Ag Media Jamboree

The 13th annual Ag Media Summit, “Jazz It Up!” occurred July 23-27 in New Orleans. It’s the principal congregation of crop and livestock media professionals in the U.S., comprising writers, editors, photographers, publishers and ag-communicator specialists.

These professionals convene to improve their gathering, reporting and dissemination methods for a more efficient, engaging news process on behalf of America’s farm and food industries.

The agriculture media industry is inadequately represented at news outlets throughout America, given that farmers and ranchers are depended upon to provide safe, affordable, abundant food for the country and assist with food initiatives on a global scale.

Attendants Included:

• Red Barn Media Group
• Two Rivers Marketing
• Brandwidth Solutions LLC
• Cultivate Agency
• Farm Journal Media
• Ketchum
• ZimmComm New Media

Educational sessions occur throughout the five-day event to provide networking opportunities and best-practices sharing.

Sessions Included:

• “From shoot to finish: Understanding Lightroom,” (Adobe Lightroom is a tool for digital photographers)
• “Strategic Tweeting”
• “Think like a reader”
• “Growing big ears with social media”
• “Ethics in the trenches: Case studies and solutions”
• Newsmakers Panel: Ag transportation

To view images of the summit, visit http://www.flickr.com/photos/zimmcomm/sets/72157627141641949/.

The agriculture media sector is increasingly important though it continues to decrease in size. Social-media channels are undoubtedly influencing and safekeeping the dissemination of information about an industry so vital to our country.

To promote itself, the summit used the hashtag #AgMS at Twitter, created a Facebook page, a blog and a LinkedIn account.

One great example of recent ag-media Twitter engagement results from Bayer CropScience. Historic flooding throughout much of the Midwest, South and Southeast prompted the company to raise money for American Red Cross relief efforts. For each tweet including the hashtag #BCSFloodRelief the company made a $5 donation.

As years evolve, the landscape of ag-media will continue to transition and the Ag Media Summit will exist as a necessary tool to sustain and develop the industry.

How do you receive your ag-industry news? Does your local news source have an ag reporter/ag section?










The Transition of Agricultural Reporting

As newspaper conglomerates downsize because of a struggling print-news industry, there are fewer and fewer reporters with agricultural beats. Agriculture stories represent less media coverage with the advent of a computer-centric society, coupled with a population that is less interested in “hard news” and more interested in “infotainment.”

An increase in general-assignment reporters is being witnessed as print publications strive to appeal to a broader audience to remain in business. These reporters are assigned the occasional farm story from their editors, but do not actively pursue industry news. Some believe this has led to decreased quality in agriculture reporting and the emergence of industry-serving publications.

The significance of agricultural news, however, is stronger than ever.

“In today's complex world of genetically modified food, stem-cell therapies and global climate change, the need for journalists who can understand and communicate the intricacies and impact of science on society has never been greater,” states the University of Missouri’s agricultural journalism program home page.

Ag industry news is still being delivered to the public – but the format has changed. As newspapers downsize, farm journalists are taking the heat.

“There seems little doubt that cost-cutting and layoffs – the “bottom line” mentality – and the decision to cut or consolidate beats, have affected farm coverage,” states Thomas Pawlick in his book, The Invisible Farm: The Worldwide Decline of Farm News and Agricultural Journalism Training.

As a result of the shrinking agricultural focus in newsprint, more and more farm reporters are appearing on the Internet.

Farm news-specific sites are continually being produced such as FarmPolicy.com, Agriculture Business Week, AgWired.com and AgClips. “Agriblogging” and industry podcasting are becoming increasingly popular.

"There are now literally hundreds of blogs relating to agriculture," said Chuck Zimmerman, president of ZimmComm New Media, a company specializing in agricultural and biofuels-related blogging and podcasting.

Several industry blogs exist, such as Agriculture Blog, which highlight emerging news and prevalent subject matter. Podcasts are also delivering ag news. AgriFeeds, an agriculture news and events aggregator, allows users to filter and subscribe to industry-related podcasts. Farmers, media and the general public utilize agricultural blogs and podcasts as educational resources for industry updates.

The 11th-Annual Agricultural Media Summit is Aug. 1 through Aug. 5. According to its Web site, it aims to promote, support and enhance the viability of ag media as an effective and efficient communications medium. The summit will provide education, networking and professional-development opportunities to those working within the ag-media industry. The summit is an example of the farming industry’s effort to reassert itself as a principal topic of media coverage.

The decline of traditional agricultural journalism is evident. Agriculture’s Internet presence is intense as dailies scale back and staff fewer and fewer agriculture reporters. The cultural and societal significance of the agriculture industry will secure its existence in the media forefront – in a new format. There are advantages and disadvantages to this shift that make it a hotly contested topic among those in the industry.