The Hand That Feeds U.S.: Looking for support in a shifting world of media

I don't often read through a press release and then sit back and say, "That's refreshing."

But that did happen today when I scanned an announcement about a new pro-ag web site and campaign built around the phrase "The Hand That Feeds U.S." The idea is to build some understanding among "big city reporters" about the role farmers and agriculture play in modern society.

Linda Raun, a Texas rice producer, noted in the announcement:

"It makes no sense that we're (farmers) being demonized in many of the nation's top media markets. It's not the journalists' fault. We haven't done a good enough job telling them our story. We've been negligent in explaining that farmers feed and clothe every person in this country, employ 20 percent of the nation's workforce and will be at the center of America's economic recovery."

What's refreshing is the fact that a group finally understands and admits that ag has done a poor job in both beating its own kettle and gaining some semblance of respect and recognition from the broader part of America, especially in urban areas.

The project's announcement and the web site, itself, are a bit short on info about how the group will go about accomplishing any of this. I hope this doesn't turn into yet one more well meaning web site that nobody visits.

We hear a good deal of frustration from marketing folks with major ag manufacturers and farmer groups about how they've thrown 6-figure sums at web sites and generated very little traffic. Somebody has to keep the site fresh and continue drawing attention to it, which is the point people miss when they envision a web site. It's a bit like being in the dairy business. The cows have to be fed and milked multiple times a day Occasionally posting links to articles in farm magazines is never enough. You'd better have something compelling for any reports who happen to find out about the site.

One challenge with all this is the sheer disintegration of big-city newspapers, where the intended target audience - reporters and editors - work. Those papers are the ones that lead TV stations and even bloggers into the next new thing. Most papers now lack the manpower to pay attention to anything other than their immediate beats. A friend who's an executive editor at a major newspaper in the Southeast told me that his staff dropped from over 300 to something like 190 in one massive round of layoffs last year. He's already treading water to keep up with the local news, not to mention an ongoing push to blend things like podcasts, blogs and videos into their news approach.

At one time he probably could have been cajoled into sending a reporter on the road to research and write a series of articles on the present and future of farming. But that won't happen now.

Sorry for sounding so negative. On the whole, the announcement is good news. All this has been deeply on my mind lately. I'll try to elaborate a bit on my own ideas over the next couple of weeks.

In the meantime, click here to read the announcement.