| For immediate release September 25, 2000 |
Jessamyn Sarmiento, NPR 202-414-2304 jsarmiento@npr.org |
From Rustic to High-Tech: NPR News Reveals a Rural Readiness for the E-Revolution
Saline County, MO-From Wall Street to rural
America, technology has both increased our productivity and changed the way
we conduct business. To stay afloat in today's competing global economy,
corporations, small business owners and even farmers are facing the
challenges associated with adapting their business operations to new
technology.
As a part of the NPR News Series The
Changing Face of America, technology reporter John McChesney returns to his
family roots in Saline County, MO to examine the adaptation of technology in
the agriculturally rich, central Missouri River Valley. McChesney reflects
on the past 50 years in that region and remembers that in his childhood
there was no electricity or running water. Now farmers use Global
Positioning Satellites, computers to plant and harvest, and automated
breading to raise hogs. Technology has been both a curse and a blessing to
these farmers. They can increase their yields, but that brings prices down.
Additionally, the industrialization of animal husbandry has raised moral
questions about the confinement of livestock.
Tune in to NPR's All Things Considered on
Wednesday, September 27, 2000 as McChesney takes a closer look at how
farmers are adjusting to the digital revolution. For station information
and broadcast times, please visit NPR's Web site at www.npr.org.
The Changing Face of America is an
18-month-long series that tells the stories of regular, everyday Americans
and the issues they face at a time of dramatic and rapid change. NPR News
correspondents explore and report on such diverse issues as immigration,
inter-generational conflict, economic development, urban growth, education,
technology and leisure, all within the context of a changing America.
Feature segments of The Changing Face of America appear on Morning
Edition® with Bob Edwards and All Things Considered®. As part of this
series, NPR's midday call-in program, Talk of the Nation,® is traveling to
cities and towns across America for monthly broadcast forums before live
audiences.
The series is supported by a grant from The
Pew Charitable Trusts. The Pew Charitable Trusts invest in ideas that fuel
timely action and results. It is focusing a significant portion of its
resources on supporting programs that stimulate participation in civic
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