Harvest and fall outlook kick off September earned media requests
As the weather cools and farmers look to get out and harvest, September typically brings in several reporters who want to know how this year’s crop is faring. Illinois Farm Bureau routinely coordinates media coverage on a variety of topics while monitoring mainstream channels. From Sept. 1 to Sept. 30, IFB fielded 16 interview requests from print/online, broadcast and TV reporters, generating 188 mentions and potentially reaching 387.4 million people, which had an advertisement value equivalency (AVE) of around $3.5 million.
For comparison, IFB facilitated 23 media interviews in September 2022, which yielded 188 mentions that potentially reached 100.4 million people, an estimated AVE of $1.37 million.
It is important to note that while interview requests were down slightly for the month of September, there were some articles that had high audience, such as a Fox News Weather story on pumpkin harvest outlook, which was picked up by Yahoo! News and other large media outlets, and which had a total reach of around 82.7 million people. We are also seeing sustained media coverage rolling over form the Illinois Agricultural Legislative Round Table, which IFB assisted in coordinating press conference and interviews for.
September Top Reach, Syndication, and Social Echo
September was a busy month for earned media coverage, with articles covering a range of topics including young farmers, inflation, harvest outlooks and more. Multiple articles had audience reach in the millions, the highest being 62.4 million people. Many articles had high syndication levels, which refers to how many news channels share the same article across platforms. Several articles also had high social echo, which refers to articles or broadcasts that had the highest engagement on social media.
Highest Reach
- “Pumpkin fall outlook: How the season’s harvest has withstood weather extremes” — This article originated on Fox Weather Channel and was picked up by several outlets. The article was shared by Yahoo! News channel, which had the highest reach of 64.5 million people.
Most Syndicated
- “Pumpkin fall outlook: How the season’s harvest has withstood weather extremes” — The pumpkin outlook report was also the most syndicated for the month of September. In total, the article was picked up by 16 news outlets for a total reach of 82.7 million people.
Top Social Echo
- “U.S. farmers grab the lobbying pitchforks as greens sow costly new reporting mandates” – This article from RealClear Investigations discusses the issues pertaining to the Securities and Exchange Commission’s proposed requirements for reporting “scope 3” emissions. Lauren Lurkins, Illinois Farm Bureau director of environmental policy, is featured. The article had the top social echo for the month of September with 347 Facebook interactions (combined posts, likes, and comments), 95 tweets/retweets on Twitter; and four shares on Reddit.