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Publicity of Agriculture in Contemporary Media

Publicity of Agriculture in Contemporary Media. What’s being said? What’s being covered?. Background. Consumers are 3 to 5 generations from production agriculture Farm-to-consumer gap means increased reliance on mass media for agriculture information

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Publicity of Agriculture in Contemporary Media

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  1. Publicity of Agriculture in Contemporary Media What’s being said? What’s being covered?

  2. Background • Consumers are 3 to 5 generations from production agriculture • Farm-to-consumer gap means increased reliance on mass media for agriculture information • Sharp decrease in consumer demand followed by negative mediacoverage (Burton & Young, 1996) • Slow recovery afterwards

  3. Media’s Coverage of Recent Ag Issues • Food recalls/food safety (e.coli, salmonella, listeria) • Natural disasters • Biotechnology • Farm and Food Bill • Agro-terrorism • Prolonged drought & food crises • Organic food • Animal welfare

  4. Mass Media Coverage • Analysis of content of four trade publications & five national general-interest publications over 15 years (Hollifield & Sweeney, 2000) • Most dominant general-interest news publications did not use trade publications as source about rBST • Daily news organizations are betterpositioned

  5. Objectivity of General Journalists • Wealth of research regarding objectivity of general journalists on reporting agriculture topics • Used Hayakawa-Lowery news bias categories in research study • Determined news bias of 1-year’s content from Oklahoma newspapers • Sentences were judgments • More negative sentences than positive sentences • Might negatively affect public’s interpretation of agriculture industry

  6. Objectivity of General Journalists • Content analysis study of Time, Newsweek, U.S. News & World Report, & Business Week • Foodborne illness was most frequent topic • Headlines primarily neutral • Cited government officials most often as sources • Frames related to health risks, health benefits, regulatory issues, & industry concerns

  7. Objectivity of General Journalists • Content analysis of 6oo articles from 1986 – 1997 about food contamination or food poisoning (Eyck, 2000) • Media coverage centered on crisis situations • Findings suggested media use food safety to fulfill news values

  8. Objectivity of General Journalists • Peanut Butter Recall

  9. Let’s Discuss • What was the bias in the news coverage? • Who were the sources? • What images were used? • What words did the reporter use?

  10. Objectivity of General Journalists • Kroger Stores Recall Spinach due to Listeria Concerns

  11. Let’s Discuss • What was the bias in the news coverage? • Who were the sources? • What images were used? • What words did the reporter use?

  12. Effect of Media Coverage • Watch this YouTube video about the media’s coverage related to the 2009 H1N1 flu—relabeled as swine flu • showed revenue loss of about $200 million over 4-moth period • Negative impact on future prices of lean hogs, live cattle, corn & soybeans • Peter Dykstra, former execproducer of CNN’s science, tech &weather unit, said story magnifiedbeyond reason to retain audience • Helped sweeps month ratings

  13. Discussion • What is your reaction to the media’s coverage of H1N1? • What are solutions?

  14. Let’s Discuss • What do you need to consider as a media literate consumer? • How should agricultural communicators deal with bias in news reporting?

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