It's Not News, It's FARK
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
Please help improve this article by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion. (July 2007) |
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. The book is an examination of the mainstream media industry, revealing certain patterns that the media common follows when there is a lack of news to report on. The book also gives many examples of outrageous and often unintentionally comedic stories that were reported on in the media.
In his book, Curtis presents eight patterns that he has observed in the media over the years. His observations are from years of running Fark.com, which aggregates and posts links to online news articles. Curtis, over the years, claims that the Mass Media typically follows eight "not-news" patterns when there isn't any "actual news" going on.
Each section of the book deals with a different pattern, and provides several specific news stories that represent common examples of that pattern. At the end of each example, Curtis also lists humorous comments from the Fark.com discussion thread covering that news story, from the date it was posted.
The book was released on May 31, 2007, published by Gotham Publishing.
Contents |
[edit] Mass Media Patterns
In the book, Curtis examines what he sees as eight different media patterns that occur when the media does not have serious news stories to report on.
[edit] Media Fearmongering
These are stories that are designed to scare the audience. Such stories are about events that are unlikely to happen; however, in the media coverage, the event is portrayed as imminent or inevitable. Examples given include Terrorist attacks, Environmental Disasters, Pandemics, Asteroid collisions, and Technological Disasters such as the panic over Y2K.
[edit] Unpaid Placement Masquerading as Actual Article
These are articles which, intentionally or unintentionally, end up advertising either a product or an organization. These stem from what Curtis consider to be "lazy" journalists and an overabundance of press releases. The pattern occurs when a company or organization puts out a press release, which is then picked up by a news organization to be reported on (sometimes word for word).
[edit] Headline Contradicted by Actual Article
These stories contain misleading headlines which do not report the story accurately. However, as most readers often just read the headline, they become misinformed about what the article is actually about. The problem, as Curtis sees it, is from editors who are trying to "sell" a story by making it appear more interesting than it really is. A provocative headline attracts more readers; unfortunately, the headline can often completely contradict the story or severely misconstrue the point.
[edit] Equal Time for Nutjobs
"Nutjobs" are defined by Curtis as people who claim to have discovered or know something that most people know is false, and despite it easily being proven as false, it still gets reported anyway. Examples include the site of Noah's ark or humans being descended from aliens. Curtis also criticizes the media's tendency to portray two sides of a debate as equal, even in cases where they're clearly not. A specific example given by Curtis is that news stories about the Moon landing always mention Moon Landing Hoax proponents and their theories.
[edit] The Out-of-Context Celebrity Comment
This is where a celebrity talks about a certain issue such as the environment or stem cell research, and attracts more media coverage and respect than the view of an expert in the field. Often, the celebrity's comment was off-the-cuff or taken out of context, but is reported on as if the celebrity genuinely meant what they said.
[edit] Seasonal Articles
These are stories which tend to reappear at a certain time of the year, every year. As a result, the story is covered, even though there is no point in covering it. Examples include The running of the bulls and stories reporting on the increased amount of traffic near holidays. The implication is that these stories are often incredibly obvious and well-known, and that they do not need to be repeated anymore.
[edit] Media Fatigue
This is when a single news story is repeated and rehashed over a longer period of time than it needs to be. These single stories can be the main story for the course of a week or more, and are repeatedly re-examined in a new light in order for the story to stay current. This includes having "experts" brought in to discuss a story, and eventually having news stories about the news coverage itself (Curtis calls this the last phase of Media Fatigue, where the media essentially asks "Has The Media Gone Too Far?"). Examples include Dick Cheney hunting incident and Janet Jackson's wardrobe malfunction.
[edit] Lesser Media Space Fillers
These are less common examples of "Not News" which still appear constantly. These include stories from major cities such as New York or Washington D.C. being given more media coverage than those in other parts of the country.
[edit] Publication data
It's Not News, It's Fark: How Mass Media Tries to Pass off Crap as News. (May 31, 2007). Drew Curtis, Gotham, ISBN 1592402917.
