It's Not News, It's FARK
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. 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, often from the news sources themselves. It is generally seen as the destination for  strange news stories. In the introduction to his book, Curtis noted that running Fark caused him to notice specific patterns within the mass media. 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. It was reviewed positively by Stephen  King, Dave Barry, and Chez Pazienza—a former CNN producer. 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. Shafer implied that the book's criticism of mainstream media and acerbic tone may have been responsible. However, the book was more widely recognized in broadcasting, with profiles in NPR, Fox News, and G4TV. The book was later released in paperback.