I recently had the opportunity to hear Dr. Cate Dewey speak on her experience of working with the media during the H1N1 world health pandemic. She became the go to person for many urban and rural media outlets during the hype of the pandemic in Canada. She was interviewed on TV, radio and was included in a video “Pork Safety Explained” that was published on You Tube. Dewey provided her knowledge and expertise on the matter and learned some valuable tips along the way.
With little previous media training, Dewey stepped up to the plate to speak to the media regarding the H1N1 virus. She knew the importance of helping consumers understand the truth about the virus and setting the record straight that you can’t get infected from eating pork. With pork prices decreasing by 13% and countries such as Russia, China and Thailand banning imported pork, having positive support from educated people was necessary to change the view in the consumer’s eye.
Dr. Dewey has done an excellent job using her expertise to tell the truth about the H1N1 virus and the relation to pork. She noted two occasion where she wished her statements could have been changed or revoked, but when dealing with the media a negative image sometimes can’t be changed. Although this can happen, it’s better to have a few bad images then no positive images of agriculture at all. As I have said before, the agriculture population must continue to inform consumers on the truth about agriculture and eventually the message will get across.
