INCREASING IMPORTANCE OF AGRICULTURAL JOURNALISM
INCREASING IMPORTANCE OF AGRICULTURAL JOURNALISM
With the phenomenon of globalization that started in the last century, economic journalism came to the fore and began to spread. In the last 50 years, economic journalism has been divided into sections covering important economic activities such as energy, automotive, tourism and real estate sectors. In this process, with the realization of the strategic value of agriculture and food economy all over the world, “Agricultural Journalism” created its own identity as a brand new sectoral and professional field.
With the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists (IFAJ), first established in Canada in 1956, agricultural journalism has now moved to the stage of working within the institutional framework and at the global level. Goals defined immediately after establishment included the idea of “Training agricultural journalism in various countries” and “Providing opportunities for agricultural journalists to meet and exchange experiences and discuss professional issues of general interest”. IFAJ also took on the task of supporting efforts to establish national associations of agricultural journalists in countries where such associations do not yet exist.
Agricultural journalism, which is a special field of communication, focuses on making information-based analysis in this field, as well as publishing news and information, articles and interviews about the agriculture and food system, with its concrete expression, “From the farm to the fork” or “From the farm to the fork”. In its most concise definition, this is the mission of agricultural journalism…
In many ways, agricultural journalism is just good journalism, in other words, getting accurate information for a story, checking and evaluating facts, putting opposing views into a balanced perspective, writing the story clearly and concisely while maintaining independence and objectivity. Agricultural journalists must have additional specialized knowledge and relevant resources in areas such as science, technology, markets, health risks and public policy for the food system, or rather make a serious effort to obtain sufficient and necessary information on all these issues.
In Turkey, the Agricultural Journalists and Writers Association (TAGYAD), which was established in Ankara in 2012, has 67 journalists, reporters, TV programmers, writers, academics, consultants, cooperatives, communicators and information publishers across the country for the agriculture, food and forestry sectors. It is a national association with its members.
TAGYAD has been an active member of IFAJ since 2015. TAGYAD is a professional non-governmental organization that has managed to organize 6 international events in the last 7 years, in addition to its domestic activities. Our association continues to prepare and work on new projects in this direction.
The fact that there are unreasonable and unreal news and comments about the agriculture and food sector on social media channels further increases the importance of the agricultural economy. The right thing is to rely on the explanations of people and/or experts who know agricultural economics. Otherwise, even if they have academic titles, those who do not have knowledge or education in this field do great harm to the agriculture and food sector.
Ismail Ugural
President of Agricultural Journalists and Writers Association (TAGYAD)
Member of the Executive Board of the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists (IFAJ)