relationships in the U.S., described changes that are leading to greater rural-urban interdependence and identified five fronts on which agriculture could help bridge the rural-urban gap. Communicators would play a major role in the proposals that she sketched.

Reference: Use a title search (“Rural-urban interdependency”) or author search (Butler) for the full citation. The presentation was posted on: www.usda.gov/oce/waob/oc2002/speeches/Butler.pdf

Why do I care?

That is the driving question in doing farm television in a metro market, according to Dan Wilkinson of WRAL-TV, Raleigh, North Carolina. In the June issue of the National Association of Farm Broadcasters newsletter, NAFB Chats, Wilkinson explained how he presents his story ideas to staff associates. They are looking for hard news with urban interest. The article described how this orientation influences his role and his programming decisions.

Reference: Use a title search (“Television farm news in the urban market”) or author search (Wilkinson) for the full citation. The article was posted online at: www.nafb.com/acrobat/jun02chats.pdf

The spray gun mentality in communicating.

“We have to get away from the spray gun mentality – that communications can be sprayed onto people and they will somehow get the right ideas from it.” This reminder came to our attention recently in a workshop proceedings about communicating with the rural disadvantaged.

Robert Crawford added: “Communication is a way in which you develop community between two persons or groups, regardless of color. It is a mutuality, a respect, a learning from each other. It is not a technique, but a principle. It is hard to do and is done differently in different situations.”

Reference: Use a title search (“Why methods fail”) or author search (Sutherland) for the full citation.

Four lessons about rural development.

Juan Flavier of the International Institute of Rural Reconstruction, Philippines, shared them at a rural development seminar in Ghana 25 years ago. All involve communicating – and all continue to carry an important ring, in any part of the world.

Be sure that “what we do is wanted and needed.”
Encourage participation in the planning and decision-making of projects, not only in their implementation.
Livelihood, health, education and culture, civic responsibility – all must be addressed in an integrated way. “The successful solution of one [problem] depends upon the successful solution of the others.”
Be sensitive to the adequacy and use of language in trying to explain scientific information.

Reference: Use a title search (“Keynote address”) or author search (Flavier) for the full citation of this presentation.

How do you feel needs?

Flavier reported that rural workers often ask how to feel needs. His advice: Go to the field. Observe. Talk. Survey. Read existing records. “Not by one way, but a combination of available ways.”

Advertising agencies – managing tough times in agriculture.

Low commodity prices. Client mergers and buyouts. Reduced advertising budgets. Changing markets and audiences. New media alternatives. Executives of seven advertising agencies that serve agricultural clients explained in the May issue of Agri Marketing magazine how they are dealing with such challenges these days. Other questions they addressed in the article:

Where is the ag industry going?
Have you developed new clients in non-traditional areas of agriculture?
Have the issues or advertising objectives of your clients changed?
Have the services that you offer changed?
Do you see shifts from traditional ag media?

Reference: Use a title search (“Riding the ups and downs”) for the full citation. Posted in May 2002 issue on: www.agrimarketing.com/show_story.php?id=13078

“Optimism for the future is again high.”

Greg Leaf, president of the Agricultural Relations Council expressed this view in a recent issue of ARCLight Newsletter. He observed to fellow professionals in this agricultural public relations organization: “There is a real sense that business-as-usual is back. Companies are again investing in their own futures. Agencies are competing for clients. The business climate is as intense as ever.” He commended members for exploring new opportunities and being innovative in the way they handle their chosen professions.

Reference: Use an author search (Leaf) for the full citation. The newsletter was posted on: www.nama.org/arc/arclight/june02/June2002ARCLight.htm

Professional activities approaching.

September 6-8, 2002
Meeting of North American Agricultural Journalists at St. Paul, Minnesota.
Information: http://naaj.tamu.edu/meetings.htm

September 12-14, 2002
“The Atlantic Odyssey.” Annual meeting of the Canadian Farm Writers’ Federation at Fredericton, New Brunswick.
Information: www.cfwf.ca Back to top

Best regards and good searching.

