Editors' attitudes toward agricultural news and their use of agricultural news in New Mexico ...

65 Pages·2013·3.67 MB·English

by  Browning, Everett.

EDITORS'ATTITUDESTOWARDAGRICULTURALNEWS
ANDTHEIRUSEOFAGRICULTURALNEWS
INNEWMEXICONEWSPAPERS
EVERETTBROWNING
B. S., KtamaaStateUniversity, 1993
AMASTER'STHESIS
inpartialfulflUmentoiflM
rtqpilrementsforthedsgrea
MASTEROFSCIENCE
OipartmoartofTechnicalJoumaliim
KANSASSTATEUNIVERSTTY
Manhattan, Kansas
1966
Aj^prc^vedl^:
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•
TABLEOFCONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I. INTRODUCTION 1
n. THEPROBLEM %
m. METHODOFPROCEDURE 7
IV. REVIEWOFUTERATURE U
V. RESEARCHRESULTS 8S
VI. CONCLUSIONS 4B
BIBUOGRAPHY 41
APPENDIX 61
LISTOFTABLES
TABLE PAGE
1. Uset^NewMexiconewspapersofvariousoctegoftesof
agriculturalaevra. 31
2* FrequencyofusebyNewMexicodailyToawtpttpvtBofAgricultural
atwsoatqtoriM* 32
3* FrequencyofusebyNewMexicoweeklynew^iiapersofagricultural
newscategories. 33
4. Frequencyofm&aHxmofsourcesofagriculturalnews. 8ft
5. RankingofagricultoralnewssourcesbydailynswiiMqMars. 36
t. itankiagofi4{riMttBri^newssources1^weeiclyMfwap^pers. 37
7. CategoriesofagriculturalnewsusedintheElPaaoTtmtifi 41
8. CategoriesofagrioilturalnewsusedintheAlbuquerqueJournal. 41
I. INTRODUCTION
AlthoughNewMexico'sfarmandranchpopulaticmof72,000accountsforcmly
aboutsevenpercentcfthestate'sestimatedonemillionpopulation, thissegmentof
thepopulationisoffargreaterimportancetothestatethannumberswouldindicate.
The1,400commercialfarmsinNewMexicogross274millicmdollars
annuallyandnetnearly100milliondollarswhilefurnishingsignificantemployment
Intheagriculturalsupplyandmarketingindustries.^ InadditiontoconsMmiaglarge
amountsofagriculturalsupplteaandservices, ruralpeopleareconsumersofthe
samesiv>pliesandservicesasurbanpeople.
Becauseagricultureplayssuchanimportantpartdirectlyandindirectlyin
tfa*state'swelfare, theAgriculturalInformaticmDepartmentofNewMexicoState
UniversityhasbeendiargedwithstQ>plyingagriculturalnewstothenewspapersoi
thestate.
Inordertobettermeettheneedforagriculturalnews, thisdepartmenthas
beeninterestedindeterminingtheextenttowhichagriculturalnewsisusedinNew
Mexiconewspapersaadwhethermodificationsofnewsreleases, and/orapproachto
newspapereditors, wouldfacilitateuseofagriculturalnews.
1SummaryHeportsonNewMexicoResources, StatePlanningOffice,
SantaFe, NewMexico, 1966. p. 19.
2U.S.D.A. StatisticalReportingService, LasCruoes, NewMexico.
Mimeographed. January20. 1966.
3
n. THEPROBLEM
^
Statementof Problem. Asthestudywasdsveloped, theneedbecame
evidentforanevaluationofeditors'attitudestowardagriculturalnewsbasedon
(1) theamountofagriculturalnewseditorswereusing, (2) thekindsofagricul-
turalnewsmostfrequentlyused, (3) thesourcesciagriculturalnews, (4) tiw
amountsofagriculturalnewseditorsplannedtouseinthefuture, and (5) thekinds
ofagriculturalnewseditorsplannedtousemostfrequeoEtly.
NeedfortheStudy, Thedeclineinnumbersofruralpeopleandacorre-
spcHidingincreaseinurbanpopulationshasresultedinlessdemandforthetradi-
ttonalagriculturalnewswhichprimarilybenefitedthefarmerandrancher.^
LiteratureccmcemingthecartmtevaluationofExtension'srolerevealedaneed
foragriculturalnewsv4Uchwillservetheurbansegmentofthepopulationsswell
astheruralminority.
Adean(tfagriculturehasindicatedthatuniversitieshaveresearchand
educationtomerchandisethroughcommunication, andcommunlcaticmsmediaare
themeansusedtobringthisscientificandeducationalknowledgebeforethepublic.4
3
U.S. BureauoftheCensus. U. S. CensusofPopulation: 1960. Number
(rfInhabitants, NewMexico. FinalReportPC(1)--S3A. U.S. Gov. PrintingOffice,
Washington, O.C., 1960.
