Publicity of Agriculture in Contemporary Media Whats being said? Whats being covered? Background Consumers are 3 to 5 generations from production agriculture Farm-to-consumer gap means increased reliance on mass media for agriculture information Sharp decrease in consumer demand followed by negative media coverage (Burton & Young, 1996) Slow recovery afterwards Medias Coverage of Recent Ag Issues Food recalls/food safety (e.coli, salmonella, listeria) Natural disasters Biotechnology Farm and Food Bill Agro-terrorism Prolonged drought & food crises Organic food Animal welfare Mass Media Coverage Analysis of content of four trade publications & five national general- interest publications over 15 years (Hollifield & Sweeney, 2000) Most dominant general-interest news publications did not use trade publications as source about rBST Daily news organizations are better positioned Objectivity of General Journalists Wealth of research regarding objectivity of general journalists on reporting agriculture topics Used Hayakawa-Lowery news bias categories in research study Determined news bias of 1-years content from Oklahoma newspapers Sentences were judgments More negative sentences than positive sentences Might negatively affect publics interpretation of agriculture industry Objectivity of General Journalists Content analysis study of Time, Newsweek, U.S. News & World Report, & Business Week Foodborne illness was most frequent topic Headlines primarily neutral Cited government officials most often as sources Frames related to health risks, health benefits, regulatory issues, & industry concerns Objectivity of General Journalists Content analysis of 6oo articles from 1986 1997 about food contamination or food poisoning (Eyck, 2000) Media coverage centered on crisis situations Findings suggested media use food safety to fulfill news values Objectivity of General Journalists Peanut Butter Recall Lets Discuss What was the bias in the news coverage? Who were the sources? What images were used? What words did the reporter use? Objectivity of General Journalists Kroger Stores Recall Spinach due to Listeria Concerns Kroger Stores Recall Spinach due to Listeria Concerns Lets Discuss What was the bias in the news coverage? Who were the sources? What images were used? What words did the reporter use? Effect of Media Coverage Watch this YouTube video about the medias coverage related to the 2009 H1N1 flurelabeled as swine flu2009 H1N1 flu showed revenue loss of about $200 million over 4-moth period Negative impact on future prices of lean hogs, live cattle, corn & soybeans Peter Dykstra, former exec producer of CNNs science, tech & weather unit, said story magnified beyond reason to retain audience Helped sweeps month ratings Discussion What is your reaction to the medias coverage of H1N1? What are solutions? Lets Discuss What do you need to consider as a media literate consumer? How should agricultural communicators deal with bias in news reporting?