My name is Todd Vogts. I grew up in central Kansas, living in a farming community. During my formative years, I developed a respect for farmers and rural communities, and I also became passionate about the news, journalism, and media in general.
This resulted in me pursuing degrees in journalism, communication, and education. Along the way, I spent time as an entrepreneur, a radio disk jockey, a community newspaper editor, a freelancer, a high school journalism adviser, and a college professor.
As part of my professional and educational journey, I began pursuing my Ph.D. in Leadership Communication at Kansas State University with the help of my adviser, Dr. Jacob Groshek.
Through this work, I have seen how rural media is often overlooked in academic research and national journalism coverage.
That is how “Cultivating Misinformation” was born as my dissertation project. Here is how I describe it:
The Cultivating Misinformation research project stems from the lived experiences of Vogts as he interacted with farmers and ranchers throughout the Midwest who spend countless hours in farm trucks, tractors, and other implements of the farming trade. Whether driving through pastures to check cattle or through fields to plant and harvest crops, these individuals need to pass the time.
One way to do so is to listen to music or the radio, and in the rural parts of the country, conservative talk radio is readily available to fill that entertainment void. All it takes is a twist of the dial. Because of this, partisan mis/disinformation spreads. The farmers and ranchers talk about what they heard at the CO-OP or other rural gathering spots, and they share their ideas via social media. When they receive affirmation, it emboldens them and deepens polarization, and then the process repeats itself with greater amplification and fervor.
This is something Vogts experienced firsthand while working for farmers in western Kansas during the summer months when he was on break from his high school teaching job.
Yet, national media outlets may not understand this, exemplified by the surprise political pundits experienced when Donald Trump beat Hillary Clinton for the presidency, an election many in the national media had called in favor of Clinton before the first ballot was cast.
By understanding that mis/disinformation can spread through the speakers of tractors plowing rows in fields, greater insights can be gleaned concerning how misinformation spreads. Though social media plays a role, it isn’t the only culprit. It is possible polarization and mis/disinformation grows out of the fields in America’s heartland.
Along with this project, I knew I wanted to establish my research agenda and focus on small-town and rural community journalism happening at the local level. To do so, I wanted a dedicated place to share this work and other information of interest.
This idea spawned Rural Media Research and this site.
For now, it undoubtedly will be experiencing numerous evolutions, but I’m excited to have an online home for this work. I hope it serves as a resource to others and a motivation for me to keep pursuing this line of inquiry.
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out.