4 News Look Ma, No Wine!: Global Shortage Nicole Halseth News Editor n what is truly an international tragedy, a new study has revealed that global wine production, after peaking in 2004, has continued to fall steadily since then. This has resulted in a wine shortage, with global consumer demand significantly surpassing the available supply of this delicious beverage. The study that revealed this catastrophe was undertaken by the Morgan Stanley financial services firm, based in the US. According fo the research, demand for wine “exceeded supply by 300m cases in 2012." The study claims this is "the deepest shortfall in over 40 years of records.” Additionally, wine production appears to have dropped to its lowest levels in over four decades. The study also reveals that the French still hold the title for the world’s largest consumers of wine, though the US is coming in at a close second. This shortage is especially evident when compared to peak levels in 2004. In that year, global supply of wine outweighed demand by over 600 million cases. Tragic. In regards to global wine consumption, levels have been steadily rising since 1996. Presently, the world consumes around three billion cases of wineeach year. Currently, with almost one million wine producers worldwide, total annual production is around 28 billion cases. In the short term, this will likely mean that wine consumers will have to rely on stored inventories from previous years to fill the gaps in supply. In the long term, this means wine prices will rise in the future. You will be paying more for your bottle than ever before. One of the reasons for this shortage may be attributed to the growing climate in wine-regions in Europe these past few years. Poor weather, among-cther contributing factors, has contributed toa sharp fall in production across Europe. There was a lO percent decrease in European production. just last year, and there has been a 25 percent decrease in total since the peak year of 2004, However, while production in Europe continues to fall, production in other areas of the world is starting to rise. Places like the US, Australia, Argentina, Chile, South Africa, and New Zealand have been rising in both prominence and production in recent years when it Comes to the global wine community. These countries are picking up Europe's slack - and its profit - as demand rises. This also opens up possibilities for more local producers fo gain a stronger hold in Canada. In BC alone, the Okanagan Valley is a noted producer of high-quality wine. Along with other entrepreneurs, these smaller producers might just be able to rise to the occasion, and fill the demand (and glasses) of people around the world. All may not be lost after all. Peter Pan Grows Up: 2013 Regional Newspaper Conference Nicole Halseth News Editor rince George was the site of the 7oth annual fall Western, Prairies and Northern Regional Conference from 25 October to 27 October 2018. The conference, run by local Over the Edge Newspaper in association with the Canadian University Press, was aptly entitled “The Peter Pan Generation in Modern Media’ and was held at the Sandman Signature Hotel for the duration of the weekend. The conference was host to students and employees of University newspapers across the country, in addition to the long line-up of incredible speakers. Members from student newspapers such as: The Peak, The Other Press, The Phoenix, Over the Edge, and The Omega attended, as well as members from The Gateway, The Sheaf, and The Griff. After an exciting Friday night pub social and karaoke at the Thirsty Moose, delegates were up bright and early Saturday morning to catch the opening remarks by Shelley Termuende of Over the Edge and Canadian University Press staff, Erin Hudson and Brendan Kergin. After a cup or two (or three) of coffee, courtesy of the Sandman Signature, the first official sessions of the day began. Bill Phillios, editorial director for The Prince George Free Press led a discussion on working for a community newspaper, while Neil Godbout, managing editor of The Prince George Citizen presented on the future of journalism in the next room. With that, the conference was off and running. Themes of this years’ conference appeared to be getting a job in journalism and what constitutes good’ journalism. The full list of speakers and their topics is as follows: Bill Phillips, Editorial Director, Prince George Free Press: “Rolling with the punches as a community newspaper.” Neil Godbout, Managing Editor, Prince George Citizen: “The future of journalism.” Andrew Kurjata, CBC Daybreak North radio host: “How to get a job you technically don't quality for: My experience of moving up in unconventional ways.” Kelly Linehan, CKPG News: On her experience with getting a job in the field of journalism. Mark Neilson and Peter James, Reporters from The Citizen: “Legal journalism and the courts: find great stories without getting sued” and “Social media is a great story source but you have to do the reporting.” Matt Wood, Communications Manager, UNBC: “Crisis News Reporting-His story of reporting during 9/11.” Robert Murray, Multimedia Sports Reporter, Fort MacMurray Today & CUP alumni: “#Writeforsports.” Christina Doll, Marketing and Communications Manager, Initiatives Prince George: ‘How your university education can help your career.” Katherine Lapointe, Alistair Mclnnis & Wil Fundal: “Life atter CUP: Securing your first job.” Kealin McCabe, Head Research librarian, UNBC: “Improving your online professionalism through social media.” Adrian Edwards, Digital Development Advisor, The Citizen: “The perfect marketing strategy and how to develop it.” Brendan Kergin, Mike Davies, Jacey Giib, Natalie Serafini, Isabelle Legault & Sam Brooks: Writing and design critiques. Andrea Johnson, Writer/editor, Communications Services, College of New Caledonia: “Transitioning from journalism to communications.” Katherine Lapointe, CWA social Keynote speaker, Gordon Hoekstra, The Vancouver Sun: “How to be successful in journalism, what does that mean?” These speakers were both interesting and engaging, with a particular relevance for students and individuals interested in possibly pursuing a career in journalism. The real highlights of the sessions were often the interactions between the speakers themselves, as many sat in on their colleagues’ talks. After keynote speaker Gordon Hoekstra of The Vancouver Sun presented to a packed room on his experiences working for The Prince George Citizen, and transitioning to The Vancouver Sun, the conference concluded its official capacity. What followed was a Halloween-themed costume party, ensuring the conference ended on a bang. Without the combined efforts of all involved, speakers, participants, volunteers, sponsors, and staff, this weekend would not have been possible. A shout out to all of you for your hard work and time, and on behalf of Over the Edge, thank you very much for a great weekend!