As a Journalism major in college over 35 years ago, there are two things that I vividly recall that have served me well in my career in marketing communications.

One is the absolute, uncompromising rule to report the truth in all written or broadcast communications. The other is to check facts from various independent sources to substantiate that truth. Back in those days, deadlines were certainly a serious matter to contend with, but it seemed there was usually adequate time to fact-check a story and verify the truth with multiple, reliable sources.

Fast forward to the Internet and the vast wealth of knowledge and information that came with it, enabled by the instant speed of search technology.

The good news is today thousands of pages covering virtually any topic are immediately available. The bad news is that truth, accuracy and verification of sources can be sacrificed as a result. This has created a real dilemma for today’s professional ag communicators as they perform their duties of reporting the news with truth and integrity given the immediacy of a new digital world.

For these reasons, I am especially proud of the latest Paulsen thought paper, “Digital Media’s Evolution and Impact on Telling Agriculture’s Story” created by Bryan Bjerke, public relations director, and Krystil Smit, ag public relations specialist here at Paulsen Marketing.

Bryan and Krystil video-interviewed some of the best known names in ag journalism to capture their thoughts on how gathering and reporting farm news has changed so drastically in our new-frontier, instant-access digital world.

Anyone with an interest in ag communications will find the comments from our panel of professionals truly insightful, relevant and timely. I know you will enjoy viewing these interviews and reading the thoughtful takeaways our authors have concluded from these conversations. Download the paper and video segments.

Congratulations to Bryan and Krystil on the professionalism of this thought paper, and our sincere thanks to the following professional ag journalists for their participation and cooperation in making this project possible:

• Charlie Arnot, Center for Food Integrity
• John Blue, Truffle Media
• Jeff Caldwell, Successful Farming
• Justin Davey, Meredith Publishing
• Gregg Hillyer, Progressive Farmer
• Bart Johnson, Ohio Country Journal/Ohio Ag Net
• Lynn Ketelsen, The Linder Farm Network
• Mark Lambert, National Corn Growers Association
• Amanda Radke, BEEF Magazine
• Tom Steever, Brownfield Network
• Willie Vogt, Farm Progress Companies
• Chuck Zimmerman, ZimmComm New Media

Part Two of this engaging thought paper will be released in mid-September. Our Paulsen PR team will explore how mobile technology is pushing new trends. We’ll also share a “Best Practices Guide” for telling agriculture’s story.

Be watching for Part Two of “Digital Media’s Evolution.”

Just returned from a very interesting North Central NAMA program in Minneapolis. Representatives from Padilla Spear Beardsley and Weber Shandwick discussed the need for a Crisis Communications Plan. They cited two very interesting examples. One was a case history of a client who had a very detailed crisis communications plan in place, and had practiced it several times to perfect it. The other was a client who didn't see the need for the time and expense to develop such a plan. Both clients had crisis incidents--one a contaminant spill, the other a fire, both of which presented potential environmental impact. The client with the formal crisis communication plan in place was able to...