From the creator of Fark.com, an exposé on the media gone awry, revealing the hysterical, often outrageous non-news that passes for newsworthy t...
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Sep 05, 2008
Tracey
rated it: 
20080301 - bought. Started 23 Aug 2008;
Drew Curtis is the "father" of fark.com: a website where visitors submit links to news items found around the Internet and provide a witty tagline - Curtis and his compatriots winnow through the submissions and pick the best/funniest ones to post. This site is perhaps only second to The Daily Show as being both a source for actually getting one's news as well as making fun of how Mass Media covers the news.
This book p More...
Drew Curtis is the "father" of fark.com: a website where visitors submit links to news items found around the Internet and provide a witty tagline - Curtis and his compatriots winnow through the submissions and pick the best/funniest ones to post. This site is perhaps only second to The Daily Show as being both a source for actually getting one's news as well as making fun of how Mass Media covers the news.
This book p More...
Feb 01, 2011
Fen
rated it: 
I'm a bit of a fan of Fark.com already, so there really wasn't anything particularly new in this book, but I found it a very well-written and well laid out explanation of the problems with Mass Media in the modern age. As such, the book is likely to become a bit dated before long... in fact, it already has to some extent. It was published in 2007 and, for example, has many references to a now deceased celebrity and multiple references to a politician who was at one time believed to be involved
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Nov 28, 2009
PlatKat
rated it:
Right before I left New York a few years ago, I was anonymously sponsored for a TotalFark subscription. TotalFark is a sub-community of the news aggregator site, Fark, in which people pay $5 per month or are sponsored to enjoy a smaller posting community with extra viewing privileges. That's the most objective way I can define it, as since then it has changed my life dramatically. (I know, gross.)
I mention TF because it is only through the random sponsorship of Anonymous that I sa More...
I mention TF because it is only through the random sponsorship of Anonymous that I sa More...
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Jun 17, 2009
Chris
rated it:
You all know FARK.com, right? What? You've never heard of it? I'm honestly and truly shocked - unless, of course, you've been away from the internet for the last ten years, in which case you may be forgiven. For the rest of you - SHAME!
FARK is a news aggregator website, though it differs from others in that it's entirely moderated. People submit stories that they think are interesting, add what they hope is a funny tag line or title, and see if it'll be green-lit to make the front page More...
FARK is a news aggregator website, though it differs from others in that it's entirely moderated. People submit stories that they think are interesting, add what they hope is a funny tag line or title, and see if it'll be green-lit to make the front page More...
Aug 09, 2011
What a fantastic, eye-opening, revealing, hilarious exposé on mass media! Curtis, as a result of his proprietorship of Fark.com is the single person most qualified to opine on this subject, and he does so with aplomb, blowing the lid off the machinations of the media and why they function the way they do. This book provided a valuable service for me. It happens often that a certain detail of humanity drives me nuts, and I read a book that explains the phenomenon in detail and puts me at ease. Th
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Feb 22, 2009
Jeremy
rated it:
As a long-time farker (mostly a lurker), I was glad to see this volume finally see the light of day. A very readable, entertaining work that gives the media the dressing down it deserves, while explaining the basic human weakness inherent in the rest of us which has caused all the trouble.
As one of the world's busiest news readers, Curtis is uniquely qualified to talk about media trends, and his voice, even at its most disappointed, is always pleasant and friendly. The format of th More...
As one of the world's busiest news readers, Curtis is uniquely qualified to talk about media trends, and his voice, even at its most disappointed, is always pleasant and friendly. The format of th More...
Sep 24, 2010
Eric
rated it: 
Drew Curtis, the man behind FARK.com, has seen approximately one kajillion postings flow through his site since the day he founded it. That's plenty for him to notice patterns in the information that the mass media generates to fill the demands of today's 24-hour-a-day news cycle. This book brilliantly deconstructs those patterns, with the assistance of actual examples from FARK's archives and the usual gang of commenters. There are laughs aplenty, too, as one might expect from a book that cam
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May 15, 2008
Ashley
rated it: 
Funny, but about 200 pages too long.
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Jul 04, 2009
Kristen
rated it:
I've heard of Fark but never visited it. This was loaned to us because my boyfriend works in local news. He hasn't had a chance to read it yet but I really enjoyed it. The "most news is crap" message wasn't exactly surprising or controversial, but it was interesting to see it divided into clear recurring themes. And his analysis and suggestions at the end about how to stay viable made a lot of sense. Most of the funniest bits were in the comments. Which I thus felt a little guilty abou
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Sep 11, 2011
Laura
rated it:
This is another one of those books that I initially loved, but over time, my feelings have softened up toward it. However, I think that this has a lot of good points to make about Mass Media in today’s world, and it’s still pretty good.