ACDC News – Issue 02-12

Posted on January 14, 2002 by Hailley Shaw

Now more than 20,000 documents in ACDC.

June 19 was a landmark day in the Agricultural Communications Documentation Center. That was when we passed the 20,000-document mark in our efforts to collect and share information about the communications aspects of agriculture, food, rural development and related topics. When we began this effort in the early 1980s we didn’t know how much of such literature we might find. Five thousand documents? Ten thousand documents? Now we know that we are barely scratching the surface. And we recognize more fully the importance of this special body of literature. We see more clearly how effective communicating is central to all in the food chain, from producers to consumers – and central to the sustainable development and wellbeing of our societies. Thanks to all who have contributed or suggested documents, shared ideas, developed the system, processed materials and offered encouragement along the way. We are now busy working toward the next landmark.

Consult or confront?

A recent commentary in Eco/Log Week posed this question concerning approaches to resolving public policy disputes about genetically modified food. “Many leaders, including some from the biotechnology industry itself, have urged the industry to engage in discussion with the public and with critics,” observed Colin Isaacs. However, he added, “Every indication so far is that the hawks have won and that the industry will fight its critics with television and media campaigns.” He said that the approaching international BIO 2002 conference in Toronto, Canada, will test the “consult versus confront” approach to controversy.

Reference: Use a title search (“Biotechnology conference will test”) or author search (Isaacs) for the full citation. The commentary was posted on: http://www.foodsafetynetwork.ca/

Biotech bias of U.S. newspapers and news magazines.

An analysis by Nick Parker of the Food First organization led to a “real concern that the news media is playing a biased role in opinion formation” about genetically modified foods and crops. He analyzed all opinion pieces (72 editorials and op-eds) published over a two-year period (September 1999 through August 2001) in the New York Times, USA Today, Washington Post, Boston Globe, Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times, Los Angeles Times, Houston Chronicle, Newsday, Wall Street Journal, Time, Newsweek and The Economist.

“We found a four to one.ratio of opinion pieces favoring genetically modified crops and foods compared to those opposing them or taking a generally critical stance.” The report also summarized arguments used in the opinion pieces.

Reference: Use a title search (“Biotech bias”) or author search (Parker) for the full citation. This report was posted on www.foodfirst.org/media/press/2002/biotechbiasreport.pdf

Other ethics-related concerns being raised these days.

Here are some of them that that we have identified in recent documents being added to the ACDC collection:

Misleading information on food labels
Lack of leadership by agricultural journalists
Cozy relationships between industry and media
Sloppy, inaccurate reporting
Loaded questions in public polls
Piracy of indigenous knowledge

Reference: You can identify documents about these and other ethics-related concerns through a subject search, using the term “ethical issues.” The collection now contains more than 300 of such documents, with the recently published ones listed first.

New case study in crisis communications planning.

Risks of an outbreak of foot and mouth disease or other foreign animal disease sparked an interesting collaborative planning process in Texas last year. David Mayes and Edith Chenault reported about it recently at an agricultural communications research conference. The case study sketches the cooperative planning efforts of communicators involving Texas public agencies – from the animal health commission to the department of criminal justice. Appendices include a step-by-step media response plan, an internal communications plan and sample news releases.

Reference: Use a title search (“Avoiding foot in mouth disease”) or author search (Chenault) for the full citation. The paper was posted online at: http://agnews.tamu.edu/saas/Chenault-FM-2002.htm

Needed: more emphasis on local learning.

“Agricultural development can no longer be seen as based on transfer of the products of scientific research and their subsequent spontaneous diffusion among the ‘target group’.” So contend Niels Roling and Jan Brouwers in a chapter of the recent book, Biological and cultural diversity.

“Most of the institutional knowledge systems we have designed to promote agricultural development depart from the assumption that science is the source of innovation. . Sustainable agriculture seems to require a totally different knowledge system to support it, with greater emphasis on the facilitation of local learning.”

