Agriculture and Media Pt 1
With today’s Fruit Grower Report, I’m Bob Larson. The urban-rural divide is a story many in rural parts of the state claim to know all too well. Much of the blame, according to some, is the news stories that are told in the big cities or population centers.The Washington Policy Center’s Pam Lewison says that is especially troublesome for farmers …
LEWISON … “There is a real, sincere disconnect between agriculture and people who consume the products of agriculture every single day.”
And that audience, Lewison says includes many policy makers …
LEWISON … “What we’re seeing with these pieces of legislation is you have people who live in these incredibly urban environments and they are sort of lecturing from their place where there is hardly a hint of the natural environment that they are purporting to want to defend and preserve.”
Lewison thinks there needs to be a continual, fact-based conversation …
LEWISON … “And I do think there is some culpability in media, or media outlets, in choosing to decide what constitutes a quote-unquote factual post or in not asking questions, not fostering that curiosity.”
Questions, Lewison says are how we learn …
LEWISON … “It should be a position of teaching not a position of partisanship.”
Tune in tomorrow for more on Lewison’s take on the media’s role in telling stories and asking the right questions.