JOURNALISTS VIEWS OF ADVERTISER PRESSURES ON AGRICULTURAL NEWS

All major journalism ethical codes explicitly state that journalists s hould protect editorial copy from undue influence by outside sources. However, much of the previous research on agricultural information has concentrated on what information various media communicate (gatekeepi ng studies) or communication's role in increasing innovation adoption (diffusion studies). Few studies have concentrated specifically on org anizational and structural constraints that might adversely affect agr icultural journalists' ethical standards; those that have, focus large ly on farm magazines. A study of newspaper reporters who cover agricul tural news found that the most pressing ethical concern is the effect of advertiser (agri-business) pressure on editorial copy, and that the ir concerns in general parallel those of farm magazine writers and edi tors. The majority reported being in situations in which they might be exposed to advertiser pressure, including pressures to change or with hold editorial copy. Large minorities suggested that advertising press ures affect the overall environment in which agricultural journalists work, and more than one in ten said they allow advertiser pressures to influence editorial decisions. The newspaper reporters who cover agri cultural beats showed slightly more resistance to advertiser pressure than did farm magazine editors in a parallel study.