Reference: Use a title search (“Living local knowledge”) or author search (Roling) for the full citation.

New Farm Journal magazine online.

On May 15, the redesigned Internet home of Farm Journal magazine went online. Among the new features cited in an announcement release that we added recently to the ACDC collection:

“Outlook today” – Daily commentary about commodity and livestock markets by the Farm Journal economist.
“Editor’s notebook online” – Reports to readers from the editors, ranging from “interesting insights to thought-provoking perspectives.”
“Web extra” – Additional information and updates to stories published in the magazine.
“Field tests” – Results of the on-farm research and development program managed by the magazine.

Reference: Use a title search (“AgWeb welcomes”) or an author search (Conrady) for the full citation. The news article was posted May 15 at: www.plant.uoguelph.ca/safefood/archives/agnet-archives.htm

International challenge to agricultural journalists.

“Globalisation has not yet happened among ourselves,” according to Hans-Heinrich Matthiesen, president of the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists. Writing in the May issue of IFAJ News, he observes that “We agricultural journalists write about this or that, but we have no real part in the international goings on. . We don’t think far enough, we don’t look beyond our own activities and do not register that international networks have long been established and are active – without us.” He calls for more effort to experience agriculture internationally.

Reference: Use a title search (“Editorial”) or author search (Matthiesen) for the full citation. The editorial was posted online at www.ifaj.org/newsletter/IFAJMay02.pdf

Professional activities approaching.

July 22-25, 2002
“Hit the jackpot in Reno!” Agricultural Publications Summit, fourth annual joint meeting of American Agricultural Editors’ Association, Livestock Publications Council, APA: the Association of Leading Ag Media Companies, and Agricultural Communicators of Tomorrow. Meeting at Reno, Nevada.
Information: www.ageditors.com orwww.livestockpublications.com Back to top

Best regards and good searching.

ACDC News – Issue 02-11

Posted on January 14, 2002 by Hailley Shaw

“In the ag media, electronic releases are hot.”

So reported Owen Roberts, University of Guelph, after surveying some editors of magazines and provincial weekly and monthly newspapers in Canada. His report appeared in the January issue of The Nib,” newsletter of the Eastern Canada Farm Writers’ Association.

Respondents said that an average of 25 to 30 percent of the editorial content in their periodicals originated with news releases. On average, the editors were getting at least 25 news releases a day (electronic, fax and snail mail). Most said they “receive 25 to 50 percent of their news releases electronically, and those numbers are on the rise.”

Reference: Use a title search (“Informal survey shows pick up is fantastic”) or author search (Roberts) for the full citation. The report was posted online at: www.cfwf.ca/nib/jan02.pdf

Wire service carrying more (biased) agricultural news.

A comparative content analysis of agricultural news carried by a U.S. wire service shows a bittersweet trend. According to research by Scarlett Hagins, Jacquie Lockaby, Cindy Akers and Lance Kieth, the Associated Press posted 22 percent more agricultural articles in November 2000 than in November 1997. However, the articles in 2000 contained significantly more inference sentences. “The majority of these sentences contain no ‘tip-off’ words to let the reader know that the information is subjective to some extent.” Authors recommended efforts to increase the agricultural literacy of reporters, as well as the general public.

Reference: Use a title search (“Associated Press wire service coverage”) or author search (Hagins) for the full citation. This paper was posted online at: http://agnews.tamu.edu/saas/2002/shagins.htm

Online peer review: new avenue for science research reporting?

“The editorial review of scientific papers usually takes place behind closed doors, but could the process be improved by opening it up for all to see?” A recent news feature in Nature magazine examined the pros and cons of some experiments that scientific journals are using to test this approach.

Reference: Use a title search (“Peer review, unmasked”) or author search (Gura) for the full citation. The article was posted online at: www.nature.com/cgi-taf/DynaPage.taf?file=/nature/journal/v416/n6878/full/416258a_fs.html

Why U.S. farmers are adopting GM crops.

