Evaluating an extension news service : a census of Tennessee county agents

The purpose of this study was to gather information from county agents regarding their use and perceptions of the Agricultural and Home Economics News Packet, the primary news vehicle of the state communications section of the Tennessee Agricultural Extension Service.

A questionnaire was mailed on June 1, 1984, to all 342 Tennessee county agents. Although most evaluations of this type concentrate primarily on newspaper editors and readers, county agents were chosen as subjects for this evaluation because of their direct interaction with the county clientele and the local newspapers.

In addition to its evaluation of the news packet's strengths and weaknesses, the questionnaire was used to determine how agents viewed their audience priorities and perceived their abilities and successfulness in serving these audiences through newspapers. It was also used to generate ideas to improve the current communication services.

Ninety-six percent of the county agents returned the questionnaire.

The results suggested that, although it was designed only for editors' use, the news packet serves county agents in a variety of ways and possibly to a greater extent than it serves newspaper editors. Overall, agents were pleased with the informative value and timeliness of the news packet, but they wanted more home economics and 4-H information, less repetition of articles, and longer lead times for release dates.

Agents did not consider the newspaper outlet to be extremely important compared to other available channels, and they reported little direct use of the packet by local editors. Also, they did not consider themselves to be highly skilled at newspaper reporting and they devoted little time to it.

The results suggested that agents would prefer that subject matter specialists or communications specialists provide the news material for the local columns and stories, and indeed, they used the news packet already for that purpose.

It was recommended that the state communications section develop a separate publication for the county agents that would serve their needs as expressed in this study without duplicating material sent to local editors. It was also recommended that further research be conducted among editors and readers to determine use and generate recommendations and possible improvements for future news services.