Owen Roberts

Owen Roberts December 1st, 2008

Syllabus

Agricultural Communications II (EDRD 4060)

Winter 2010

Department of Rural Extension Studies, School of Environmental Design and Rural Development

Class meets Mondays, 7-10 p.m. in McKinnon 230

Instructor: Owen Roberts (owen@uoguelph.ca)

519-824-4120 Ext. 58278

Room 437E University Centre; 107 Johnston Hall

Office hours: On request

Class announcements will be posted on the listserv AGCOMNET. Class members are subscribed through their uoguelph.ca email accounts, the University of Guelph’s officially recognized and supported email system (unlike hotmail, gmail, rogers, etc.).  Your uoguelph.ca email account will be our official electronic line of communication. Check your uoguelph.ca email regularly, especially on Mondays.

What is agricultural communications?

As a field of teaching, research and practice, agricultural communications seeks to support and improve human interaction and decision making related to agriculture, broadly defined. With special traditions and strengths in journalism and mass communications, it partners with other social sciences, including school-based interests of agricultural education and non-formal education endeavours, such as extension services. Communication interests range across all levels, settings and means of communicating – intrapersonal, interpersonal, group and mass. Agricultural interests include all subject areas related to the complex global enterprises of food, feed, fibre, bio-based energy, genomics, natural resources management and rural development. Agricultural dimensions also span all participants in, and stages of, the food enterprise of societies, from agricultural research, policies, finance and production to food safety and security, consumption, nutrition and health and human well-being. The concept of agricultural knowledge management serves as the framework for an integrated, comprehensive research agenda in agricultural communications.

(source:  National Research Agenda, Agricultural Education and Communication, p. 9)

(http://www.aaaeonline.org/files/researchagenda_shortlores.pdf)

About Agricultural Communications II (EDRD 4060)

This course is designed to give students applied journalistic writing skills. These skills are nurtured via news writing for print, as well as citizen journalism. As with EDRD 3050, EDRD 4060 focuses on issues important to the agri-food sector.

Recommended resources:

1. Canadian Press Stylebook (http://www.thecanadianpress.com/books.aspx?id=182)

2. Oxford Concise Dictionary (www.askoxford.com)

3. Online Writing Laboratory at Purdue University (http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/)

Recommended reading, listening and viewing:

1. Globe and Mail (www.theglobeandmail.com)

2. Toronto Star (www.thestar.ca)

3. Ontario Farmer (www.ontariofarmer.com)

4. Better Farming (http://www.betterfarming.com/homepage)

5. Guelph Mercury (www.guelphmercury.com)

6. CBC Radio’s The Current (http://www.cbc.ca/thecurrent/)

7. The Poynter Institute (http://www.poynter.org/), especially News University

Course format and evaluation

This course has three major assignments and one minor assignment.

1. EU-Canada Young Journalist Award entry: 30 marks

2. Agricultural research news writing exercise: 30 marks

3. Advanced agricultural citizen journalism: 35 marks

4. Resume: 5 marks

Total: 100 marks

No final exam is scheduled.

Assignments

1. EU-Canada Young Journalist Award entry (30 marks)

First draft and motivation letter due: January 20, 2010

Final draft must be in the mail January 29, 2010.

Marking scheme:

Content=13 marks

Style=12 marks

Letter of motivation=5 marks

Students will prepare an entry for The EU-Canada Young Journalist Award, which recognizes outstanding journalistic merit or potential among Canadian journalism and communications students. The competition aims to reinforce links between the people of the European Union and Canada, and to promote awareness of the European Union among a new generation of Canadian students and journalists. Three winners are invited on a one-week study tour to Europe, which includes a visit to EU institutions in Brussels, paid for by the European Commission.

• Students will focus on a current issue facing the European Union or EU-Canada relations.
• The work may be a news story of maximum 1,000 words.
• Students are to prepare their entries as if they were intended to be published in Canada in a newspaper or magazine.
• Submissions should be prepared with a Canadian audience in mind.
• Pay particular attention to journalistic qualities and potential, including rigorous research and factual accuracy.

Note: I cannot enter you into this competition. You must do so yourself.

Entries must be postmarked no later than Friday, January 29, 2010. Besides the journalistic work, entries must comprise:

1. Your résumé (curriculum vitae).

2. A letter of motivation clearly outlining the reasons for applying and the anticipated benefits to be derived from participation in the study trip, with particular reference to your career objectives. Note: The judges give this letter significant weight. Be passionate, thoughtful and detailed when relating the trip to your career objectives as an agricultural communicator, farmer, teacher or whatever profession interests you.

