As misinformation casts its shadow across the landscape of public discourse, “we are potentially entering a golden age of opportunity for the land-grant system,” said John Anderson, new president of the Southern Agricultural Economics Association.
Anderson, the new head of the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture’s Cooperative Extension Service, was elected to the association post in March 2023. He opened his term as president on Feb. 5 with a speech to his colleagues at the SAEA annual meeting in Atlanta.
Anderson spoke about the plague of misinformation, or “fake news.” And while the topic has been a concern to communications professionals and political operatives, Anderson said there is an “increased potential for false or misleading information to gain traction, with adverse consequences, in a decentralized media environment well beyond the political realm.
“Universities should view the current moment as a unique opportunity to reassert our traditional role as objective, unbiased arbiters of reliable information,” he said. “We can only do this if our stakeholders do, in fact, consider us to be objective and unbiased.”
DECLINING CONFIDENCE
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Anderson noted a 2023 Gallup survey which found that just 36% of adults in the United States had a “great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence in higher education. That compared to 2015, in which 60% of those surveyed had a “great deal,” or “quite a lot” of confidence in higher education.
“The rate of decline in the public’s view of higher education should be a cause for concern among higher education professionals,” Anderson said.
Earning that confidence is paramount for universities, particularly the land grant universities.
“Maintaining — or reestablishing, if necessary — that position will require deep, consistent engagement with a diverse set of stakeholders and a demonstrated commitment to the highest standards of scholarship,” Anderson said. “In short, a perfect opportunity to demonstrate the value and continued relevance of the land-grant university model.”
Being able to reliably separate facts from noise “is more valuable than ever before,” Anderson said, adding that “this is the service that public universities were made to provide. If we can rise to this challenge, we will not only be offering a timely and valuable service to society, but we will also reestablish a bond of trust that has weakened significantly in recent years.
“Doing so will require a deep and sincere commitment to serving our constituent communities through expanding access to our programs and intentional stakeholder engagement,” he said.
To learn about extension programs in Arkansas, contact a local Cooperative Extension Service agent or visit www.uaex.uada.edu.
Mary Hightower is with the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture.