Anti-Ag Media

Speakers: Anti-ag media threatens modern farming
Sunday, October 25, 2009

By Nat Williams

ST. LOUIS — The anti-agricultural bias in the general news media is not just upsetting, it literally threatens the future of the industry.

That alarming theme was sounded by radio host Mike Adams and media consultant Loren Wassell, who recently spoke to the St. Louis AgriBusiness Club.

Adams doesn’t mince words when discussing the poor job his colleagues in the media are doing on the subject of agriculture.

“As a member of the media, I’m embarrassed and ashamed to see some of the stuff I’ve seen in my own profession,” he said. “It’s sad that we’ve been a big part of the problem rather than part of the solution.”

The host of the nationally syndicated AgriTalk radio program stressed the impact of reckless reporting that puts agriculture in a bad light.

“This is a topic that I think is one of the most serious ones we can possibly deal with in agriculture because it threatens our very existence,” he said. “We’re talking about literally a battle for the hearts and minds and support of the customers that we’re in business to serve.”

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Lately the mainstream media has done a horrific job in trying to share information about agriculture. It’s been embarrassing at best and at worst it’s been a deliberate attack against the very people that provide this country with food and fiber. Many times they refuse to even talk to farmers and ranchers about the subject at hand, preferring to use Google as their resource. The profession of journalism has certainly gone backwards in the opinion of many agriculturalists but we still have to do what we can to work with them. We need to continue trying to educate journalists about the importance of a domestically grown food supply.