Good article. The whole point of PR is obviously to influence. And, like Andrew Connor says in his comment, some of these guys are pretty good at doing that. The ones who ask for a guest post aren't the pros, it seems to me — it's the softly, softly ones that are far more likely to wield significant influence in the long run.
Simply by meeting and talking to PRs and wine retailers/producers, I reckon we're being influenced. Unavoidably. It's that much harder to slag off the work of someone you've met and got on with.
Tasting blind is pretty much the only way to strip away those subconscious biases, I suspect.
Anyhow, I agree that transparency is essential. We should always declare an interest and leave the reader to judge.
The best influencers are the subtle influencers
Good article. The whole point of PR is obviously to influence. And, like Andrew Connor says in his comment, some of these guys are pretty good at doing that. The ones who ask for a guest post aren't the pros, it seems to me — it's the softly, softly ones that are far more likely to wield significant influence in the long run.
Simply by meeting and talking to PRs and wine retailers/producers, I reckon we're being influenced. Unavoidably. It's that much harder to slag off the work of someone you've met and got on with.
Tasting blind is pretty much the only way to strip away those subconscious biases, I suspect.
Anyhow, I agree that transparency is essential. We should always declare an interest and leave the reader to judge.