This thesis examines the coverage over time of organic farming in Farm Journal, Successful Farming, and Progressive Farmer, three magazines devoted to professional farming. The purpose is to better understand how industry-specific publications, such as farming magazines, adapt to industry issues that begin with controversy but eventually are adopted into culture as acceptable practices. The study first uses quantitative content analysis to determine what, if any, changes have occurred over time in how much the issue of “organic farming” has been covered in the mainstream agricultural press. Then, a qualitative textual analysis of selected articles from the sample was conducted to further consider the ways mainstream agriculture magazines may influence attitudes and understanding of changes within the industry.
This thesis concluded that over time the three magazines under study portrayed organic farming differently and also differed in the amount of coverage they devoted to the topic.