It's Not News, It's Fark : How Mass Media Tries to Pass Off Crap As News

FARK IS WHAT FILLS SPACE WHEN MASS MEDIA RUNS OUT OF NEWS. It's not news, it's Fark. Fark is supposed to look like news... but it's not news. There is an ancient (supposed) Chinese curse: "May you live in interesting times." Let's face it, interesting times suck. Whenever Mass Media is really fulfilling its intended purpose, generally something bad is going on. Wars, blown elections, bad weather, you name it—when people need to know something, it's probably because it's likely to kill them. We'd be much better off living in non-interesting times. Not living in interesting times presents a problem for Mass Media, however. This has been further compounded by the advent of twenty-four-hour news channels and the Internet as a news source. Back in the days when TV news concentrated most of its resources on a half-hour block of news, finding material to fill the time slot wasn't difficult. Nowadays cable news networks have to scramble to have something to talk about twenty-four hours a day, even when nothing of import is going on. Sales departments are still selling advertisements, after all. Mass Media can't just run content made entirely of ads (with the possible exception of the Home Shopping Network). Something has to fill the space. Over the years Mass Media has developed several methods of filling this space. No one teaches this in journalism school; odds are Mass Media itself hasn't given much thought to the process. It's a practice honed over the years by editors and publishers, verbally passed down from one generation to the next. They're not entirely aware they're doing it, although the media folks who read advance copies of this manuscript all had the same reaction: "I've been saying we should stop doing this for YEARS." From the creator of Fark.com, an expos on the media gone awry, revealing the hysterical, often outrageous non-news that passes for newsworthy today Have you ever found yourself noticing certain patterns in the news you see and read each day? Perhaps its the blatant fear-mongering in the absence of facts on your local 6 oclock news (Tsunami could hit the Atlantic any day "EVERYBODY PANIC"), or the seasonal articles that appear year after year like clockwork (Roads will be crowded this holiday season. Thanks AAA.). "ITS NOT NEWS, ITS FARK" is Drew Curtis clever examination of the state of the media today and a hilarious look at the go-to stories mass media uses when there's just not enough hard news to fill a newspaper or a news broadcast. Who is to blame for non-news in the media? Is it the media, or the media consumer and their website-clicking habits? Or does the answer lie somewhere in between? "IT'S NOT NEWS, IT'S FARK" takes a crack at why Drew exposes eight stranger-than-fiction media patterns that prove just how little reporting is going on in the world of reporters today. Regardless of whether its a slow news day, mainstream media still has to deliver. "ITS NOT NEWS, ITS FARK" examines all the news that was never fit for print in the first place, and promises to have you laughing (with the media, mind you, not at them ...) along the way. Let the hilarity ensue While Comedy Shows Report Funny Fake News, Fark.com Features Funny Real News. On Slow News Days, Mainstream Media Still Has To Deliver. Fark Founder Drew Curtis Has Noticed Several Distinct Patterns Used To Turn Non-news Into The News You See Each Day. These Include: Fear-mongering In The Absence Of Facts; The Bogus Press Release, Which States A New Finding But Fails To Explain Where The Numbers Came From; Media Fatigue, When The Media Exhaust Every Angle Of An Existing Story Rather Than Digging For Something New; And The Coverage Given To Such Events As Brides Who Don't Want To Get Married, Fake Their Own Kidnapping, And Escape Cross-country. Such Non-news Should Appear Only Once, If At All, In Mainstream Media. So Why Are We Overexposed To Such Schlock From Legitimate News Outlets?--from Publisher Description. What Is Fark? -- Media Fearmongering -- Unpaid Placement Masquerading As Actual Article -- Headline Contradicted By Actual Article -- Equal Time For Nutjobs -- The Out-of-context Celebrity Comment -- Seasonal Articles -- Media Fatigue -- Lesser Media Space Fillers -- Epilogue: What Should Mass Media Be Doing Instead? Drew Curtis. Includes Index. Now in paperback, the hilarious exposé on the media gone awry, from the creator of the wildly popular Fark.com.

Have you ever noticed certain patterns in the news you see and read each day? Perhaps it's the blatant fear-mongering in the absence of facts on your local six o'clock news ("Tsunami could hit the Atlantic any day!" Everybody panic!), or the seasonal articles that appear year after year ("Roads will be crowded this holiday season." Thanks, AAA.) It's Not News, It's Fark is Drew Curtis's clever examination of the state of the media today and a hilarious look at the go-to stories mass media uses when there's just not enough hard news to fill a newspaper or a news broadcast. Drew exposes eight stranger-than-fiction media patterns that prove just how little reporting is going on in the world of reporters today. It's Not News, It's Fark examines all the "news" that was never fit for print in the first place, and promises to have you laughing along the way. A founder of the popular comedic news Web site describes media patterns that demonstrate the lack of accurate and quality reportage taking place in the media world today, revealing practices of news mongers, bogus press releases, and coverage of seemingly inane subjects. 50,000 first printing.