4
L. L. Rummell, CommunicationinPublicRelations, address, Amer.
Assn. ofLandGrantCollegesandStateUniv., Washington, D.C., Nov. 12, 1958.
(Printed.)
" ,
Wltikrtgardtosuburbanpeople, Barcushasooadudedthat'*tb«r«!a
(xmiparativelystrongInterestinandneedforinformatUuwhidimaybeprovided
byagriculturaleiteaatoaagenciea."^
Agriculturalpolicyhasbecomemoreandmoreareaponsibilityofurtai
pe<9levibomayunderataadlittleofagriculture'sprt^etnsorappreciatetb«ta
thrivingeccmomyisdependentcmastrongagriculturalbase. Therefore,theneed
foragriculturalnewshasbecomeevengreaterthanvia&ixtbBruralpcqpulationcon-
trolleddecisionsaffecttogagriculturalproductivity. "AnadequatesiQ}plyoffood
andfiberisbasictohumanprogreaa"^requiringthatewaurbanpeoplemustreaUaa
thatagricultureandprogressareinterrelated. **&!aliteralsaasa, agricultureis
— —
everyfoo<fy'sbusineaa itaproblemsareeverybody'sproblems itsstrengUiia
thenati(«'sstrength.
Moreandmore, legislaticm, ruliaga,anddectaionaconcerningfarmand
ranchproductionaremadebyanaapanrthigurbanmajority. Sinoetheseurbaapaofda,
asconsumers, depei^<magriculturalproducts, reliableagriculturalinf(nnaattonia
asvitaltothemasitistotheagriculturistswhomakealivingfromthesoil.
FranciaE. Barcna,AlytractoftheRoleofAgriculturalExtenaJoalatee
fuburban ?*"nVfflltY- Publishedreport. Univ.ofMaaa.,Amherst, Maaa.,Kov.
1962.
g
UsingVtsuajgjnAgriculturalExtensionPromrafftg. 4thinaSeries,
NationalProjectinAgri. Communication, EaatLanalag, Midi.,p. 8.
ItGeorgeL. Mehrea,AddreasbyAssistantSec.ofAgri., Tex. Agri. Exp*
Sta. Conference. Collegeata., Tex., Oct. 9, 1964.
Greeneisen^andKnox^havestatedthatmassmedia, andparticularlythe
newspaper, isthegreatestsourceofs^iculturalinformationforbothurbanand
ruralpeoples. Thus, itcanbeassumedthaturbanpeoplesderivetheirattitudes
towardagricultureandbasetheirdecisionsonwhatisorisnotincludedinthemass
media.
Wolfsonfoundthatnewspapereditorsgoverntheuseofnewsintheirnews-
papers.^^ Theeditor, then, isthefirsthurdleinreachingreaderswithagricul-
turalnewsonfarmproblemsandneeds. Whatpeoplemaywanttoreadabout
agriculturebecomessecondarybecausethenewsavailableisdeterminedbywhat
theeditorbelieveshispublicwantstoread. Thus, itwouldseemmoreappropriate
todetermineeditors'beliefsandattitudestowardagriculturalnewsandthenews-
paperaudiencethantostudyaudienceuseofmassmediaasdidTaylor.
Thenewspapereditorwhomakesdecisionsofwhattoincludeandwhatnotto
includeinhisnewspiQ}ercolumnsbecomesincreasinglyimportanttoreadersandto
theagriculturaljournalist. Riersonstatedthat"Agriculturestillisthebasic
8J. F. Greeneisen, FactorsAssociatedwithUseoftheMassMediaby
nitnoisFarmAdvisers. (UnpublishedMaster'sthesis), Univ. of111., 1961.
^J. W. I&iox, RelativeValueofMassMediainExtension. (Unpublished
Master'sreport), ColoradoStateUniversity, 1962.
J. Wolfson, AgriculturalNewsHandlinginUrbanandRuralEditionsof
EightMidwestMetropolitanDailies. (UnpublishedThesis), IowaStateUniv., 1961.
HalR. Taylor, AStudyofReadingInterests. (UnpublishedMaster's
thesis), Mich. StateUniv., 1960.
I
tadttttryofoureccmmnqrndonlybytheomofaccunteiafonuatUmcanweplanand
movealieadInthisfturtrtwrngtngera."^^
Thus, theagriculturalJournalistneedstoknowthenewspaperedttor. Om«
llieeditorbelievethattibetotaleconomyisrelatedtothefarmeconomy7 Doeshe
believethatagriculturalnewsandinformatl(»iareimportanttoruralandurban
peoplealike? Doestebelievethatp&agllGformulatingagriculturalpolicyneedtobe
"agriculturallyinformal"inordertomakedecisionswhidiwillultimatelybenefit
urbanpeopleaswellastheproducing"ruralminority?" Ordoestheeditorbelieve
thatbecausefewerpeopleareInvolveddirectlyinagrlcnttnre,fewerpeo{deare
iakneeted? Doeebebelievethatthereislittlecause-efEectrelaticmbetweenai^-
cultureandthenationaleomiomyandlittleinterestgenKrallyintteshrlnklnsrural
pqpulatl<manddecreasingmimberoffarms?
