18 pages, via online journal article, On April 2016, the weekly Farm News cut its ties with veteran freelancer Rick Friday who drew a cartoon that called attention to how much the CEOs of large agricultural corporations are paid. This study examines the determinants of people’s attitudes toward Mr. Friday’s firing. Using data gathered from a national online survey of newspaper readers, this study traced the antecedents of these attitudes. While the incident drew strong negative reactions, we found that public attitudes were strongly mediated by readers’ attitudes toward Big Ag advertisers. That is, those who saw Big Ag in a positive light were more inclined to report less negative attitudes toward the firing. Another factor that influenced public reaction is the way people perceived the relationship between the farm press and their large corporate advertising sponsors. These findings indicated audience awareness of the synergy between content making and profit making in the farm news business, and that readers saw the relationship between big advertisers and the press as not necessarily adversarial. Those in agricultural states tended to see the editorial cartoon and the firing incident as more relevant to their lives than their counterparts in non-agricultural areas. However, the perceived relevance of the editorial cartoon and the firing incident had no bearing on people’s attitudes toward the incident. Implications of the findings on fostering a healthy relationship between farm newspapers, their readers, and the agribusinesses that advertise in them are discussed.
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Document Number: C23819
Notes:
Reviewed 3/13/2006 at http://www.poynter.org/content/content_view.asp?id=83144, Via Poynteronline. 8 pages, Discusses values and methods of computer assisted reporting (CAR) programs at newspapers. Cites an example involving an investigative series, "Boss Hog, North Carolina pork revolution." Reporters used CAR to enrich some stories about links between Murphy Farms and state policies involving sewage disposition regulations on hog farms.
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Document Number: C15133
Notes:
Volume 1, Detailed chronology of magazines of this period. Includes a section on "Agricultural Papers," with a discussion about establishment of the Agricultural Museum in 1810. "... it was not until 1810, apparently, that any periodical was devoted wholly to agriculture."
