NEXT, THEY’LL COME FOR THE NEWSPAPERS
A Fearful Screed on the Great Journalism Die Off
By Alan Goldfarb
Sept. 13, 2022
First, they came for the news racks on the street, most filled with penny-shoppers and porn papers. Most of us ignore them. But they’re first amendment documents. They clutter sidewalks, most with broken glass and oozing with city detritus. Next, they’ll come for the daily newspaper racks. And then, they’ll come for the newspapers.
You can’t blame me for sounding the alarm about what is The Great Newspaper Die Off and soon We’re All Gonna Not Know What the Hell is Going On, for Real. And so, I’m a newspaper alarmist on several levels.
MYTHS OF THE SPECTATOR
From a PR Perspective
By Alan Goldfarb
Sept. 6, 2022
Thank goodness this doesn’t happen very much any longer, but it used to be the first question every prospective PR client would ask was, “Can you get me in the Spectator?”. Yeah, sure, why not?
Perhaps it doesn’t happen as often any longer because maybe The Wine Spectator’s influence is waning as the world’s wine demographic trends younger. But the “S” word question lingers, followed by me saying, “It’s not going to be easy, but of course, I’ll try.” Followed by them saying, “I hear ya gotta pay to get in there.”
That is an absolute myth, bubbemeises and horsepucky as Colonel Potter used to say (look it up). I know for a fact that one can pay through the nose to the good folks at the Spectator – and it unequivocally will get you bupkes.
WHO WILL SAVE THE DAY NOW FOR NAPA?
Before It’s Too Late for the Napkins to Figure it Out
By Alan Goldfarb
August 9, 2022
Item: Dave Chappelle Gets Grumpy About Napa Noise Ordinance, Insists On Going Past Curfew Twice at Blue Note Jazz Fest
• Sfist, August 8, 2022
Item: Napa County Residents, Tourists React Following Legionnaires' Disease Outbreak
• NBC Bay Area, August 5, 2022
Item: The New Napa: Yadkin Valley Wine Country
• Town Carolina Magazine, August 1, 2022
Item: Napa Valley has perfected one type of wine. But is it starting to all taste the same?
• San Francisco Chronicle, July 27, 2022
It seems as though the end of days is coming for America’s most iconic wine region. Maybe it’s because Napa Valley has taken it in the shorts lately. But in my experience – going back to the late ‘70s – Napkins are a resilient bunch.
Proud UC Davis Grads Made to Cow-er
By Alan Goldfarb
July 20, 2022
Along about now, alums of UC Davis – the Harvard of the wine industry – are having a cow. The reference, admittedly way too easy as you’ll see, goes to the geniuses at the school, who have decided that it would be far better to call themselves the Davis Cows. Aggies – officially the UC Davis Agricultures –was far too provincial and lacked pizzazz; Now it’s Go Fightin’ Cows, repel them, repel them, make them relinquish the oval. That’ll scare the grape juice out of ‘em.
Gimme a Balanced Wine & A Real Story
And I’ll Give You a Good PR Run for Your Money
By Alan Goldfarb
July 13, 2022
A family member asked me recently regarding my clients, “What if you don’t like their wine?” Meaning: What do you do if you don’t like the wine; and do you even take the winery as a client? The answer is nuanced.
My first instinct is not to take the client; and I have eschewed wineries as clients if I absolutely did not like their wines. How can I possibly justify – to the client; and very importantly, to the media (which are my target audience) – that I don’t like the wine; and then get behind them? I don’t deal in hyperbole. I can’t be dishonest. And I won’t ever spin a yarn about a wine that doesn’t deserve to be spun. In other words: Everything PR-types are perceived to trade in. I’m not one of those. I need to love the wine and I want to like my clients