ACT LOCAL: Journalist Anne Fitten Glenn discussed covering your city's beer scene—and embracing controvery—at the 2010 Beer Bloggers Conference.
With the preponderance of beer blogs following in the well-worn tracks created and trod by others—be it beer reviews, self-serving journals or homebrewing how-tos—I was jarred by what two speakers in particular said at the 2010 Beer Bloggers Conference, held Nov. 5-7 in Boulder, Colo.
Saturday’s keynote speaker, Stone Brewing CEO Greg Koch, and Sunday presenter Anne Fitten Glenn, an Asheville, N.C.-based journalist, both proposed the idea of beer bloggers using investigative journalism to enact real change in their local community and beyond.
What a breath of fresh air.
Koch directly challenged those bloggers in attendance to expose the illegal and unethical practices that pervert the three tier system that was designed to divide power among brewers, distributors and retailers. His comments were aimed squarely at retail establishments, where Koch said brewers essentially have to pay to play. It’s a charge that was echoed in a recent article published in the Nov. 22, 2010 edition of Crain’s Chicago Business. The Stone CEO even encouraged writers to pose as a brewery representative—going as far as re-labeling bottles of beer—to see what happens when they ask a bar owner how to get their beer sold at the establishment. Demands for free beer and free T-shirts were among the illegal practices Koch claimed to have experienced.
Glenn, meanwhile, brought attention to the Honest Pint Project during her presentation on covering your local beer scene effectively. The newspaper columnist who also publishes her own beer-related blog called Brewgasm admitted to visiting bars and measuring each location’s “pint” to determine whether an “honest,” 16-fluid-ounce pint was truly being served. In some cases, the pints were dishonest—served in a deceptive 14-ounce glass, for example. Glenn stressed that attendees should not be afraid to be controversial in their blog work. Frankly I found the comments to be a nice counterpoint to several presenters who said that they only review beers they like and purposely avoid writing anything negative.
Now, I’m not vowing to lead the charge when it comes to shining a light on the corrupt aspects of the beer industry. My primary goal here is to help people learn how to brew their own beer at home. But I do think it is easy for a blogger writing about beer—myself included—to coast along, reveling in the fun aspects of the beer culture. Koch and Glenn did a great job of making me define my comfort zone and look beyond it. I view beer blogging differently now. And I will keep one eye focused critically toward the beer industry, governmental involvement, and brewing culture, ready to fight for my passion as necessary.
Postscript
In the spirit of fighting for one’s passions, I have an important issue to raise. Council members in the city of Tampa, Fla., will meet this Thursday, Dec. 2, to potentially determine the fate of Cigar City Brewing’s tap room. I encourage you to learn more about the issue through information at the Cigar City Brewing blog as well as the great coverage from the Florida-based blogs Road Trips for Beer, And Beer for the Daddy and Mike Loves Beer. Then take action if you feel led to do so.
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Thanks for the mentions, the great write-up, and for listening. Come see us in Asheville!
Posted by Brewgasm | 29. Nov, 2010, 9:45 AMThanks for checking out the post and commenting. I come to central NC once or twice a year to visit family and I will definitely be stopping in Asheville whenever I do. Will keep you posted.
Posted by Doug Brumley | 29. Nov, 2010, 11:06 AMThanks for the p.s. and the link to my (and others) story on the Cigar City tasting room situation. It’s just a few more days until the council meets on this again, and I hope they consider all it would mean if the place were to be shut down.
On another note, something bothered me about Greg Koch’s call for “investigative” journalism into the allegations of illegal and unethical activities in the beer distribution business. It seems to me that adopting his suggested “undercover” methods would leave you open to civil and/or criminal fraud charges.
I’ve been involved with enough investigative journalism pieces in the past to know that the vast majority of the investigation involves hours and hours and hours of sifting through official paperwork, crunching data and looking for patterns, then doing the actual reporting (interviewing, on-site visits, etc.)
Open-records laws are the investigative journalist’s best friend.
Posted by Gerard Walen | 29. Nov, 2010, 11:48 AMThanks for the comment, Gerard. I agree with your point that conducting such research could leave a blogger open to some legal entanglements (especially costly, frivolous lawsuits). That said, I doubt there are many bloggers who would go blindly into conducting a sting operation. (Could make for a fun short-film script, though.)
Having worked in a newsroom that included a great investigative reporter, I think any writer’s best bet is the tried-and-true process of developing sources. Open records laws are certainly a vital resource too, as you said.
My reaction in the above post was more to the spirit of the comments made by the two presenters, and how they contrasted with what I perceive as the comfortable status quo of the blogging community. Certainly I don’t expect an army of investigative beer bloggers to develop overnight, but I do hope people are pressured a bit to constantly think beyond the boundaries of the proverbial “box.”
Posted by Doug Brumley | 02. Dec, 2010, 7:28 PMPoints well taken, Doug. I just felt a little nervous when he told people to do things that can be perceived as unethical or unlawful in order to expose unethical or unlawful behavior.
That said, I don’t think anyone would really employ that tactic if they have a lick of sense in their head, and all the people there seemed to have that.
BTW, where did you work in news? I last worked at the Sarasota Herald-Tribune in Florida as assistant business editor.
Posted by Gerard Walen | 05. Jan, 2011, 3:22 PMGerard, thanks for the follow-up and sorry for the delayed response. During college and shortly thereafter (1993-95) I was an intern then sports stringer for the Greensboro News and Record in Greensboro, N.C. After some time in magazine world I worked for Nashville’s alt-weekly from 1998-2001. Started as proofreader, then listings editor, then arts editor managing a great staff of arts writers covering the city’s offerings in music, theater, etc. Still doing writing/editing work on a freelance basis (mostly online) but do kinda miss the smell of newsprint every now and then.
Posted by Doug Brumley | 04. Feb, 2011, 4:11 PM