Speaking to an audience of primarily American agricultural journalists last week in Winnipeg, John Harvard preached about the role of journalists.
But Harvard aimed beyond those gathered, sending his message to Canadian media.
Harvard is chair of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food, and is a three-time Manitoba member of Parliament. He was also a broadcast journalist for 30 years.
At the National Association of Agricultural Journalists’ meeting, he told reporters they should carefully consider the importance of their work.
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“Journalists from time to time underestimate their power … You’re the ones … who frame these debates, set the parameters.”
Journalists are vital to connect government, industry and people, and are sometimes the public’s only source of information, he said.
Harvard urged news organizations to commit greater resources to agricultural news and to provide more penetration in urban areas.
He said newspapers write too many “short and dirty stories” that are titillating and fill space but are uninformative and lack context and background.
Journalists should serve as teachers, he said, educating the audience of readers. They’re not going to do it in one story, or even in a series, but over the course of time, said Harvard.
“Urban penetration is pitiable in this country,” he said. When it comes to certain agricultural issues of vast national importance, the masses aren’t getting involved unless these issues get into major daily newspapers.
“If you feel short on urban penetration, do what you can to change that,” Harvard said. “It’s important to get to city dwellers because they have an important stake.”
He encouraged reporters to write about the Canadian Wheat Board from different perspectives.
A minority of farmers who want to get rid of the wheat board have found it easy to attract reporters and tell about their terrible plight, he said. They then blame the wheat board for their woes.
Journalists should report the benefits of the CWB to farmers, but also to the city, said Harvard. For example, if Winnipeg lost the wheat board, it would have a major impact on the cereal grains industry and all its dependent jobs.
