The time slot allocations and in turn the lack of viewers engaged in the topics being covered don’t stack up against the mind-dumbing and increasingly popular reality television series we get these days.
It’s a sign of the times that people turn on their televisions to escape reality and be entertained, not really informed now.
I would suggest that if Country Calendar didn’t have as much of an entertainment and voyeuristic content as it does then it would be in for the chop as well.
It has definitely changed its content to cater for the lifestyle farmer viewers living the dream, engaging those who sit on their urban couches wishing for the kiwi lifestyle block.
We had a great advocate for coverage of the Young Farmer Contest in Mark Leishman as I witnessed him and his wife/producer going into bat for the contest with the network programming managers but even with his contacts and perhaps a lack of support for his efforts from the management of the contest we lost that link to the 50-year-old, iconic rural competition. I don’t think we will ever get it back. God help us if we lose Country Calendar too.
We do have the new, multi-platform Rural Exchange programme on at the unenviable time slot of 5am to 7am Saturday and Sunday mornings, which will be an interesting exercise in longevity for presenters, viewers/listeners and ratings.
I really hope it lasts because the industry needs every positive voice.
We need to move into the new dimension as far as media are concerned. Social media, the medium where we can control the content is accessible to people on demand at their fingertips.
Many in rural NZ don’t have the coverage required for high speed internet but it is on its way if you believe the promises of the telecommunication companies. However, those who need to hear our stories do have it.
We must demonstrate to the world the reason we get out of bed in the morning. I’ve written before about the video series called The Farmers Voice hosted by this newspaper.
This has developed to where we now see numbers of views increasing and getting noticed by a company proud to partner new and existing rural ventures.
Bayleys Real Estate via its Rural Insight has come to the party and sees the importance of telling the rural stories from the heart of those with skin in the game.
Along with Stoney Creek putting good clothing on me, we are posting videos on The Farmers Weekly website and social media pages every two weeks.
I am worried the dirty laundry exposed during the election by those trying to ratchet off the emotional voter who believes the negative media against the primary industry will have affected our markets internationally. It certainly left a bad taste in the mouth of rural NZ.
We hope The Farmers Voice videos lift the profile of those we feature, the sharefarmer of the year winners, the champion shearer and his family, not only who they are but informative videos on what they do and why.
This in turn will help bridge the gap or at least give a pathway between those we sell to and are interested in what we do.
It will maybe even entice more young people into the industry.
The last two videos certainly show the passion of those who started off young and are reaping the rewards of hard toil.
Let’s face it, we are pushing water uphill with a sharp stick as far as mainstream media is concerned at the moment.
We need to tell our stories and I want to do that, so line up your story and get in touch, share the other stories we film and like a snowball it will grow and in turn increase the knowledge of those who watch and the desire to be involved in or support the primary Industry.
And at the end of the day if we as farmers can watch them and feel proud of those we know or those who do their best in their field and we can get a kick out of that helping us with our need for entertainment that’s not scripted like most reality television programmes, then that’s a good result.
If it bridges the gap between markets and supplier or corrects the negativity portrayed by media and emotive vote catching then that’s a step in the right direction that will improve who we are in the world we live in.
