Cindy Akers

A nutty study: a framing analysis of the 2009 salmonella outbreak in peanut products

The purpose of this study was to examine television news coverage of the 2009 Salmonella outbreak in peanut products through the scope of framing theory. The aim of this research was to understand how the television news media frame agricultural, particularly food safety, messages. By employing a qualitative content analysis, researchers analyzed television news transcripts from ABC, CBS, CNN, and NBC that aired during the peanut product recall. The frames found from this research were informational, anti-Peanut Corporation of America, and anti-FDA. The most commonly used sources were victims of Salmonella, politicians, and current and former FDA off icials. No agricultural frames were present, and the only agricultural organizations interviewed were one representative of the Georgia Department of Agriculture and Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack. The researchers concluded that sources did not appear to have a large impact on the way the news was covered for this study. The researchers also found a need for more scientific food safety information to be communicated to the national media.

Salmonella and the Media: A Comparative Analysis of Coverage of the 2008 Salmonella Outbreak in Jalapenos and the 2009 Salmonella Outbreak in Peanut Products

The purpose of this study was to catalog and compare data from the coverage of two different Salmonella outbreak events in the United States through the lens of framing theory. Using qualitative content analysis, the transcripts of television newscasts that covered the 2008 Salmonella outbreak in tomatoes and jalapenos and the 2009 Salmonella outbreak in peanut products were researched and analyzed. These transcripts were taken from ABC, CBS, NBC, and CNN for both outbreaks. The researchers determined that while the manner in which the stories were framed was similar in some respects, such as story presentation and attitudes, there were also differences, particularly in regard to interview sources used. Tomato growers were used as sources in the 2008 outbreak, but peanut farmers were not used in the 2009 outbreak, where victims and politicians were favored. However, it was determined this had no overall effect on the accuracy, fairness, or overall economic or social impact of the stories presented.

Farm Broadcaster Knowledge and Beliefs of Biotechnology and Genetically Modified Organisms

Farm broadcasting members of the National Association of Farm Broadcasters (NAFB) were studied to determine their knowledge and beliefs about biotechnology and genetically modified organisms. This study used bimodal data collection techniques. Farm broadcasters in this study were described as typically male, over 35 years of age, married, and with at least some college education. Most farm broadcasters had an audience size of more than 50,000 listeners with typically a local distribution. In addition, most deliver a story about biotechnology and genetically modified organisms at least once a week. The majority of farm broadcasters believed that it was important to have a knowledge base of the subject they were reporting on, yet they did not demonstrate a high level of knowledge about food biotechnology, as measured by eight multiple choice questions. The average farm broadcaster only answered five of the eight questions correctly. Farm broadcasters believe that the U.S. food supply is safe and do not feel that GMOs are a risk for future generations. However, farm broadcasters believe that their audiences have a higher perception of GMOs as a potential risk to future generations. Recommendations for future research and evaluation of university agricultural communication curriculum are included. Authors David L. Doerfert, J. Tanner Robertson, Cindy Akers, and Mark Kistler This research is available in Journal of Applied Communications: https://newprairiepress.org/jac/vol89/iss4/4

Using an Experiential Learning Design to Teach Photography in Agricultural Communications

Photography is an important competency of agricultural communications graduates and is a core skill taught in the discipline’s curriculum. The [department] at [university] offers an undergraduate photography course twice yearly in two semester formats: a traditional spring semester where photography principles are taught in the classroom and a 12-day experiential intersession semester that allows for flexibility in how and where the course is taught. Both semesters utilize the same instructor, assignments, and grading rubric. While much agricultural communications research has focused on photography as a needed skill, few studies examine photography teaching methods. The purpose of this study was to compare student performance in an agricultural communications digital photography course taught with an experiential learning approach to a traditional classroom approach during the 2016 and 2017 academic calendar years. Kolb’s (1984) experiential learning theory was used as the theoretical framework for this study. Independent-samples t-tests were conducted to compare students’ cumulative mean assignment scores, individual assignment mean scores, and rubric criteria mean scores within the two instruction formats. The results suggest instruction method has an effect on student performance in agricultural communications digital photography courses. Students in the experiential intersession course had significantly higher mean cumulative assignment scores compared to students in the traditional course. While individual assignment performance was less affected by instruction format, students’ understanding of specific photography skills (rubric criteria), especially composition and clarity was higher when in the experiential intersession format.

Exploring the Uses and Gratifications of Agricultural Blog Readers

Blogs are a type of social media that present a unique opportunity to provide information to a large audience without the constraints of traditional media’s gatekeeping barriers. Within agriculture, several studies have examined agricultural blogs but not from the perspective of blog readers. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to describe the uses and gratifications of agricultural blog readers. This study used a descriptive survey research design and online questionnaire to assess agricultural blog readers’ demographics, Internet and blog use, attitudes toward agriculture, and motivations for reading blogs. Findings indicated most respondents had direct experience in agriculture and were supportive of the industry. The strongest motivations for accessing agricultural blogs were to find out what other people think about important issues or events and to find alternatives not covered by traditional news sources. Blogs proved to be a useful source of information, but more should be done to expand reach beyond those in the industry. Additional research is needed to more fully describe agricultural blog readers’ uses and gratifications.

An Examination of the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists' Involvement in Agriculture Knowledge Mobilization

It is estimated the global population will reach 9 billion by the year 2050. This growth in population presents a very imposing problem for agriculture. A potential solution to increasing agricultural production is the mobilization of information through agricultural innovation systems. What has not been studied is the role the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists (IFAJ) has in this system. This study sought to describe the IFAJ and its membership’s knowledge mobilization role within Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation System (AKIS), describe the issues facing the membership related to agricultural innovation systems, and record the practices members feel are best to identify stories of interest, create media pieces, and disseminate those media pieces. The results of the study indicate the majority of respondents work as journalists/reporters and a large portion of organizations employ fewer than five people. In respect to the AKIS model, the largest portion of respondents saw themselves as facilitators of knowledge movement. Despite some similarities, differences were revealed between the employment category types found within the IFAJ membership in their perceived objectivity when it comes to their role within AKIS. Talking to stakeholders was the most popular method of identifying stories of interest, involving the farm perspective was most popular strategy for the creation of interesting media pieces, and the use of digital and traditional media was the most popular method to disseminate their work. As IFAJ continues its dedication to providing helpful information to the world ’s farmers, the organization should realize its membership is not unified in its approach.

Usability Testing and Evaluation of Texas Tech Sorghum Research Initiative Website

Usability encompasses how easy something is to use. Usability testing is an integral part of user-centered design. The tests may be performed in a variety of ways including using a usability laboratory, a mixed-method data collection approach, and testing representative and non-representative users. Conducting usability tests on websites allows the site’s developers to observe users’ interaction with the site. If a website is not usable, users will go somewhere else to find the information they are looking for and the purpose of the site is lost when this happens. The efficiency, error, learnability, and satisfaction of a representative and non-representative user groups were measured during a usability test of the Texas Tech SRI site that employed mixed-method data collection. The users were given a series of tasks to perform that related to the site’s navigational scheme, layout, and content. The representative and non-representative groups efficiently navigated the site and were able to repeatedly utilize the site’s functions. However, it was concluded that the representative user group committed less errors during their interaction with the site and that their overall satisfaction with the site was higher than the nonrepresentative user group. Representative user groups may find a higher satisfaction level in this website than non-representative groups.