Sudiattitudesa^ecttheagriculturaljournalist's^Glciencyinreaditagttw
readingpublicwithagriculturalinformation.
TheobjectivesoftheBtxeiywere: (1) todetearmiaetito
amount<AagriculturalnewsvAticheditorsarenowttilagt (2) todeterminewhat
percentageoftheirreadertrii^tibeybelievetoberural,urbanandsuburban; (3) to
determinethevariouscategoriesotagriculturalnewsnowprintedandtiiesouroeai
and {4^ todeterminewbatemphasiswillbeplacedonvariouscategoriesofagri-
culturalnewsInthefuture.
^*DallasRiersoa, MewMexicoAgri. Stattatics. Vol.n. LasCruces, New
Maxloo.Aug.. 1963. p. 2.
" "
wm
LlmttationaaitheStudy. Inthephysicalgatheringofdata, thestudy
limitedto(1) measurementofagriculturalnewsinthetwolargedailynewsinpers
whichblanketNewMexicoandaremajorsourcesofagriculturalnewsforNew
Mexicopeople;and(2) questionnairesreturnedtothewriterfromeditorsofNew
Mexiconewspapers.
Intheabstractsense, allthesocialsciences, includingthecommunications
media, areintheirinfancycomparedwiththenaturalscienceswithregardto
researchtoolsforaccuratedatameasurement;therefore, thecommunicationfield
hMMoertaingenerallimitationsthatcanbeoverconieonlyasmoreandmoreresearch
helpstoestablishreferencepointsthatcanbeusedincomparativemeasuremMls.
Inordertoovercomesomeoftiieselimitations, acombinati(»iofresearch
methodswasusedbeeauMasWestleystated, "ThenMttMdofscienceLbneither
inductivenordeductivebutasynthesisofthetwo. 13
Sdhreieralsostatesthatitisimportant"forthestatisticalmethodandthe
clinicalmethod(to)cometothesameresult."14 Thewriterthenconcludedthatby
antagacombinationofresearchmethodshisfindingswouldbestrengthenedmore
thanbyfollowingFrisbee's^^subjectivemethod. Suchcombinationsoftechniques
arediscussedbyssmrslauthorsofresearchandmethodolc^literature.
^3BruceH. Westl^, "JournalismResearchandScientificMethod: IandH.
Journ. Quar. Vol. 35, Nos. 263, 1958. p. 308.
^^FredT. Schreier, "HumanMotivation: ProbabilityandMeaning." The
FreePress, Glenooe, HI., 1957. p. 89.
15H. E. Frisbee, AnAnalysisofHowOhioHswifMuersHandleAflopioullmrsl
News. (UnpublishedMaster'sthesis). OhioStateUni., 1961.
Thetechniquesoaedwtr*generallythoseofBnddsadnwrp.16
Byusingtwoseparstetechniques,thewriterreasonedthat(mewouldssrfis
ssacheckagainsttheotherindeterminingaccuracy. Editors*attitudestoward
agriculturalnewsweredeterminedthrou^tiieuseofaquestlcanaire. ThMS
attitudesweretbeadied&edbystudyingcontentofasanqtleofnewspapersto
determinewhethertiteeditorswereorwerenotusingtheagriculturalnewsttiey
hadIndicatedinthequestionnaire.
Bythismethod, ttwasexpectedthattheaccuracyoftheanswerstothe
questionnairecouldbeestablished.
ThestudywasUmitsdgeographicallytoXMwaptiftatBwithmajorcirculatloa
witiilntheStateofNewMasloe.
m. METHODOFPROCEDURE
Qgaanfitstlon. Hisusedforthestudywasdtacaaaadwiththeeditoroftlia
AgriculturalInformatloaDepartmentatNewMexicoStateUniversityandbouikdartai
fortheresearchproblemwereestablished.
TwotechniqueswereadoptedtoenableabroadcoverageingatheringInfor-
matlcmfortheproblem. TheyIncluded(1) aquestlomiairewhichservedbothasa
descriptivevaluattooaldeviceandalsoacontentanalysissurvey, and(2) a
contentanalysisstudythrouc^asamplix^ofagriculturalnewspublishedInNew
MMdoo'stwomsjornewspapers.
16
RichardW. BuddandRobertK. Thorp. ^1liBiryi'"cttontoContapl
is, StateUniv. ofIowa. IowaCity. Iowa. Id63.