Essential Skills for the Digital Journalist

Amanda Nolz

Don’t miss your opportunity to sign up for Poynter’s upcoming seminar, Essential Skills for the Digital Journalist. The deadline is Monday, March 23, 2009, and the tuition is $895.00. It’s a little steep for my budget, but I think this is a great investment for any print journalists at every experience level who want to ensure they have the skills they need to weather the digital transition. In every one of my journalism courses at South Dakota State University, my professors preach about the challenges of anyone in the print journalism field. I think it’s going to be increasingly important to stay ahead of the curve and be able to use online media tools with ease. If you agree, and if this seminar sounds interesting to you, here is what Poynter has to say about this seminar.

Get the skills you need to thrive in journalism’s digital age: Master the basics of audio, video and other multimedia tools. We’ll teach you the key skills, as well as how to navigate ethical pressure points in emerging platforms. Most importantly, we’ll explore how to change the way you think about storytelling and the role of independent journalism in the service of democracy.

You’ll learn: Key multimedia skills, including audio and video. How to recognize and negotiate the ethical issues specific to multimedia. What it takes to survive and thrive in a constantly changing landscape. How and why you need to build your brand as a journalist. The leadership skills and knowledge you need to chart your own career path.

Education

Become a Master of Beef Advocacy

Amanda Nolz

beef20check20color Last October, a new checkoff-funded program was released called Master of Beef Advocacy (MBA). The program consists of six, 1-hour core courses for the 2009 fiscal year: beef safety, beef nutrition, animal care, environmental stewardship, modern beef production and the beef checkoff. This self-guided, online program is a way to equip producers with the tools needed to represent the beef industry with consumers and the media.

I recently spoke with MBA contact person Daren Williams about the success of the program, and he says that MBA is off to a great start! To date, 250 individuals have applied to participate in the program. Participants are moving quickly through the courses, and the program continues to grow. Daren also asked why my name was missing from the participant list, and I told him I had to pass my final semester of classes at SDSU before I started tackling my Master of Beef Advocacy degree.

I think this program is an excellent marketing strategy on a grassroots level. Cattle producers will improve their ability to communicate their knowledge in this industry to those that need to hear it most. This is in an outstanding way to start spreading a positive message about food production and animal agriculture. I think this is a good case study to observe, and this concept could be used in other ways in this industry. As for now, I better get to studying. Graduation is only a couple months away, and I’m excited to start my Master of Beef Advocacy course!

To learn more about the Master of Beef Advocacy program, link to the press release here, contact Daren Williams at dwilliams@beef.org, 303-850-3346 or contact their state beef council.

Education

Adelstein Nominated To USDA RUS Admin

Chuck Zimmerman

USDA Rural DevelopmentI just noticed in Broadcasting & Cable magazine that Jonathan Adelstein has been nominated by the Prez to head up USDA’s Rural Utilities Service. He’s an FCC Commissioner currently.

Adelstein would be administrator of the RUS program. The White House gave Adelstein props for “efforts to improve rural telecommunication s and broadband” while at the commission.

The story says RUS has $2.5 billion in broadband stimulus grants to hand out.

Internet, USDA

JIF Most Creative Peanut Butter Sandwich

Chuck Zimmerman

A lot of people might have stopped eating peanut butter recently but I’m sure not one of them. I’m glad to see that Smuckers continued it’s annual Most Creative Peanut Butter Sandwich Contest. Somehow in all the excitement of Ag Day and spring I missed the fact that they announced the winner of this year’s contest. This sounds like a recipe worth trying.

Today, the makers of Jif(R) peanut butter announced Jordyn Boyer, 10, of Lebanon, PA, as the winner of the Seventh Annual “Jif(R) Most Creative Peanut Butter Sandwich Contest(TM).” Jordyn was inspired by an authentic Louisiana sandwich to create her Po’ Boy Peanut Butter Chicken Cheesesteak Sandwich. Her sandwich is made with Jif Creamy Peanut Butter, chicken, peppers, onions and mozzarella cheese. For added flavor, she created a dipping sauce of Jif peanut butter, Worcestershire sauce, honey and honey mustard. Jif, the trusted pantry staple for more than 50 years, awarded Jordyn with a $25,000 scholarship fund, a Jif gift basket and the title of the nation’s most creative peanut butter sandwich.

Food, Peanuts

Quarry Integrates Ag Day

Chuck Zimmerman

Quarry Integrated CommunicationsQuarry is taking the celebration of agriculture across the border.

