I thought I would share a letter sent to the Press Democrat who blatantly had a story blackout on a crucial issue for Sonoma County–clearcutting hundreds of acres of redwoods to put in more grapes for wine making while the rest of the state and country had the story covered. Shameless.
–Larry
Dear Editor:
Newspapers and other media all over the country are covering a proposal to
clear-cut redwood trees in the Gualala River watershed in Sonoma County to
plant vineyards. These include the Marin Independent Journal, the Oakland
Tribune, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Sacramento Bee and the San Jose
Mercury News in California, and the Boston Globe, the Washington Post,
Forbes.com, the Florida Times-Union and the Huffington Post elsewhere. Many
ran an article earlier this month under the headline: ‘Redwoods vs. Red
Wine’.
The Press Democrat apparently decided that the Associated Press story titled
‘Plan to Cut Forest for Vineyards Faces Opposition’ was of no interest to
readers of the online or print editions.
Strangely, other stories concerning the winery itself (Artesa) and its
parent company (Codorniu) are regularly covered in the business section of
the Press Democrat.
One might wonder about these editorial decisions, and, possibly, reach
somewhat cynical conclusions.