Study: Journalists lack knowledge on agri-biotechnology

[KLT]

Study: Journalists lack knowledge on agri-biotechnology

By DAVID DIZON
abs-cbnNEWS.com

Despite being a major source of information for consumers, journalists
have a low understanding about the uses and benefits of agri-
biotechnology to the community, according to a study conducted by a
University of the Philippines professor.

Prof. Madeline Suva of the College of Development Communication of UP
Los Baños said the low understanding of agri-biotechnology among media
practitioners should be a source of concern since mass media has great
potential to shape public thinking about the issue.

"Journalists have the lowest understanding about the issue and yet
they are the ones who write about science and agriculture. This is why
they need to train and learn more and get more information to address
the knowledge gaps on science," Suva told abs-cbnNEWS.com.

In her paper "Can Journalists Help Mitigate Hunger?", Suva cited
results from a multi-sampling survey of 432 respondents including
consumers, religious leaders, businessmen and traders, farmers and
community leaders, extension workers, policy makers and scientists. A
total of 35 TV, radio and print journalists on the agriculture beat
responded to the survey conducted by SEAMEO Regional Center for
Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture Biotechnology Information
Center (SEARCA-BIC).

In the survey, 31 of the 35 journalist respondents said they “know
some” about the uses of biotechnology in food production. However,
most of the journalists were ambivalent about banning genetically-
altered foods until more tests are done or paying extra if
genetically- altered foods were properly labeled.

Suva said half of the journalists surveyed indicated high interest in
the uses of biotechnology particularly in food production. This is
because journalists value their role of keeping the public informed
about issues that would affect public health and safety.

The study also showed that journalists were more open and optimistic
about biotechnology and were very interested and concerned about the
implementation, information dissemination, and knowledge generation of
agricultural biotechnology.

Of the 35 respondents, 16 rated biotechnology as very beneficial, 15
said it was moderately beneficial while one respondent said it was not
beneficial at all. Three journalists rated biotechnology as very
hazardous, 16 as somewhat hazardous and 13 as not hazardous at all.

NGOs as primary sources

Suva said one danger of journalists having a low understanding of agri-
biotechnology is that mass media would become a poor source of
information about the issue. She said the study showed that more
people tend to trust information coming from food regulators (72.8%),
non-government organizations (72.7%) and newsletters (66.3%) on the
issue of biotechnology.

She said one problem with trusting NGOs as a primary source of
information is that people, including journalists, may not get all the
information they need about biotechnology.

"All these different NGOs know how to handle media so what happens is
that only those who are good at accessing the media will be able to
speak out and make their voices heard. One side of the coin is that
only those NGOs spreading negative information are having access to
the media. They are creating a fear about the possible ill-effects
about biotechnology," she said.

She said one failing of newsroom editors is to seek out proper
information sources about biotechnology and giving enough importance
to stories about the issue.
Related Document
• Can Journalists Mitigate Hunger? by Madeline Suva, Ph.d

"We don't hear a lot from mass media about biotechnology. SEARCA-BIC
sends a lot of press releases about the issue but most media outfits,
including ABS-CBN, does not use them. The only media outlet that uses
them all the time is the Philippine Star," she said.

She said one source of information for journalists would be state
colleges such as UP Los Baños that devote much time in studying
biotechnology. She said journalists should continuously update
themselves on science and technology and even visit laboratories and
field experiments to see what is really happening.

"Journalists need to be more informed now more than ever because of
our problems about food security. Biotechnology is one possible
solution to the country's problem with hunger and it is the job of
journalists to know more about the subject," she said.