As Amalgamated Sugar Co.’s new communications specialist, Jessica McAnally will use social media to represent the sugar industry and to respond to what the company sees as misinformation about agriculture.
Amalgamated President and CEO John McCreedy said the company had considered creating the position for the past couple of years, but recently opted to go forward with the plan to give members more input in the public dialogue about their industry.
“We’ve seen so many people take positions on issues important to us on social media and we’re not seeing our voice represented accurately and consistently,” McCreedy said. “People are having conversations about us, and we’re not participating.”
Duane Grant, chairman of the board of Snake River Sugar Cooperative, which runs Amalgamated, considers social media to be “the new morning paper and the way communities talk now.” He believes McAnally will help the company educate consumers with scientific arguments.
“They’re talking about us and they’re talking about whether our product, sugar, is good or not, whether we’re mistreating the environment by planting biotech seeds, and in general, they don’t understand who we are, what we do and even the fundamentals about what sugar does in the diet,” Grant said.
McAnally will also help manage the company’s revamped website, attend job fairs on behalf of the company, assist in drafting the company magazine and newsletter, take promotional photographs and videos and assist in community relations.
Source: www.capitalpress.com