Visiting Global Agricultural Journalist Claire Mc Cormack Reflects on Her Time at America’s University of Illinois

Editor’s note:  Earlier this year, Irish media scholar and agricultural journalist Claire Mc Cormack spent two weeks at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign as the institution’s first Visiting Global Agricultural Journalist. Her visit was arranged through former IFAJ president Dr. Owen Roberts, director of the Dr. Jim Evans Agricultural Communications Initiative in the Agricultural Leadership, Education, and Communications (ALEC) program. “Claire was ideally suited for this appointment,” says Roberts. “She has a deep academic background, she is highly respected among professionals in the global field, and she is an excellent researcher. She was an inspiration for our students. And, she was able to deepen her understanding of Illinois agriculture by connecting with producers.”

By Claire Mc Cormack, Irish Guild of Agricultural Journalists

We’re told: “never meet your heroes,” but I can tell you from my recent experience at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) I think the opposite is true.

When approached about an opportunity to be the first Visiting Global Agricultural Journalist as part of a new initiative at UIUC, two names immediately rushed to mind: Dr. Jim Evans and Dr. Ann Reisner formerly of UIUC’s highly-regarded Agricultural Communications Program which dates all the way back to the 1940s.

Though these signatures may not resonate as powerfully outside the US, having spent the last two years conducting research and reviewing literature on agricultural journalism for my PhD I can say both of these academics have made lasting and instrumental contributions to the field.

Therefore, being presented with a chance to walk the same corridors and share the same classrooms previously led by these pillars of agricultural journalism research made it very easy for me to reach a decision about the trip.

The program for the visit (Oct 16-27, 2023) was developed through the Dr. Jim Evans Agricultural Communications Initiative. It was designed to introduce agricultural communications students in the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences (ACES) to global agricultural journalists who are members of the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists (IFAJ).

My agenda focused largely on three areas: education, research and journalism.

The education segment of my agenda involved the delivery of presentations and workshops on several agricultural communications courses including: ‘International Agricultural Communications’, ‘Environmental Communications’, ‘Social Media Management in Agriculture’, and ‘Culture, Communication, and Agriculture’ among others.

Content shared for these classes focused on themes pertinent to my experience in media work and agriculture in Ireland with topics including: how Irish agricultural media communicates with farmers, how Irish mainstream media communicates agriculture to non-farming audiences, the role of ethics in agricultural journalism in Ireland, and how to build a personal brand as an Irish agricultural journalist or communicator.

Given that one of the biggest stories in Irish agriculture is the sector’s ongoing efforts to reduce its carbon footprint, specific emphasis was placed on the challenges and responsibilities journalists face in covering this beat. While the importance of maintaining editorial independence at a time when media revenue models are under extreme pressure was also widely discussed. The stimulating and educational nature of opting for a career in agricultural journalism was extensively shared with students too.

The research part of the visit focused on data collection for my PhD at the School of Agriculture and Food Science at University College Dublin, funded by the Irish Research Council, where I’m investigating mainstream and farming press coverage of agriculture in Ireland over the last 50 years.

Fortunately, this activity involved in-depth conversations with Drs. Evans, Reisner, Roberts and Dr. Eric Morgan, whose research focuses predominantly on environmental and international communications.

Though a thorough analysis of these discussions will first be shared through publications for my PhD, speaking from a professional and personal level, I truly believe that I received some of the most interesting responses to any questions I’ve ever posed throughout the course of these unique interviews.

Furthermore, I feel compelled to say that I am incredibly honoured and grateful to have sat with Dr. Evans, now 91 years young, to hear his thoughts on how agricultural journalism practice has evolved since he graduated with his Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Journalism degree in 1954.

The journalism part of my program facilitated visits to some top farmers in the Corn Belt region including: Sarah Hastings who grows traditional corn and soybeans on 1,750ac outside the local village of Sidney; and Dirk and Matt Rice (a father-son duo) who operate a 2,200ac grain and beef enterprise near Philo in Champaign County, where they have also implemented several conservation practices (visits organised via the Illinois Corn Growers Association).

On campus, I also interviewed Jonathan Coppess, Associate Professor of Agricultural Policy and Law at UIUC’s Department of Agricultural and Consumer Economics, about reform of the US Farm Bill and the Trump vote in rural America.

I visited the university’s Lincoln Avenue Dairy too, which maintains a herd of around 100 Holstein cows and replacement heifers, to speak with the farm managers about their latest research and results mainly focused on animal nutrition and welfare.

Other highlights included being the featured speaker at the Homecoming Event at UIUC’s Funk Library where I had the opportunity to make connections with leading Agricultural Communications alumni, including agri-media practitioners and agri-food industry representatives. I also conducted a comprehensive library search at the Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC) – thought to be the biggest academic collection anywhere of literature about communications on farming, nutrition, rural development, and natural resources.

Plus, I attended my first American College Football game – Wisconsin Badgers vs. Illinois Fighting Illini – which ended with a win for the visitors (final score: 25-21).

Overall, the experience was hugely valuable from a teaching, research and storytelling perspective, but perhaps the most exciting and impressive aspect for me was the sheer enthusiasm, motivation and capability displayed by the ACES’ students who are steadfast in their intentions to pursue professions in agricultural journalism and communications – a career path not so clearly defined and mapped out academically in Ireland or in wider Europe.

Therefore, it is my concluding view, that this unique initiative at UIUC offers much more than a diverse range of enriching practical experiences, it provides a space to spark ideas and innovations about how to help sustain agricultural journalism across the globe now and into the future.