21 pgs, The purpose of this paper is to compare the reporting of vital agricultural news between the mainstream print media and the farming press in Ireland. To achieve this, this study examined coverage of a recent and significant agricultural news event by mainstream Irish newspapers and the Irish farming press. Taking the 2018–2019 Irish beef sector crisis as the case study for examination, researchers conducted a comparative content analysis of the most widely circulated mainstream national newspapers’ (n = 5) and farming newspapers’ (n = 2) coverage of the story over a 14-month period. We analyzed the timing, frequency, and placing of some 294 articles published to communicate issues regarding the beef crisis at three specific stages—before the national farmer protests, during the farmer protests, and after the farmer protests. We found mainstream newspapers to be significantly slower to start reporting on the Irish beef sector crisis of 2018–2019 compared to the country’s farming newspapers—although national print media coverage of the event increased as the crisis escalated. This early underreporting of the event by mainstream newspapers is compelling considering the importance of the agri-food sector, and beef farming in particular, to Ireland’s economy. Building on existing international, but very limited Irish, research on agricultural journalism, we concluded that farming newspapers are more in touch with the critical issues affecting Irish farmers while mainstream newspapers appeared slower to cover a vital agricultural issue of public importance.
USA: Specialized Information Publishers Association (SIIA)
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 201 Document Number: D11719
Notes:
Online via AgriMarketing Weekly. 2 pages., Announces consolidation of Connectiv, Association Media and Publishing, and the Specialized Information Publishers Association into one newly branded association.
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 157 Document Number: D11631
Notes:
2 pages., Online via AgriMarketing Weekly. 2 pages., Revised name and mission of what was formerly the Agricultural Publishers Association (APA) and Connectiv Agri Media Committee.
Roberts, Owen (author / President, International Federation of Agricultural Journalists)
Format:
Commentary
Publication Date:
2020
Published:
International: International Federation of Agricultural Journalists (IFAJ), Ormstown, Quebec, Canada
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 163 Document Number: D11647
Notes:
2 pages., Online from publisher., During a global coronavirus pandemic, IFAJ President Owen Roberts emphasizes the vital importance of journalists in helping people be informed and safe. "The world will change hugely in the next 365 days as we grapple with the pandemic... But two things won't change: these are farmers' need to feed the world and journalists' role in helping them do so. Through our global network for agricultural journalism, we can make a difference in how effective this all works out."
4 pages., Via online., "The chief ethical fear for the past 99 years of agricultural journalism has been that one of our number would cuddle up closer to advertisers than others of us, and reap unethical benefits of that. The chief charge of every Ethics Committee [of AAEA] has been to protect our collective readers from any hoodwinking that would come from such collusion. As I look toward that 100th year, I wonder who needs protecting from whom." Examines pressures on agricultural journalists in the wake of divided audience perspectives about the role of agricultural media in covering contentious political issues
3 pages, Figure 1 above appeared on July 31, 2018, in Bloomberg. Bloomberg tweeted this graphic on August 13, and twenty-four hours later it had been retweeted by 84 twitter accounts and “liked” 118 times. Chances are you have seen this graphic on your social media newsfeed (e.g., Facebook, Twitter) by now. It is a novel idea to portray how U.S. land use could be represented across the United States. However, to the casual observer, which is most everyone viewing a graphic on social media, this graphic is misleading.