Curtis’s main argument is that there’s really not a lot of ‘important’ news that takes up media space, particularly when there’s not real news going on. Most of the non-news can go in one of several categories (all of which get their own chapter) with More...
Curtis’s main argument is that there’s really not a lot of ‘important’ news that takes up media space, particularly when there’s not real news going on. Most of the non-news can go in one of several categories (all of which get their own chapter) with More...
Oct 06, 2008
Andrew
rated it: 
I've been reading Fark.com for years, so it was inevitable that I would make a point to read Drew Curtis' book. Although the book has been out for a couple of years, a quick glance at the book store convinced me that there was no rush to read it and that I should just take it out of the library when I got around to it. While “It's Not News, It's Fark” is entertaining, sometimes laugh out loud funny, and occasionally insightful, this is hardly a must-read.
In case you don't know, Fark.com More...
In case you don't know, Fark.com More...
Feb 26, 2008
Leslie
rated it:
I picked this book up for my boyfriend, who is an avid Fark and Total Fark reader, but I enjoy the site as well so gave the book a shot. It's a quick read, and Curtis immediately hooked me with his scathing commentary on the ridiculousness that passes as news (though it's a good thing he's pretty funny, because his writing talents are not exactly stellar). His insights aren't anything that someone who regularly reads the mainstream news hasn't already realized, but his wit, immense memory for in
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Jul 11, 2007
Ryan
rated it:
As someone who enjoys Fark.com, I'm down with a book that attempts to look at the media patterns that allow a humorous news aggregator like Fark to exist. This book certainly does that, and was good for a few laughs over a plane ride and some odd looks from fellow passengers. The problem, I think, is that it's written in the same style that I would use to write a book, and I'm not a very good writer. Drew tosses in a few "So it goes," which for some reason irks me more in print than
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Feb 23, 2008
Julianne
rated it:
Easy, fun read. Did it in one evening.
Very funny book. Drew Curtis is no award-winning author (he's engaging, but not the best I've ever read), but his ideas are compelling and his website (www.fark.com) is a winner. I've been saying these things for years. Just recently the TOP story in the 6 o'clock local (Baltimore) news was an outbreak of MRSA in a well-known hospital. They listed all the shocking things the hospital was doing to prevent further spread. NEWSFLASH: it's the middle More...
Very funny book. Drew Curtis is no award-winning author (he's engaging, but not the best I've ever read), but his ideas are compelling and his website (www.fark.com) is a winner. I've been saying these things for years. Just recently the TOP story in the 6 o'clock local (Baltimore) news was an outbreak of MRSA in a well-known hospital. They listed all the shocking things the hospital was doing to prevent further spread. NEWSFLASH: it's the middle More...
Sep 09, 2008
Steve
rated it:
I'm a big fan of fark.com, and I have been for a few years. Much like the Daily Show and Colbert Report, I feel like I'm getting a more trustworthy version of the news from the semi-comedic sources than the actual news.
What's nice about this book, is it helps explain why that is the case. Drew has been using his position as the owner of fark to analyze the media over the past decade, and the book presents an extremely clear and fairly thorough critique of all that is wrong with the More...
What's nice about this book, is it helps explain why that is the case. Drew has been using his position as the owner of fark to analyze the media over the past decade, and the book presents an extremely clear and fairly thorough critique of all that is wrong with the More...
Apr 10, 2009
Miriam
rated it:
A hilariously irreverent book. It pokes fun at stupid things the media does that we've all noticed but haven't given all that much thought to.
The only drawback about this book is that the author often makes statements that he doesn't have facts to back up. The book would be even better if he did, but at any rate, at least he always warns the readers that these statements are just theories and ideas of his and might not be true. Therefore, it's not a big problem.
The only drawback about this book is that the author often makes statements that he doesn't have facts to back up. The book would be even better if he did, but at any rate, at least he always warns the readers that these statements are just theories and ideas of his and might not be true. Therefore, it's not a big problem.
Nov 26, 2011
Boris
rated it:
Drew Curtis, waggish founder and proprietor of the website Fark.com passes on his humorous commentary on the news and the nature of the news business along with quotations from various and sundry subscribers to his website. There are many laugh-out-loud moments in the book, particularly from a following that at times I suspect has too much time on their hands.
May 29, 2009
Bassam
rated it:
A hilarious and skeptical look at the state of news articles, including great headlines.
Starts off with a short-ish section on how the news media are basically lazy, then goes to the different types of articles that are published when they're desperate for content on slow news days.
The rest of the book are a "best-of" from the past years of news articles. I laughed out loud several times.
