By Stefan Nimmervoll, Austria
The average age of an Austrian agricultural journalist is 50, at least, that’s the way it seemed when it came to official Austrian agricultural journalists’ network activities.
They were often attended by the same colleagues – most of them in their early 50s, some already retired. But that impression did not reflect the reality of journalistic work in Austria, the president of the Austrian guild Josef Siffert thought. So last summer, the Austrian Farm writers guild VAÖ asked two young collegues to think about some acitivities especially for young and agricultural journalists that are new to the business.
Stefan Nimmervoll, journalist of two well-known Austrian agricultural magazines and Annette Weber, spokesperson of an Agricultural Think Tank in Vienna, took up the work and considered what could be interesting for the younger generation in the Austria guild. They made a list of all agricultural journalists under the age of 40. Then they sent them a query to check how many would be interested in taking part in ”Young VAÖ“.
The feedback was very positive. So in the autumn, they organised a kick-off meeting with almost 25 young colleagues, in an event they called ”Future of agricultural communications“. ”We visited a seed producer and big pig-farm in Upper Austria and had a very interesting dicussion on the topic of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and animal welfare with politicians and chief executive officers (CEOs) of local companies. We wanted to know what they think the branch could do better when discussing such topics with society,“ says Nimmervoll.
”We also created a facebook group, where we put once a week a posting with some important information, like a competition from the EU/DG Agri or the next meeting“, adds Weber. The leaders of the group have several goals. First, they want to create a network where young journalists from different media and regions get to know each other.
Says Weber: ”In Austria there are not too many agricultural journalists. That’s why we think those people should know each other.” On the other hand, exclusive information and contacts shall be offered as well. ”We invite important people not only because we want to know what they think, but also because we want them to know us as next generation,“ she says.
Another goal is to get in touch with young economic journalists, who write about farming from time to time. Nimmervoll: ”The Young VAÖ wants to improve the knowledge of general media about farming. At least those people should know where they can ask for a second perspective before taking only NGO (non-governmental organisation) information.“ And finally, the young journalists want the help increase VAÖ membership.
The group is now planning its second meeting in Salzburg. The topic will be dairy farming after the end of the quota system. In July, the team wants to offer a three-day trip to Hungary. “For sure, we want to get information about Hungarian farming. But besides that, we want to have two evenings together. You only get to know each other when you spend some time together. And maybe one or two beers might also help.”