Framing Agriculture from Past to Present: A Historical Analysis of FFA Magazine Covers from 1952 to 2024
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5032/jae.v67i2.3239Keywords:
FFA, Agricultural Magazines, Magazine Analysis, Agriculture, Historical AnalysisAbstract
Despite some considering print media to be nearing an end, researchers have continued to find the importance and impact that print media still has on its audience and in the broader media landscape. Specifically, the New Horizons magazine, analyzed in this study, reaches nearly one million people and showcases the FFA and the agricultural industry, supported by the National FFA Organization. Utilizing framing theory and visual rhetoric, a historical analysis of the covers was conducted to identify trends in the portrayal of agriculture throughout the decades. In the analysis, 392 covers were collected and coded, both broadly and by sub-categories, using the National FFA Proficiency categories and two additional categories of FFA-Related and Other. Findings from the analysis showed that the Careers category had the most associated covers (n = 106), whereas the Crops category was represented the least (n = 52). Moreover, the Careers and Animals categories were frequently identified until the 1990s, when FFA-Related, including sub-categories such as Official Dress and Alumni, became more represented. The shift in what was seen on the covers aligns with the magazine name change from FFA National Future Farmer to FFA New Horizons, along with the National FFA Organization’s goal of showcasing the broader scope of the agricultural industry. We suggest that future research should examine other agricultural magazines or media through a social semiotic perspective to see if the identified trends in FFA New Horizons are consistent with other media outlets and the industry.
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