(ORLANDO, Fla.) - Florida Farm Bureau Federation
honored Letitia Stein, a reporter for the St. Petersburg Times,
as the 2004 Newsperson of the Year during its annual meeting Oct.
26-29 at the Coronado Springs Resort. Stein writes for the Time’s
Brandon Edition. The award is presented for outstanding coverage
of Florida’s agriculture industry.
“Florida agriculture depends on local newspapers,
radio stations and television stations to provide the public
with accurate, balanced information about Florida’s second-largest
industry,” said Rod Hemphill, director of communications
and public relations for Florida Farm Bureau, the state’s
largest general-interested agricultural organization. “In
recognition of that fact, we have for many years recognized
reporters and editors who, in the judgment of our county Farm
Bureaus, have done an outstanding job reporting on agriculture.”
Stein was nominated by the Hillsborough County
Farm Bureau board of directors. President Shawn Crocker noted
she had written a number of articles about agriculture in Hillsborough
County, interviewed Farm Bureau members and even covered the
Hillsborough County delegation when it traveled to Farm Bureau
Day in Tallahassee this past March.
Florida Farm Bureau Federation celebrated 63
years of service to agriculture this year. It is the largest
independent agricultural organization in the state with more
than 152,000 member-families, statewide. There are 61 county
Farm Bureaus in Florida, where agriculture accounts for $62
billion in annual economic impacts across the state. For more
information on the annual meeting, visit http://FloridaFarmBureau.org.
Photo available.
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Florida
Farm Bureau Federation