3. Letter of reference or official administrative document issued by the university or college, verifying student status and enrolment (I will provide this to you).

4. Proof of Canadian citizenship or landed immigrant status (photocopy of your birth certificate or passport).

In 2005, University of Guelph student Brian Innes from our class was one of three winners of this award. See Brian’s winning entry in the appendix at the end of this syllabus.

For political and official matters involving the EU and Canada, and more information about the competition, visit:

http://www.eucanyja.ca/en/index.html

http://www.delcan.ec.europa.eu/en/

2. Agricultural research news writing exercises (30 marks)

First story (15 marks)

-First draft due March 1, 2010

-Final draft due March 8, 2010

Second story (15 marks)

- First draft due: March 22, 2010

- Final draft due: April 8, 2010

Marking scheme:

News sense = 5 marks

Structure = 5 marks

Content = 5 marks

Students will interview researchers and other sources to complete two 500-word research news stories. These stories will be destined for the Fall 2010 University of Guelph Research magazine, based on activity associated with the partnership between the University of Guelph and the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.

3. Advanced citizen journalism (35 marks)

Due: April 16, 2010 (assessment date for all student blogs)

Marking scheme:

Posts = 24 marks (1 mark per entry X 2 entries per week X 12 weeks)

Links = 12 marks (48 links X .25 marks for each link)

Students will use the blogging platform WordPress (www.wordpress.org) to advance and enhance the blog they began in Agricultural Communications I. The blog will be enhanced by the addition of the following features:

• Audio
• Video
• Photography
• Graphic elements
• Additional links and categories
• Personalization and personality
• Guest bloggers
• Widgets

As in Agricultural Communications I, students will approach this assignment as citizen journalists, and regard the blogs as a medium for raising relevant agri-food news and issues.

Twenty-four 100-word entries – two per week – are required. Note: Blog entries cannot be ganged and published at the end of the semester. Use Canadian Press style for entries.

4. Functional resume (5 marks)

Due: January 18, 2010.

Marking criteria: No spelling mistakes, identification of four skills or strengths.

You have acquired significant skills in this course and others during your academic studies at the University of Guelph that put you ahead of the pack. What are they? Don’t stifle them in a chronological resume – get them right up front, with a functional resume. It’s not a conventional resume, but neither are you a conventional student. Jobstar.org says functional resumes work great for new graduates or those entering the workforce. “You must show how the skills you have used in the past (in volunteer or coursework) apply to the job you are seeking,” it says, and I agree.

Schedule of activities and assignments

Week	Date	Activity/assignment
1	January 11	Course introduction
2	January 18	Resumes due Discuss EU story topics Guest lecturer: Greg Mercer, feature writer, Kitchener-Waterloo Record
3	January 25	Review EU story progress EU stories due January 29
4	February 1	Introduction to Research magazine and assignment: Guest lecturer Rebecca Moore, former SPARK coordinator
5	February 8	Review Research magazine first story progress
6	February 15	Reading Week (no class)
7	February 22	Citizen journalism exercise mid-semester review
8	March 1	Research magazine – First draft, first story due
9	March 8	Research magazine – Final draft, first story due Journalists meet scientists: Joint class with Prof. Brian McBride’s Current Topics in Animal Science students
10	March 15	Editing news releases
11	March 22	Research magazine – first draft, second story due
12	March 29	Research magazine – final draft, second story due
13	April 5	Course evaluation and review

Suggested resources

Functional resumes:

1. Our own University of Guelph co-op education office gives superb tips on its website, and offers a template:

http://www.cecs.uoguelph.ca/home/documents/ResumeHandout.pdf

2. Jobstar.org talks in basic terms about creating a functional resume, and offers a template:

http://jobstar.org/tools/resume/res-func.php

3. Quintessential Careers has a more in-depth website and loads of tips about functional resumes, along with career planning advice:

http://www.quintcareers.com/functional_resume.html

Citizen journalism:

1. A primer on citizen journalism from Wikipedia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizen_journalism

2. An excellent column on the merits of blogging versus column writing.

http://blogs.chicagotribune.com/news_columnists_ezorn/2007/01/i_feel_so_lazy_.html

3. A lengthy YouTube tutorial on WordPress by an independent blogger:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWYi4_COZMU&feature=related

4. What makes a good blog?

http://www.43folders.com/2008/08/19/good-blogs

5. Adding an RSS feed:

http://arthurchurchyard.files.wordpress.com/2009/02/instructions_for_creating_an_rss_feed_on_your_blog.pdf

