WILL broadcasts its signal 'over some of the richest soil on earth,' according to news director Tom Rogers. And with a listening audience that includes a sizeable workforce of Illinois farmers, it makes sense that WILL devotes several hours of programming each week to agricultural stories affecting the region.
But like science stories, farming stories can run the risk of making listeners' ears glaze over, and Rogers is obviously aware of this. He turns this story about foreign competition in the soybean market into a larger and more universal story about people facing a paradoxical investment opportunity - the chance to make money by investing in their competitors.
Stories about people are always the most memorable, and Rogers teaches us a lot about an obscure sub-sector of international agro-economics by making us feel invested in the fate of one Illinois soybean farmer.
American farmers buying a stake in Brazilian soy farms that supply China's increasing need for soy products. This is an excellent painting of how farming/commerce is becoming global.
This is a straightforward news report. It's enlightening and would be an important part of a series on global economics.
Comments for Soybean El Dorado
Produced by Tom Rogers
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2 comments
Aaron Henkin
Posted on August 25, 2006 at 07:40 AM | Permalink
Review of Soybean El Dorado
WILL broadcasts its signal 'over some of the richest soil on earth,' according to news director Tom Rogers. And with a listening audience that includes a sizeable workforce of Illinois farmers, it makes sense that WILL devotes several hours of programming each week to agricultural stories affecting the region.
But like science stories, farming stories can run the risk of making listeners' ears glaze over, and Rogers is obviously aware of this. He turns this story about foreign competition in the soybean market into a larger and more universal story about people facing a paradoxical investment opportunity - the chance to make money by investing in their competitors.
Stories about people are always the most memorable, and Rogers teaches us a lot about an obscure sub-sector of international agro-economics by making us feel invested in the fate of one Illinois soybean farmer.
Hans Anderson
Posted on April 22, 2005 at 11:20 AM | Permalink
Review of Soybean El Dorado
American farmers buying a stake in Brazilian soy farms that supply China's increasing need for soy products. This is an excellent painting of how farming/commerce is becoming global.
This is a straightforward news report. It's enlightening and would be an important part of a series on global economics.