Thomas F. Pawlick, "The Invisible Farm..."

Pawlick, Thomas F., The Invisible Farm: The Worldwide Decline of Farm News and Agricultural Journalism Training. Burnham Inc.: Chicago, 2001.
Thomas F. Pawlick’s book is an interesting animal. In the central thesis of the book, Pawlick bemoans the decline of farm and agricultural journalism. He lays out his case by describing the degree to which that farm reportage has declined in both prevalence, quality, and scope. Once reports from rural America were commonplace in major metropolitan newspapers – now, not so much. With the exception of a chapter devoted almost entirely to a discussion of the pitfalls of large-scale corporate agriculture, Pawlick hardly deviates from his analysis of agricultural journalism. Additionally, a look at the agricultural journalism of Africa, and for that matter, the overall agricultural situation in that continent, both in various states of disrepair, give Pawlick cause to urge on training for Africa’s agricultural journalists as a way for Africa to better its food production system and infrastructure. Referenced by UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization) and ACCE (African Council on Communication Education) documents, the case is made for the importance of agricultural journalism, not just in Africa, but across the entire world. The value of this book to my work is in the fact that it discusses farm and rural journalism, as not just a variant of community journalism, but instead a genre all its own with real power and importance in the journalism world.