Drunk Germans, tattooed fish

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Friend and former colleague Brian Montopoli, who resides over at CBS News’ Public Eye blog these days, interviewed Drew Curtis, founder of Fark.com, and author of the upcoming book, “It’s Not News, It’s Fark: How Mass Media Tries To Pass Off Crap As News,” this morning, and it’s a good read.

Best line of the interview? Try this one: Journalists, Curtis says, are “disgruntled and angry because they went into journalism to cover real stories and make a real difference, not waste time discussing drunk Germans getting arrested driving down the street in motorized wheelchairs.” Runner up, in a tight race, was this gem: “You can’t be “The Most Trusted Name in News” and run lead stories on tattooed fish or musical condoms.”

Amen, brother. Read the whole thing.

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Paul McLeary is a former CJR staff writer. Since 2008, he has covered the Pentagon for Foreign Policy, Defense News, Breaking Defense, and other outlets. He is currently a defense reporter for Politico.