Brian Williams Scolded By SWRA
August 14th, 2006
The intense response from the wine industry to the WSWA’s study last Thursday continues. This time, the target is Brian Williams and the crew from NBC news who ran an out of context fluff piece Wednesday night featuring the soon to be released study (Click here to view the newscast - PC only). The Specialty Wine Retailers Association (SWRA) sent a letter Monday afternoon to the crew at NBC admonishing them for their one-sided and deceptive reporting.
When speaking to the segment’s case study in underage internet ordering (the teenagers purchased Absinthe from a UK website), SWRA asserts:
(The) sting was not only a “sham”, it was a criminal sham and those who authorized it should be prosecuted
The SWRA is not out of place with their criticism. In addition to being the only news source to interpret the study’s findings in the WSWA’s favor, they clearly tried to associate wine shipping with the illegal importation of the hard liquor Absinthe. In one scene, the reporter stands next to a bottle of wine, a shipping box (including the “Adult Signature Required” sticker) and recites the policy of one online merchant, “We don’t think the Feds will shoot a stun grenade through your window for placing a little online order”… which was actually pulled from a UK company’s website in the general “Is Absinthe legal” category… having nothing to do with shipping the product.
SWRA’s letter goes on to cite examples of retail compliance and basically argues the common case that teenagers won’t spend the time, money or logistical effort to order wine online. It’s a fun read and the first response directed towards the softball pitchers at NBC.
