Pollock, John C. (author), Peitz, Krysti (author), Watson, Elizabeth (author), Esposito, Cara (author), Nichilo, Phil (author), Etheridge, James (author), Morgan, Melissa (author), and Hart-McGonigle, Taylor (author)
Format:
Online journal article
Publication Date:
2017
Published:
Springer
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 93 Document Number: D10865
26 pages., via online journal., A community structure analysis compared cross-national coverage of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) with variations in national-level demographics from 19 newspapers worldwide, yielding combined article “prominence” and “direction” “Media Vector” newspaper scores emphasizing either “favorable” (42%) or “unfavorable” (58%) coverage of GMOs. Regression analysis revealed “poverty level” (24.2% of variance) and “percent of agricultural land” (4.7%) totaled 28.9% of the variance, confirming that “vulnerability” indicators are associated with favorable media coverage of GMOs. Contrary to conventional “guard dog” assumptions that media mirror elite interests, systematic research on demographics and GMO coverage reveals that media can mirror the interests of society’s most “vulnerable.”
7 pages., via online journal., Pesticide use and pesticide residues in foods have been the subject of controversial public discussions and media coverage in Germany. Against this background, a better understanding of public risk perceptions is needed to promote efficient public health communication. To this end, this study captures the German public's perception of pesticide residues in foods. A representative sample of the population aged 14 years and older (n = 1,004) was surveyed via computer-assisted telephone interviewing on their attitudes and knowledge with regard to pesticide residues. Based on questions regarding their typical consumer behavior, respondents were classified into conventional and organic consumers to identify differences as well as similarities between these two consumer types. As assessed with an open-ended question, both organic and conventional consumers viewed pesticides, chemicals, and toxins as the greatest threats to food quality and safety. Evaluating the risks and benefits of pesticide use, more than two-thirds of organic consumers (70%) rated the risks as greater than the benefits, compared with just over one-half of conventional consumers (53%). Concern about the detection of pesticide residues in the food chain and bodily fluids was significantly higher among organic compared with conventional consumers. Only a minority of respondents was aware that legal limits for pesticide residues (referred to as maximum residue levels) exist, with 69% of organic and 61% of conventional consumers believing that the presence of pesticide residues in foods is generally not permitted. A lack of awareness of maximum residue levels was associated with heightened levels of concern about pesticide residues. Finally, general exposure to media reporting on pesticide residues was associated with more frequent knowledge of legal limits for pesticide residues, whereas actively seeking information on pesticide residues was not. The possible mechanisms underlying these findings are discussed.
11 pages., via online journal., This paper is concerned with how urban food activists related to the media during 2015, when Bristol was the European
Green Capital (EGC), how they represented themselves and how others represented their agenda. Our intention is to
inform the debates on urban agriculture (UA) and, more specifically, to contribute to discussions about ‘scaling up’
UA. To achieve this, we adopt a form of analysis that rests on Castells’ insights about contemporary protest movements,
the media and the role of communication technologies in constituting social power. By using Bristol, a city with a welldeveloped and studied urban agriculture movement, we suggest new areas for consideration that focus on the importance
of communication in the development of the movement. Our study relied only on publicly available data; newspaper
reports about the EGC and a sample of the social media used by the urban food networks in the city. We found that
the mass media was mainly concerned with reporting topics other than food and that urban food was not a salient
issue in their coverage. The Twitter network we analyzed was a loose constellation of different communities, which
shared materials that were mostly concerned with creating a shared, normative picture of urban food. By considering
the structure of these forms of media, we can observe the assembly of the forms of communication and their content.
The paper concludes that the self-representation of urban food networks at that time reveals a narrow focus of interest.
This emphasis may have contributed to the lack of connection within the city between potential allies. Our conclusion
supports similar research findings in neighboring communities, which have observed the limited connections of urban
food networks to the circuits of power and influence.
