In an unprecedented real-time look at television news shows, media critic Matthew Kerbel takes you minute-by-minute through two-and-one-half hours of syndicated, local, and network information programming to uncover the truth behind what passes for news. Why is the only real difference between Jerry Springer and Dan Rather that Dan's guests usually don't need medical attention? How did a load of baking powder spark two minutes of high-strung local news coverage? It's all here: the personal revelations of talk show guests, the "dangers" lurking in your neighborhood, sports, sex, celebrity, power, with weather updates every ten minutes -- all real material taken from real broadcasts, combined into 150 minutes of the most electrifying newscast you've ever seen.