Delta Farm Press Logo

Journalism has seen extraordinary changes in 40 years.

Ron Smith, Editor

January 24, 2020

2 Min Read
dfp-ronsmith-old-school.JPG
Reporter's Notebooks still have value in digital age.Ron Smith

I've been reminiscing a lot lately, thinking back on my years with Farm Press and how agriculture in general and ag journalism more specifically has changed.

I plan on working through some of those changes in this space over the next few months. I'll start with my job.

I hired on in 1978, moved from South Carolina to Atlanta, Ga., where I set up an office with things that no longer play much of a role in my work.

I bought an IBM Selectric, the finest typewriter available and a quantum leap from the Smith-Corona manual I had used in my previous two jobs — Extension Editor at Clemson University and reporter for a weekly newspaper.

I bought a huge filing cabinet and stuffed all manner of paper documents into manila folders. I still have a small filing cabinet and I'm not entirely sure why. I can never find anything and most everything crammed in the two drawers are also saved on a computer disc, thumb drive or floating in The Cloud.

I also bought a camera — a twin lens reflex — and a large flash unit that attached to the bottom, making film change an ordeal. I had to re-roll the film and then unscrew the nob on the bottom of the camera to remove it. I had to remove the flash unit first. Film, as I recall, consisted of 12 or 24 frames — it's been a few years — so I  carried pocketfuls of film rolls when I went out for interviews.

Related:No resolutions, only reflections

We shot black and white only for the first few years I worked at Southeast Farm Press. As soon as I got back from a farm visit or seminar, I dropped exposed film off at a developer for pick up the following day. On Friday afternoons, I mailed photos and articles from the post office.

I bought a large cassette recorder, which I soon found too bulky to lug around and too time-consuming to work from. I depended, and still do mostly, on handwritten notes, scribbled illegibly into reporter's notebooks — handy, slim, notepads that fit nicely in a back pocket. I have stacks of them scattered all over my office, some filled front to back and back to front with interviews, addresses and phone numbers I will never be able to locate if needed.

I still use those notebooks, but I also record interviews on my iPhone. Who could have imagined that bit of magic 40 years ago? If I needed to check with my editor while traveling, I hunted a pay phone. Remember those?

I write and edit on a computer, where I save digital files and photos in folders that are still disorganized. Instead of Friday afternoon trips to the post office, I select a file and hit "send."

I rarely buy stamps.

About the Author(s)

Ron Smith

Editor, Farm Progress

Ron Smith has spent more than 30 years covering Sunbelt agriculture. Ron began his career in agricultural journalism as an Experiment Station and Extension editor at Clemson University, where he earned a Masters Degree in English in 1975. He served as associate editor for Southeast Farm Press from 1978 through 1989. In 1990, Smith helped launch Southern Turf Management Magazine and served as editor. He also helped launch two other regional Turf and Landscape publications and launched and edited Florida Grove and Vegetable Management for the Farm Press Group. Within two years of launch, the turf magazines were well-respected, award-winning publications. Ron has received numerous awards for writing and photography in both agriculture and landscape journalism. He is past president of The Turf and Ornamental Communicators Association and was chosen as the first media representative to the University of Georgia College of Agriculture Advisory Board. He was named Communicator of the Year for the Metropolitan Atlanta Agricultural Communicators Association. Smith also worked in public relations, specializing in media relations for agricultural companies. Ron lives with his wife Pat in Denton, Texas. They have two grown children, Stacey and Nick, and two grandsons, Aaron and Hunter.

Subscribe to receive top agriculture news
Be informed daily with these free e-newsletters

You May Also Like