If you saw Tuesday’s edition of the Times-Standard, you couldn’t have missed the splashy, above-the-fold cover feature about Sunset Magazine‘s most recent issue featuring Humboldt County on it’s own cover.
The hypish piece was “special to the Times-Standard,” and was essentially a story about the Humboldt County Convention and Visitors’ Bureau’s efforts to help the venerable West Coast culture and travel magazine showcase Humboldt. It’s not that far a stretch. Sunset is based out of the Bay Area and Humboldt County destinations have been featured in it a number of times. And this kind of thing is sort of the CVB’s job, right? But while the bureau was patting itself on the back in local media, the five-million-reader Sunset committed an egregious faux pas.
A caption embedded on the magazine’s cover shot of a sparkling colorful beach vista reads “Moonstone Beach, near Trinidad, California.” But, after careful examination by the Journal’s panel of experts, it’s very clear that is, in fact, NOT Moonstone Beach. It’s Luffenholtz Beach, located just a few miles north. So getcher facts straight, Sunset, and, Humboldt County Convention and Vistors Bureau — maybe give your next visitors a better map.
If you’re into seeing the local sights showcased on a national stage, Sunset also posted a slideshow from its Humboldt tour to its website (with another geographically questionable title: “Top 24 Sites on California’s Lost Coast). You might see someone you know.
This article appears in Ground Breaker.
I think we’re lucky that they used a picture of a Humboldt county beach at all.
Add to that the fact that the visitors bureau gave Sunset a list of 25 places to see in Hum County that is riddled with errors. The visitors bureau is a badly run outfit that does a sloppy job.
On the whole the Sunset coverage was not very good and fails to mention any of the incredible places to go to inland other than spots on 299. Since their main source was the visitors bureau they feature many mundane, commercial spots. Too bad. We need a creative and knowledgeable visitors bureau.
Nice catch! I didn’t give the beach pic a second look
Hi Grant,
We always appreciate challenging feedback. Glad you blogged about the issue and included some of our links. Just thought I’d let you know that we didn’t see the cover art so we couldn’t have helped ID it. I guess it’s fair to say that Luffenholtz, one of our favorite beaches, became a “Lost Coast” of sorts in the press.
Yours,
Richard Stenger | Humboldt County CVB
o 707-443-5097×4 | c 707-497-8134
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