Increased yields (through better pest control), lower pesticide costs, increased planting flexibility and perceived environmental benefits. These are the main reasons cited in an April 2002 brief from the Economic Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture. “However, actual benefits in terms of costs, yields, and pesticide use vary with the crop and engineered trait.”

This brief also summarized 1995-2001 trends in U.S. farmers’ adoption of genetically modified cotton, corn and soybeans.

Reference: Use a title search (“Agricultural biotechnology: adoption”) for the full citation. The brief was posted online at www.ers.usda.gov/Briefing/biotechnology/chapter1.htm

When live links go dead.

What do you do when you try a live link within an ACDC citation and learn that it no longer connects you to the information you want? URLs that we cite are subject to change, as you know – often without our knowledge. Here are a couple of suggestions for you when you find that live links have gone dead.

Sometimes you can discover documents of interest on web sites by pruning back the URL, searching on basic parts of it (e.g., the home page), then looking for the documents you desire.
Get in touch with us (docctr@library.uiuc.edu) when you find dead links in our database. If we can’t find the document of interest online we may have a paper copy or electronic file here in the Center.

Opposing messages about food irradiation.

An article in the Ottawa Citizen newspaper (Ottawa, Canada) highlights several dimensions of the conflicting arguments about irradiating food. Reporter James DeWan briefly summarized the sword-crossing messages from Public Citizen (watchdog group founded by Ralph Nader) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. They centered on these aspects of irradiation:

Health effects on animals and humans
Effects on nutritional value
Effects on flavor, odor and texture of food
Effects on food sanitation efforts
Possible formation of new chemicals that have not been studied

DeWan observed, “It is hard to reconcile the two camps’ opinions on the topic.”

Reference: Use a title search (“Key organizations disagree”) for the full citation. The article was posted on: www.plant.uoguelph.ca/safefood/archives/fsnet-archives.htm

“Two views on food labeling.”

That is the title of a for-and-against report published recently by the U.S. Department of State “to provide a full picture of the shape of the discussion in the United States.” Ellen Matten, international policy analyst in the U.S. Codex Office, cited challenges associated with country of origin labeling, labeling of foods derived from biotechnology and risks that labels may mislead consumers. Kristen Dawkins and Neil Sorensen of the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy emphasized the importance of label information in protecting the health and safety of consumers, especially given the unknowns associated with bioengineered foods and feed.

Reference: Use a title search (above) or author search (above) for the full citation. The report was posted on: http://usinfo.state.gov/journals/ites/0502/ijee/foodlabeling.htm#mat

Crop reports gathered scientifically? Not exactly.

“The USDA crop progress report is a market mover, but the way the data is collected . at the county level varies and is not exactly scientific.” So reported Mike McGinnis in a recent news article from DTN NewsWire.com. He described the various information gathering methods used by USDA Farm Service Agencies (FSA) offices in Iowa, Illinois and Ohio. Among the methods cited: straw polling co-workers in the office, inviting opinions from bank appraisers, use of farmer committees and phone calls to farmers.

Reference: Use a title search (“FSA not only source”) or author search (McGinnis) for the full citation. The article was posted May 21 on: www.dtnnewswire.com

Welcome to Jing Zhang,

New part-time assistant in the Agricultural Communications Documentation Center. A doctoral candidate in the College of Communications here at the University of Illinois, Jing brings valuable experience and interests to our mission. For example, three years of professional experience as a strategic planner at J. Walter Thompson Advertising Agency followed her undergraduate studies in psychology at Peking University, China. She is helping process materials into the ACDC collection and we look forward to working with her.

We enjoyed hosting a visitor from Ontario, Canada, early this month.

Kristy Nudds, a graduate student at the University of Guelph, spent two days reviewing materials in the ACDC collection and University of Illinois Library for her thesis research project.