Web Site Media Relations: A New Direction for Agricultural Public Relations Professionals

Ruth, Amanda M.; Bortree, Denise Sevick; Ford, Ross; Braun, Sandra; Flowers, Kelly

doi:10.4148/1051-0834.1299

Cited by 1 publication

(3 citation statements)

References 6 publications

(10 reference statements)

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“…The American agricultural industry is viewed as the world's leader, and the American Farm Bureau Federation has already begun conducting outreach with Germany to educate the public about agricultural issues. Though agricultural communicators have clearly worked to address the deficit in public understanding of agriculture since Ruth et al ' (2005) study, much work remains to be done. The strategic construction of web sites to foster dialogue with reporters is the first essential step.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Ruth et al (2005) content analyzed the web sites of 67 Florida agricultural commodity organisations. The authors concluded that, of the 62 functional web sites, only 33 homepages linked to a media-dedicated pressroom.…”

Section: Dialogic Principlesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Research examining the web sites of agricultural organisations has revealed these sites are not media‐friendly, which makes it difficult for reporters to use these web sites in conducting their research and thus could decrease publicity. Ruth et al (2005) content analyzed the web sites of 67 Florida agricultural commodity organisations. The authors concluded that, of the 62 functional web sites, only 33 homepages linked to a media‐dedicated pressroom.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Examining how industries engage the media

Wang

Waters

2012

Journal of Communication Management

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Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to examine how Kent and Taylor's dialogic features are used by agricultural associations in the USA and Germany to engage media. Design/methodology/approach -A content analysis of 51 American Farm Bureau Federation and 18 Deutscher Bauernverband web sites was conducted to evaluate the incorporation of the principles of ease of interface, usefulness, dialogic loop, conservation of visitors, and generation of return visits. Findings -The study found mixed results for the incorporation of Kent and Taylor's five dialogic principles. At the time of the content analysis, these sites failed to provide a solid dialogic loop between the organisation and the visitor, and they did not encourage return visits. This weakens the sites' potential to move past information provision and build lasting relationships with reporters.Research limitations/implications -The findings of this research project provide benchmark numbers for the presence of the five dialogic principles in the agriculture industry. Further, the findings strengthen the growing evidence of the impact of the principles in various sectors. Previous research has examined how nonprofit social service and activist organisations have incorporated the principles as well as for-profit organizations. The current results shine light on how other organisations are using their web site to develop relationships with visitors. Practical implications -Research on agricultural communication indicates that the media increasingly are downplaying the significance of the industry in mainstream news. Scholars have suggested that the agricultural industry is not well versed in media training and media relations. However, the findings of this study indicate that the leading agricultural associations in the USA and Germany are still primarily using their web sites as one-way information subsidies rather than capitalizing on the interactive nature of the web. By incorporating the five dialogic principles into their web sites, the agricultural communicators will be in a better position to interact with media in a lasting manner rather than simply serving as a source of one-way information. Originality/value -Though the dialogic principles have been studied in other settings, this paper examines their use by organisations in multiple countries. Given the increasing globalisation of the agriculture industry, it is vital to understand how this industry communicates with the media given that it has repeatedly complained about media coverage of agricultural issues and the push by the American Farm Bureau to assist other national agricultural associations around the world.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Dialogic Principlesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

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