Quarry Integrated Communications is using National Ag Day in the U.S. and National Agriculture Awareness Day in Canada (Jan. 28) as a platform to increase awareness and appreciation for one of North America’s largest and most significant industries among its non-agricultural teammates.

Through a series of unique workplace initiatives, including presentations about the economic impact of agriculture in Canada and the United States, Quarry is seeking to make each of its teammates ambassadors for agriculture in the communities where Quarry has offices – Raleigh-Durham, N.C., San Jose, Calif., and Waterloo and Mississauga, Ontario, Canada.

“The January and March Ag Day commemorations were introduced in Canada and the U.S. because agriculture is an industry that increasingly many people don’t know much about – particularly those living in urban areas,” says Bob Wilbur, Senior Vice-President, Agri-Food at Quarry. “We want to do our part as an organization that’s committed to agriculture to raise awareness for its vital role in our society. Typically, people think of farming as a relatively homogeneous, simple way of life. But it’s actually quite the opposite – a diverse, complex and technologically-advanced industry. We are seeking to educate our non-ag Q-mates on the important role agriculture plays in the global economy and in the everyday lives of consumers like them.”

Agencies

ASFMRA Directory Advertising

Chuck Zimmerman

ASFMRA DirectoryThe American Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers wants to remind you that you’ve got another week to get your ad in their annual directory.

Whatever it takes, don’t miss this chance. Reach new customers, grow your business and stretch your advertising dollars.

Simply click here, fill out the order form and click to submit. If you don’t have an ad ready, just let us know and we’ll design it for you!

The ASFMRA member directory will be mailed directly to 2,500+ members, suppliers, organizations, educators and other decision makers. This is the perfect chance to tell your customers the benefits of doing business with you – stand out from the crowd and jump from the page!

Ad deadline is Friday, March 27. Simply click here, fill out the order form and click to submit.

Ag Groups

Zimfo Bytes

Melissa Sandfort

    Zimfo Bytes

  • QUALISOY has announced its board members and yearly objectives for 2009. Pioneer VP of Crop Product Development Dennis Byron, PhD, a member of the board since its start in 2004, was elected as Chairman of the Board for 2009.
  • LPC Critique Contest entries must be received by March 20 at 5 pm. Awards will be presented on Aug. 3 in Fort Worth, Texas, during the Ag Media Summit. Click here for more information on this year’s Ag Media Summit.
  • Farmers are ready to slash corn acreage this spring, fueling a record switch to soybeans, according to new Farm Futures research. The magazine’s annual planting intentions survey puts U.S. corn acreage at 82.46 million this spring, down 4% from the 86 million put in a year ago. Soybean acreage would soar to a record 80.73 million, up more than 6% from last year’s 75.7 million.
    Zimfo Bytes

    State of Barbeque Industry

    Chuck Zimmerman

    Raggittyy Ass Redneck EquipmentThe first day of Spring gets the outdoor griller’s heart all pumped up. Many of us are “year-rounders” but it is nice to have warmer temperatures. The Hearth, Patio & Barbeque Association has released their annual State of the Barbeque Industry Report which you can read below.

    I also thought I’d point you to a company I recently became familiar with that makes barbeque accessories. Raggitty Ass Redneck Equipment make some great quality stuff you won’t find anywhere else. Here’s an interesting story about them that involves ZimmComm client, Southeast AgNet. RARE doesn’t have a website and so, thinking creatively, Southeast AgNet’s Gary Cooper just did an extended post on his website for them and voila, they have a website. Granted it’s just a page for now but I think it shows one way you can creatively use the tools we now have in this new media world.

    State of the Barbecue Industry Report

    The Hearth, Patio & Barbecue Association (HPBA) has conducted the HPBA Barbecue
    Lifestyle, Usage & Attitude Study* on a biennial basis since 1983. The following is
    select information from that study for the State of the Barbecue Industry Report.

    A Sizzling Industry

    • More than 16.7 million grills and smokers were shipped in 2008, marking an 18
    percent increase since 2003.
    • Nine out of 10 (95 percent) grill owners used their grill in the past year, an
    increase of 4 percent over 2003.
    • Nearly eight out of 10 (77 percent) households own an outdoor barbecue grill or
    smoker, a 5 percent increase from 2003.
    • Sixty-eight percent of households own a gas grill, followed by charcoal (37
    percent) and electric (2 percent).
    • LP gas grills continue to be the most widely owned type of grill, with 94 percent of
    all gas grill owners owning an LP gas grill.

    Grill Usage

    • The majority of grill owners use their grills year-round (58 percent), and 45
    percent use their grills one to two times per week during the peak grilling season
    (May through September).     Read More

    Food, Media