Agricultural Education And Agricultural Communications: Striking A Proper Balance In The Academy

Abstract

From its beginnings in the early 1800s, the profession of agricultural communications was born out of the practical need to share important farm and home information with isolated rural audiences. Some 200 years later, agricultural communications has evolved into a diverse industry responsible for developing and disseminating news and marketing information related to food, agricultural, and environmental systems. Professional preparation for such careers is often provided through academic programs that are housed in departments of agricultural education. This administrative arrangement provides both benefits and challenges to the future development of agricultural communications programs, which need to strike important balances in teaching, outreach, and research programs and in collaborative relationships within and outside of the academy. The potential for success is greatly enhanced if agricultural communications development strategies are coordinated with agricultural education to build synergies between the programs while maintaining unique strengths. This philosophical paper uses elements of the sociology of education to address some of the benefits and challenges posed by agricultural communications' close relationships with private industry and other academic departments, including agricultural education. The paper concludes with a list of implications and courses of action recommended for discussion by academicians in the two disciplines.

Research Themes, Authors, and Methodologies in the Journal of Applied Communications: A Ten-Year Overview

“…This research should be used comparatively with priority areas identified in the National Research Agenda: Agricultural Education and Communication, 2007-2010, to determine where future research might be focused. Tucker, Whaley, and Cano (2003) indicated that some faculty may emphasize teaching at the expense of other valuable activities, such as research. They further indicated that "with its strong emphasis on education and teaching methods, agricultural education has probably improved the methods of instruction for agricultural communications students" (Tucker et al, p. 25).…”

Preparing for the Next 150 Years of Agricultural Communications

“…In the 1980s and 1990s, as an economic downturn precipitated consolidation of the farm broadcast industry, new communications technologies in the form of the Internet and the World Wide Web began to take shape (Tucker, Whaley & Cano, 2003). The advent of new technology-based communications channels led many companies and public sector agricultural organizations to hire communications practitioners and former journalists to help navigate this more complicated terrain and to advocate on behalf of their interests.…”

“…These early examples of what came to be called agricultural journalism, the precursor to agricultural communications, begin to illustrate how the field evolved from the need to provide isolated rural audiences with information on farming and home management topics (Tucker, Whaley & Cano, 2003). Over the next two centuries, agricultural journalists and editors expanded their role of providing primarily printed information to an audience comprised of agricultural producers, growers, and rural community members to include broadcast and eventually online dissemination to increasingly diverse audiences.…”

Chalkboards to Virtual Environments: Technology's Role in Expanding the Classroom to Provide Professional Development and Education for Agricultural Communicators

“…Substantial change has occurred since 1905, including both content of courses and teaching methods. The role of technology in the form of print publications, radio, and movies shaped agricultural communications (Tucker et al, 2003) into what it is today much like technology is shaping the way that education in being delivered.…”

“…As articulated by multiple authors (Boone, Meisenbach, & Tucker, 2000;Tucker, Whaley, & Cano, 2003), agricultural communications emerged more than 200 years ago as a result of the need to reach diverse audiences with agricultural information, while the field and teaching of agricultural communications did not emerge until 100 years later.…”