Appreciation for Agriculture in Public Communication. A Content Analysis of the Influence of the First Lockdown on Reporting About Agriculture in the Mass Media

Abstract

The call for greater societal appreciation of agriculture has been a recurring theme in recent years, both within and outside the sector. The following article examines the extent to which social value communication can be found in media articles compared to other evaluative statements about agriculture and the effects that occurred at the beginning of the Coronavirus crisis. Using quantitative analysis and based on a theoretical concept of recognition, statements of social esteem and disrespect are collected and contrasted with acceptable and critical statements in issues of the mainstream, regional and farming press in 2019 and 2020 and evaluated in terms of their authorship and references to agricultural issues. In this context, it can be shown that even before the Coronavirus crisis, the level of social esteem accorded to agriculture in public communication was higher than the level of disrespect. It then increased during the first pandemic lockdown, combined with a significantly higher number of references to the issue of security of supply. At the same time, it is clear that the type of statement most often published in the media is not a direct expression of social esteem or disrespect, but rather a perception of disrespect for agriculture. The sources of these statements most often come from the agricultural sector itself.