If, like me, you use the BBC news website to catch up on what’s happening in the world, you may have seen evidence of the presentation of news items being skewed by external influences. I just saw something on the site today which leads me to believe it’s still happening, despite them being aware of the problem.

There’s a screenshot below of a section of their site which displays the most popular and most shared text news items and the most viewed video stories. There’s one story shown in the most read section, “Beer with 32% strength launched” about a Scottish craft  Brewery called Brewdog who have created a beer which has a very high alcohol content. Trouble is, the story was from November – why is it suddenly appearing as a ‘most-read’ story in the middle of February?

I have a suspicion that this story could be an example of one being bumped up the list artificially. It may be no coincidence that the brewery concerned are skillful in the art of viral marketing (as well as making excellent beer) and they have a share-ownership scheme which is coming to a close and has been widely promoted over the past few days.

OK, so if you like Brewdog (and you think their viral marketing methods are doing this), you may think they’re clever in the way that they’re getting national news coverage for free. However, if nothing else it should make everybody think twice about the way our news is presented and the fact that we’re constantly manipulated by all kinds of marketing and political / religious / commercial  lobbying ploys.

We went to a wine sampling last week. My wife and I were asked over by a friend in Fakenham who said that he’d answered an online ad to get a free gift in return for an hour’s tasting session. The idea was to try half a dozen different wines before being invited to order a case of them.

When we arrived the rep was already there, armed with two small suitcase-type boxes full of reds and whites. After being asked about the types of wine we normally preferred, we were offered shot-sized plastic glasses, a third filled with three whites and three reds from various countries.

The rep, who was very pleasant and not at all pushy, described each of them in turn before we sampled them. He seemed reasonably knowledgeable, although came out with some marketing-talk which was a bit dodgy. He said that as the wine contained no additives it would keep fresh after opening for several weeks. Also, he insisted that you wouldn’t get a hangover by drinking them (again a refence to their lack of impurities). I took both those statements with a large pinch of salt, but still promised myself to judge the wine purely on merit. 

How did they taste? They were nice enough (except for one red which I couldn’t bring myself to finish). Trouble was, they cost from around £9 to £15 a bottle plus VAT and to me, they seemed to be no better than a bottle you can pick up in Tesco for a fiver! This was emphasised by the fact that when the rep had left (heading for an appointment in North Park – sadly, without selling us any wine) we shared a bottle of supermarket red which was every bit as good as any of the samples we’d just tasted!

For your info, the winery is called Pieroth, a German company with their UK arm based in Luton. The rep covers a wide area across North Norfolk, so if you’re interested look them up (their free gift – a desktop ‘weather station’ looked useful). Thanks to Graham for the interesting invite -and the very tasty supermarket plonk!

I’ve just pulled the plug on the old Wensum.net website and livened up the new one. Like my blog, it’s created in Wordpress - which will hopefully give potential clients an idea of what’s possible using the software.

I’m really liking Wordpress. It strikes a pretty good balance between power and useability. The new site doesn’t particularly look like a blog, although it has some elements of one. The layout theme has provided a couple of random glitches, but otherwise it has been pretty well-behaved.

I’ll be interested to get viewers’ feedback.

The next Kickstart Fakenham meeting has been set for Thursday October 22nd at 7pm in the Wensum Lodge, Fakenham. There is an open invitation for anybody to come along and see what’s being done for the town by the group and make suggestions & contributions.

The basic agenda (subject to change) is as follows:
Committee announcements and prospective changes.
Formation of Carnival Committee/other Carnival Business.
Forthcoming events including Autumn Tidy Up and Christmas Lights event.
KSF Website & Logo.
Top of the Shops.
Any other business.

… pass it on!

The Leisure Society – Last of the Melting Snow

This is the best contemporary band I’ve found out about for a while. Their viral marketing is nice too! Here’s a Youtube video of them performing in one of a series entitled ‘bandstand busking’ (proving they can do it live as well as in the studio).

Clever lyrics, great playing and a style reminiscent of… well, perhaps a cross between Penguin Cafe Orchestra and Elbow. I’m a fan now – remarkable, as I was drawn in by a simple one-off ad on Spotify!