Well, I happen to spend alot of time on the internet reading the media...but after reading the book I now feel that I have been wasting my time. I now find myself thinking that maybe I should buy The Guardian Weekly in the hope that it consists mainly of that 12% of authentic reporting...any suggestions as to where I can go to get some decent reporting?

Paul Dacre's scandal sheet merits a book of its own, and I hope Nick Davies does shake up Fleet Street again sometime soon with another forensic look at a deepy-flawed trade/craft/profession... What is particularly worrying is that I've worked in a churnalism newsroom and still thought of myself as a good reporter, whereas in reality I'd become nothing more than a text processor. It takes an intelligent outsider to see what has gone wrong - I use the word outsider to refer to someone not working in a churnalism newsroom rather than Fleet St.

Nearly finished listening to it in audio, an amazing 16 cd's!

Hello – It is very difficult to add to the comments already made without getting silly, so I must settle for “yikes!” (and I cannot recommend this work more highly than that.) Thank you for the time and effort which is clearly evidenced in the work – as mentioned elsewhere, it is a real life-changer and brings focus to what otherwise is a confusion; a courageous and well-written book. Cheers.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/oct/14/starsuckers-tabloids-hoax-ce... how dare they suggest that tabloids have scant regard for the truth!!

According to page 33 of Nick's book, twenty months instead of eight.

Seriously though, this is a sensational book. Great job, Nick! As the son and grandson of British journalists working for nationals, I have listened endlessly to stories of slipping editorial standards over the years. I'll never forget the day I saw my angry father come home from Fleet Street in the eighties to announce that the editor had decided that Princess Diana would be on the front page every single day of the following week and would the journalists please oblige with stories and pictures...

Have just finished the book and was both enlightened and a little surprised by the content of the book. The argument for the perversion of the media by the "grocers" was one I was unfamiliar with, but which makes perfect sense.
I read your book alongside Dr Ben Goldacre's 'Bad Science' and am consequently thoroughly disillusioned with the media and disheartened as to our future as news consumers.

I have to say that this is one of the most informative books I have ever read I now read newspapers (but do not directly buy) for a different reason to look for the angle and I also mindful of the spin that the press now put to stories to keep us in fear and that the Government of the day are there to protect us. Even though it is them that is creating the fairy tale in the first place. Keep up the good work I am telling every one to read your book well done Best Wishes Nigel

I bought the book because I am writing a book about AIDS and I wanted to gain some insight into why the media refuses to report on the fact that a large number of well-qualified scientists reject the theory that AIDS is caused by a virus. The result of this myth is widespread. People are in jail because they tested positive on an invalid test; Africa has been terrorized into believing that its endemic diseases are caused by a virus; people have committed suicide because they believe that HIV+ve = AIDS = death. And the whole thing is a scam.

I've been studying and working in the media for a long time, and run a magazine on business ethics (ethicalcorp.com). Flat Earth news is one of the best books I have read on the media and global affairs. We should all suggest our friends and contacts read it. Thank goodness that at least one paper (The Guardian) is interested in journalistic ethics. Another great book on untold stories is World on Fire by Amy Chua, check it out.