Giving space to be human

By Elizabeth Hodges, Katie Knapp, Pam Caraway and Betty Haynes

If you scroll through social media and see something slightly unbelievable, we all think to ourselves, “Is this AI?” At the 2025 Fall Regional Meeting, attendees learned how to pull out the human element in our communications and how to better connect with our audience.

Authenticity through photography

Ilana Natasha Bar-av, of Ilana Natasha Photography, says she captures the good, the bad, the ugly, and the sad. Bar-av is a six-time winner of Madison Magazine’s Best Photographer and self-described melting pot with an intense curiosity for the world around us. Authenticity is defined as the value of being real or true and is more important than ever in the age of AI. As photojournalists, we yearn to capture authenticity in our subjects. But, as Bar-av points out, to effectively do this we must first look within and bring our whole selves to photoshoots.

Creating a legacy brand

The next session included a guest speaker from Hoard’s Dairyman, Jenna Byrne, associate editor. It is no secret that the Hoard’s Dairyman brand has a long-lasting legacy. Byrne’s biggest take-homes boiled down to these five points.

1. Be clear on your “why”.

2. Create recognition through consistency.

3. Know your audience.

4. Embrace innovation.

5. Provide authentic storytelling.

By doing these five things well, Hoard’s Dairyman has been able to reach those in the dairy industry to provide useful information to farmers no matter the size.

Ag Econ 101

The farmers in the room wanted Compeer agricultural economist Megan Roberts to keep talking. And journalists focused on wordsmithing gained insight to a few of the economic numbers in the trade and tariff arena. Here are a couple of the pressing points Roberts made:

USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service, or AMS, is the best source of data in a shutdown: It’s funded by user fees.
The Fed uses interest rates as a relief valve to balance pressure from inflation and maximize employment.
Trade with China is about more than tariffs. “They have a de facto trade embargo on the U.S. at this point,” said Roberts.

Ultimately, some of the trade imbalance with China simply isn’t about what the U.S. does or does not do, Roberts says. “China is in a recession right now. China has different hog feed needs than it had in Phase 1,” said Roberts. Though the trade war matters, she said, “There’s other factors in play.”

Freedom of the Press

The current media climate in America can be a little frightening for journalists right now. It is important to know your rights as media and where you have the right to be. In this session hosted by Bill Lueders, Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council, and Norman Stockwell, The Progressive, attendees learned what the current climate for media is like and solutions to this concerning issue.

Knowing that you have the right to attend meetings and cover them, journalists can stand up for themselves in pursuit of the truth. One key action item is that every member of the press should carry a press ID so that you can verify that you are part of the media. To learn more about the panel check out the entire session on ACN’s YouTube channel, coming soon.

Discussing hard topics

Rounding out the day, we had an engaging discussion on how to better cover mental health and emotional wellbeing in the content we publish. Panelists included Karen Endres, from the Wisconsin Farm Center; Wendy Volkert, with Wisconsin Farm Bureau; Dorothy Harms, Farmer Angel Network founder and Doug Rebout, Wisconsin farmer. ACN board member Katie Knapp moderated the panel and brought in her own experience coping with grief and trauma as well as covering emotional topics in her work. Be sure to read the article ACN member, Amber Friedrichsen, wrote about what she took away from this session, below.

By attending meetings like this, you as a communicator can walk away with valuable information that will help you reach your audiences in an impactful way. Be on the lookout for the 2026 Spring Regional Meeting that will be hosted in Kansas City. We look forward to seeing you there.