AAEA members, their publications and advertisers are showing signs of strengthening the role of editorial independence in today's commercial environment.
James F. Evans Collection; Paper presented at the 1989 Annual Conference of Agricultural Communicators in Education; 1989 July; Portland, OR, Responses from a mail survey of 190 journalists who work for farm journals -- a 78 response rate -- reveal that about two thirds of the journalists say advertisers have threatened their journals on occasion, and about one-half say that advertising has actually been withdrawn. The journalists also report that advertisers sometimes attempt to win over journalists with gifts, free meals, or in other ways, usually not with success. These journalists report that most farm publications do not have a clear policy in dealing with advertiser influence. At the same time, most farm journals are struggling to maintain advertising, a struggle that makes them vulnerable to pressures.
Cites journalism educator Don Ranley who urges maintaining the wall between editorial and advertising, in the interest of reader credibility. "I am not a businessman, but it has to be good business to be trusted."
USA: American Agricultural Editors' Association (AAEA).
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 49 Document Number: D10719
Notes:
Claude W. Gifford Collection. Beyond his materials in the ACDC collection, the Claude W. Gifford Papers, 1919-2004 are deposited in the University of Illinois Archives. Serial Number 8/3/81. Locate finding aid at https://archives.library.illinois.edu/archon/, 1 page., Adopted December 4, 1968 by the American Agricultural Editors' Association
Posted at http://www.agrimarketing.com, Results of three surveys - 1988, 1998 and 2008 - among AAEA members about advertiser influence on editorial content.
