Wednesday, January 04, 2012

Des Moines | Roll Call nabs leading farm reporter

Philip Brasher, perhaps Gannett's most influential agriculture industry reporter, is joining Roll Call as editor of the publication's Executive Briefing on Agriculture and Food, according to Media Bistro, which cites a memo today.

Brasher
Roll Call is one of the most influential publications covering the federal government. Brasher starts Jan. 17.

Brasher joined Gannett's Washington Bureau soon after The Des Moines Register laid him off in the big June layoff of newspaper workers. When the Register cut him loose, industry observers said Brasher's departure would have broad implications. "The agriculture industry will now have a free reign over coverage of national food policy issues in the Midwest," Paula Crossfield wrote on the Civil Eats blog.

The Roll Call memo says: "Phil is known inside and outside the beltway as one of the best journalists on agriculture policy, having covered the beat for more than a decade. He wrote about ag policy for the Des Moines Register from 2002-2011, and for several years before that for the Associated Press, where he worked for 20 years. He is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin."

No word on whether Gannett will be replacing him.

11 comments:

  1. Oh my gosh where will I gobto read about Pork Bellies??? Oh that's right I don't care about Pork Bellies.

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  2. How about food safety at slaughterhouses? The future of enormous taxpayer-supported ethanol subsidies?

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  3. @6:09, Ever eat bacon? If so, you should care.

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  4. 6:09 must be a Gannett exec or equally clueless online wizard.

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  5. Gannett hire a replacement for Brasher? Ha! I'm sure his salary will be thrown in the pot to hire another VP for verticals or marketing or other such nonsense.

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  6. Good for him!

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  7. I am very happy that this gentleman landed on his feet for an organization that will utilize his talent. The cluelessness of the powers that be in the CP continues to astound me.

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  8. Roll Call? Yeah a lot of foks outside the Beltway read Roll Call. In fact I'd wager no one posting on this string reads it. You guys would cheer if he was working for Star Magazine.

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  9. 9:48, Just because you don't read Roll Call doesn't mean nobody does. The fact remains that this is an important aspect of newspaper reporting, particularly when it comes to covering the federal government. I realize it's not covering what you may consider the most incredible read, the passion topic of the day, but this is why this publication will probably be in existence much longer than any Gannett digital website. People actually want to read news, not fluff. I hear that all the time.

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  10. Jim, I get that it was the holidays, but you missed a big one with the Obama ad takeover of the Des Moines Register site on the day of the caucuses.
    (Here's one link: http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/01/obama-2012-occupying-des-moines-register-homepage/).
    That's one of the most disturbing examples of editors selling out to advertising I've seen in ages, and it slipped through because everyone was tired from the holiday and focused on the political news.
    Can you imagine the uproar if that had been USA Today?

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  11. How's that DB (I don't mean defensive back) running the circus in the Des Moines newsroom doing? Has he alienated 80 percent of the staff yet?

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