Communication is essential if farming is to survive as a way of life in America, an Ohio agricultural official said Wednesday night in the Agricultural Administration Auditorium.

Mark Anthony, Ohio Department of Agriculture spokesman, addressed a group of about 40 OSU students to discuss pressing issues in the agricultural industry.

After a brief introduction, Anthony began his speech by showing a video clip of a “60 Minutes” program that aired in April, featuring what he termed a “hit piece” on the Farm Bureau, the largest organization of agriculturists in the country. He used this clip to illustrate the different issues facing agricultural communicators in the media.

“You can draw two things from this display. The first is that it is becoming harder than ever for the American farmer to survive. Secondly, it shows that we have to focus on winning the hearts and minds of the American people,” he said.

Anthony went on to outline several strategies for dealing with both the media and the public. He talked in detail about communicating with activist groups and responding to their claims.

“Activists have generally predictable behaviors. The media doesn’t generally scrutinize the activist groups. They tend to have a bias towards the underdog and see themselves as ‘defenders of justice.’ We have a responsibility to react to them. My god! If the food wasn’t safe, you wouldn’t have a market,” Anthony said.

Anthony then outlined strategies to successfully deal with issue responses, emphasizing the need to show empathy to the public while at the same time showing the actions of the agency in a positive light. He led the group in an exercise outlining these principles by using the example of a mad cow disease breakout in the U.S.

“Tonight gave me an important and interesting look into what we as ag-com (agricultural communications) majors will deal with on a day to day basis. The informal setting was advantageous to the overall focus of this evening’s program,” said Emily McConnell, a junior in agricultural communications.

“This is what real life is like. This is what we need to learn for our futures, learning how to deal with the media no matter what our future fields or careers take us to,” said Heather Vaubel, a junior in agricultural communications and vice president of ACT.

Anthony has served as the press secretary for the Ohio Department of Agriculture since 1997. He has more than 25 years of experience in mass media communications, and has prepared clients for interviews with USA Today, The New York Times and National Public Radio. He has also served as press secretary for former Columbus mayor Buck Rinehart.

Anthony’s speech, “Communicating Agriculture through the Media,” was the first in the Earl McMunn Lecture Series, presented by the Agricultural Communicators of Tomorrow.

The Earl McMunn Lecture Series is intended to honor the memory of Earl W. McMunn, a 1934 OSU alumnus. He was editor of Ohio Farmer for nearly 40 years and president of the American Agricultural Editors’ Association.