6.  How to create a podcast using wimba.

http://arthurchurchyard.wordpress.com/files/2009/01/wimbapodcast.pdf

Research magazine:

http://www.uoguelph.ca/research/publications/Assets/PDF/ResearchMagazine/Research_OMAFRA_UoG.pdf

* * *

When the course concludes, students will be able to:

1. Write a research news story for public consumption, using the inverted pyramid.

2. Engage in advanced citizen journalism on relevant agricultural issues and topics.

3. Write a functional resume.

4. Give a journalistic account of a significant issue involving Canada and the European Union.

5. Demonstrate an understanding of Canadian Press style.

* * *

Winning entry in 2006 EU-Canada Young Journalist Award

New rules could help Canadian farmers access European market

By Brian Innes

(806 words)

European consumers are known for their selective tastes. It’s routine for Bordeaux wine from France and Parma ham from Italy to be labelled according to where they are produced. But here’s a twist: Charlevoix lamb from Canada may be a new addition to European specialty food market.

New rules will soon make it easier for Canadian farmers to sell their products to European consumers with an accredited label. The Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) label widely recognized in Europe promotes and protects products originating from a specific region. Momentum is growing among innovative Canadian producers such as those producing Charlevoix lamb to use geographic labels as a marketing tool, to satisfy the discerning tastes of the coveted premium food market both at home and abroad.

“It’s really picking up steam,” says Mario Duchesne, the Charlevoix Agritourism coordinator and the driving force behind Charlevoix lamb. “When we started this 20 years ago people were laughing, but not any more.”

High quality specialty foods identified by their geographic origins have been a cultural cornerstone of European food culture for centuries but are relatively new in Canada. Usually identified by a ‘terroir’ – a French term meaning the growing conditions caused by soil and climatic factors – products carrying the official designation often command significant premiums over their conventional counterparts. For a product to obtain a PGI it must demonstrate that the terroir where it was produced imparts a distinct characteristic to the product.

Charlevoix lamb, produced in the Charlevoix region east of Quebec City, has become the first food product to be sold under Quebec’s geographic labelling system. Quebec is the only province to have legislation that protects PGIs from being imitated by similar products grown outside the designated region. Known for its tenderness, texture and uniqueness, the lamb is sold primarily through restaurants in Charlevoix, Quebec City and Montreal.

The rest of Canada does not have a national geographic registration and enforcement system similar to the European Union (EU). This means that under existing rules, producers are unable to protect and promote their products using a PGI in the EU. But, following a review by the World Trade Organization that found this to be an unfair disadvantage to countries outside of the EU, European laws are set to change in April 2006. Canadians will soon be able apply directly to the EU for registration without the necessity of a national program here.

While Duchesne admits that having enough Charlevoix lamb to supply the domestic market is a challenge right now, he says many groups in Quebec are poised to market to the EU. “The potential is there,” he says.

Quebec producers, long known to be culturally more comparable to Europe than other regions of Canada, fit naturally with the mentality required to produce a specialty product. The Charlevoix lambs grow much slower than their conventional counterparts and are marketed lighter in weight. Clearly, some Quebec producers are departing from the typical North American mindset that strives for growth efficiency.

“We are different and we want to express this,” says Duchesne. “We want people to appreciate our product and we want to be profitable.”

PGIs are built on culture but serve to accomplish much more. In an increasingly industrial agri-food system, remote regions with smaller farms and marginal agricultural potential often are unable to compete with farmers in more favourable areas. As a policy tool in EU agricultural policy, PGIs allow remote and rural agricultural areas to remain viable.

Located on the north side of the St. Lawrence River, the Charlevoix region has a unique but limited land resource, says Duchesne. The highly variable topography includes steep hillsides and river valleys with little land for farming. Most of the land suitable for farming is marginal with only 10 per cent characterized as good. As a result, most land is used for pasture – ideal for sheep.

“Traditional agriculture is impossible in our region,” says Duchesne. “The way we can produce is value added, this is how we survive.”

The new laws will place European producers in the unusual position of facing increased international competition for their own already-competitive premium food market. Given the nearly limitless variety of terroirs that exist in the world – and therefore unlimited PGIs – it will now take more than just a recognizable name to make a product successful. Duchesne acknowledges that only the best tasting products will stand the test of time.

Without being discouraged by the challenge of competition, and buoyed by the success of Charlevoix lamb Duchesne is currently working on developing a pork label for the region. He’s optimistic that PGIs will help smaller farmers survive by doing things different. Though it requires farmers to change their thinking and alter their mode of production, the coming opportunity of marketing PGIs to the EU could bode well for the success of Canadian niche products.

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