The demise of the news service provided by Independent Farm Business News to Farming Online has provoked considerable comment, not least from agri hacks.
The replacement of four good agricultural journalists, who daily provided a dedicated agricultural news service, with an automated internet news story picker is a retrograde step in my view.
Alan Stennett, who took over management of IFBN from founder George MacPherson three years ago, and Guild members Roger Abbott, Alison Lea, Chris Lyddon and Gaina Morgan wrote informative pieces that were relevant. Granted many of the stories came from press releases, but there were a few gems every now and again.
Presumably bosses at Farming Online see the switch from humans to a computer as a great cost saver.
Their news picker simply identifies agricultural stories on other websites and provides a link to them.
A lazy way of providing news it has to be said, especially as they don't seem to be scanning through the sites of the agricultural publications that matter and which have the most up-to-date and relevant news on farming issues. (They certainly haven't yet posted any stories from Scotland other than those appear in the country's smallest circulation tabloid)
Might I suggest a better way. Go to Google and click on news. Key in a whatever search word takes your fancy and you'll find far more information than Farming Online now provides.
Better still. Go to www.thisisnorthscotland.co.uk and click on news and then on farming.
Enjoy
Thursday, February 14, 2008
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