Tuesday, 2 November, 2004
Lesley Beake
When I began editing WineNews six years ago, the Internet was in its infancy and the wine industry (well, some of it at any rate) was fighting a rearguard action against having it anywhere near their business or personal life. Times sure have changed.
In those days we sent out a very plain text newssheet every week, with four or five items on it, and the living was easy. Now, with three items a day (on average) plus the attendant fleet of pictures, captions, web-connections and press releases it, and its archive, has become a gigantic source of information, and a record of the industry.
It has also become a full-time job, and not one that I can handle while simultaneously editing Winescape Magazine and fulfilling my commitments as a writer of books for children and young people (the night-shift job!). So I shall be handing over much of the responsibility of WineNews, and concentrating on the magazine.
Winescape has succeeded beyond our wildest dreams and has proved itself up to the task of representing the incredible tourist experience of the Cape Winelands. Our distribution list continues to grow in a highly specialized direction, pinpointing wine shows and events abroad wherever South African wine is promoted.
So ... WineNews is changing again - as it always will. I will continue to be involved in some aspects of the site, and it is with great pride that I hand over the fully mature WineNews to its new custodian. Go Jeanine!