I recommend this book to anyone who gets tired of the "everybody panic!" More...
Starts off with a short-ish section on how the news media are basically lazy, then goes to the different types of articles that are published when they're desperate for content on slow news days.
The rest of the book are a "best-of" from the past years of news articles. I laughed out loud several times.
I recommend this book to anyone who gets tired of the "everybody panic!" More...
Dec 19, 2011
Jacob
rated it:
I enjoyed this for the most part. It definitely shed some insight on how the mass media packages what is considered "news." I wouldn't read this with the idea that I'm going to read some shocking expose, rather to be enlightened about what you see in the paper and on television consistently from major media outlets.
Jan 30, 2009
Wayne
rated it:
This is a bathroom book. It isn't a book I read from front to back. I pick it up, read a little and put it down. Eventually all the stories will become old and I'll lay it down for a few years, and read anew. In other word I'm sure this will be on my current list for most of this year.
The premise of this book, for those who have not visited the site, is the author has reviewed enough news stories to see a pattern in their stories. When there is no new news, or a need to take a break More...
The premise of this book, for those who have not visited the site, is the author has reviewed enough news stories to see a pattern in their stories. When there is no new news, or a need to take a break More...
Sep 14, 2008
Megan
rated it:
I picked this book up because I wanted an inside perspective about what stories "make news" when there is no news worth reporting. It was good to read about how certain stories gain horrific proportions in the effort to win viewers, and see the patterns for myself. For example the "bacteria" story. "Do you know what is lurking in your kitchen/bathroom towels/drinking water? etc.
Other questions it raised. Why are power outages in New York so much more interest More...
Other questions it raised. Why are power outages in New York so much more interest More...
Aug 12, 2009
Hillery
rated it:
Humorous book on the state of mass media today and the typical ways it passes off "crap" as news, largely due to its need for content to fill all the outlets 24/7. Plus, Curtis argues that, as a rule, we are not interested in real news anyway, just the fluff.
Aug 25, 2011
Eric
rated it:
Fark is my number one website distraction, and the Fark book is the paper version of the screen experience. Unfortunately, I was hoping for a little more. The book, like the website, is funny, pleasant, and occasionally dabbles in some level of intelligent analysis of or commentary on the news. This book could have been so much more, though. Had it included some expert opinion, the slightest bit of research, or connection to other work done on the state of the modern media, this could have been
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Mar 06, 2008
Melissa
rated it:
As a student of journalism, I added this book to my list for purely educational reasons. This book was educational, witty and funny. It really is funny how much of our daily "news" is actually crap that is just constantly recycled. I actually have a lot of fun now watching the news in the morning and going on CNN at work and counting the crap that is actually mentioned in Curtis's book. Some parts did read very textbook-y to me, as surprisingly, most journalism textbooks I read in
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Mar 22, 2011
Dorsch and Navarre
rated it:
I did like this book a lot. I liked the explanation of why the news business took the direction that it has. The best part of course was the comments of the blog readers after the articles.
Jun 08, 2010
Ryan
rated it:
You could probably call it 'The Daily Show' for newspapers.
Fark creator/curator Drew Curtis breaks down a lot of the problems with the junk that fills up the spaces in between the newspaper ads, breaking it down by section in a pretty clever way.
Unfortunately, most of the problems with lazy journalism is already well-documented and actual ideas on how to fix the newspapers/journalism are a lot more interesting that attacks are at this point. (And Curtis throws his two c More...
Fark creator/curator Drew Curtis breaks down a lot of the problems with the junk that fills up the spaces in between the newspaper ads, breaking it down by section in a pretty clever way.
Unfortunately, most of the problems with lazy journalism is already well-documented and actual ideas on how to fix the newspapers/journalism are a lot more interesting that attacks are at this point. (And Curtis throws his two c More...
Nov 30, 2008
Hayley
rated it:
As hilarious, yet repetitive, as the website. But the funny parts are totally worth the read. And he nails the enigma that is the state of Florida in the news.
May 05, 2010
George
rated it:
Drew blows the cover off of manufactured news and illustrates how 90% of stories presented as news is really just entertainment.
Jul 12, 2009
Kimber
rated it:
This is one really amusing quick read. One of my favorites is "Kentucky officials run terrorism drill at goat show" on page 35.
Nov 27, 2008
Tim
rated it:
This book could have been an informed critique of Mass Media, and it comes close---I think a lot of the attacks levied by Curtis are valid. Unfortunately, his claims are only backed up by anecdotes, and overall he seems more concerned with writing a funny book than an informative one. The only reason I was excited to read this book was because I saw the first chapter posted online when it was published and it was interesting---little did I know that the rest of the book would consist of Curtis h
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