It's Not News, It's FARK

It's Not News, It's Fark: How Mass Media Tries to Pass Off Crap as News
Author Drew Curtis
Country United States
Language English
Subject Mass Media
Genre Non-fiction
Publisher Gotham Books
Publication date
May 2007
Pages 278 pp
ISBN 978-1-59240-366-0
OCLC 226975395

It's Not News, It's Fark: How Mass Media Tries to Pass Off Crap as News is the first book by Fark.com founder Drew Curtis.[1] It is a critical look at the Mass Media industry and the go-to stories used when there is a lack of hard news to report.

Background

Curtis' site Fark.com was one of the 100 largest English speaking sites receiving over 2,000 submissions a day and over 4 million unique visitors per month,[2] often from the news sources themselves.[3][4] It is generally seen as the destination for strange news stories.[5][6] In the introduction to his book, Curtis noted that running Fark caused him to notice specific patterns within the mass media.[1]

Overview

The book is divided into eight sections, each dealing with a different pattern exhibited by the media industry. Within each section are several specific news stories exemplifying that pattern. At the end of each example, Curtis also lists humorous comments from the original Fark.com discussion thread which covered the news story. The topics are:

Reviews and press

The book peaked at #12 on Amazon.com's non-fiction bestseller list.[7] It was reviewed positively by Stephen King, Dave Barry, and Chez Pazienza—a former CNN producer.[8][9] Despite its success, Slate.com reviewer Jack Shafer noted that it received "scant attention" from the mainstream press, noting that the Tucson Citizen was the largest American newspaper to review it.[10] Shafer implied that the book's criticism of mainstream media and acerbic tone may have been responsible.[10] However, the book was more widely recognized in broadcasting, with profiles in NPR, Fox News, and G4TV.[11][12] The book was later released in paperback.[13]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Curtis, Drew (2007). It's Not News, It's Fark: How Mass Media Tries to Pass Off Crap as News. Gotham Books. ISBN 978-1-59240-366-0.
  2. Interview w/ Drew Curtis
  3. Fark.com: Lynn Cullen Show
  4. Takahashi, Dean. "Takahashi: Three who had the right idea at the right time." San Jose Mercury News. January 2, 2008. Retrieved on January 14, 2008.
  5. Alexa.com rank for Fark 1,933
  6. Smiley Pete: What the Fark?
  7. Bio: Drew Curtis for Leigh Speakers Bureau
  8. Cover of It's Not News, It's Fark UK edition
  9. Fark.com INNIF page
  10. 1 2 Shafer, Jack (October 4, 2007). "Fark Founder Flattens Fourth Estate". Slate.com. Retrieved 2008-06-06. "For all its insight, Curtis' book has gotten scant attention from the mainstream press."
  11. "Fark.com: Making Money Off of Goofy News". NPR. May 7, 2007. Retrieved 2008-06-06.
  12. G4TV w/ Drew Curtis
  13. Amazon: It's Not News, It's Fark: How Mass Media Tries to Pass Off Crap As News (Paperback) Publisher: Gotham; Reprint edition (May 29, 2008)
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