How Journalism Works At Wine Industry Insight

Here’s how an article works.

I hear about something that may be news. I learn about these through public documents, emailed and phoned tips, or sometimes by putting two-and-two together and looking around the right territory.

CONTACT MADE WITH EVERY POSSIBLE SOURCE

Then I contact everyone possible. This includes the people directly in the news and others who are in a credible position to have solid information. I ask those people for the names of other sources as well as for documents that have a bearing.

In contacting people, I use email, phone and especially personal cell phones which are the most likely to avoid time wasting barriers.

A lot of the time, people who would rather not talk about something simply do not call back. No one from Cosentino, for example, has ever returned a call or an email.

NEWS, UNLIKE WINE, DOES NOT IMPROVE WITH AGE

Unlike a magazine which has weeks and months to write an article, or a newspaper which may take days, an Internet publication like Wine Industry Insight works with the same sort of deadlines as television or radio — hours.

The goal is to report news before it becomes history. Because news, unlike wine, rarely improves with age. And fortunately, the Internet allows speed updates, corrections and additions when new information becomes available.

UPDATES AND CORRECTIONS MADE QUICKLY

Am I always right? Of course not!

That’s why I correct errors and issue updates and follow-ups as soon as I get the information.

Of course, people contacted for an article do not sit anxiously by their phones and emails waiting for me to write or to call. Some unreturned calls — or those returned late — have many innocent and very logical explanations.

Regardless, I’m always ready to update or correct an article as soon as possible.

UNRETURNED CALLS & EMAILS SOMETIMES HAVE ULTERIOR MOTIVES

In the decades that I have worked as a journalist, author and investigative reporter covering everything from the White House to Congress and from city courts to the Supreme Court, I’ve learned that many times people do not call back because they think it will prevent a negative story from being published.

It also gives them time to leak selective details to a more friendly reporter in hopes of sandbagging a more accurate but less-friendly story.

And it offers plenty of time to misplace documents, silence employees and to find a rug to sweep things under.

NO RESPONSE = NO ROOM FOR COMPLAINTS

Journalism is an inherently flawed process. Newsworthy events sometimes need to be based on incomplete information. This is particularly frustrating when the direct actors with the best information simply don’t respond.

Sometimes, they respond a day or two later, usually because they’ve seen an article. These folks wrap themselves in a self-righteous victimhood and expound long and hard about journalism standards and the like.

The fact is: those who fail to respond have no room to complain.

On a recent article, I left a message on the voicemail for a tremendously busy grower.  Despite the demands of crush in full swing, he took time to check his messages and returned my call. The main player in that article, who received a call and voicemail on his personal cell phone, didn’t call back until the next day.

If someone wants an article concerning them to be accurate, then they need to respond. Period. I work very, very hard to be fair, accurate , complete and in context. But that doesn’t mean I’ll sit on an article when it can be confirmed by multiple, credible and independent sources.