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Why the media should remain exempt from April Fools, by a round-the-year fool

I write this on the afternoon of April 3rd, 2012. April Fools Day has been and gone, according to the calendar date. So why do I deem it necessary to dedicate an entire blog to the day of tricks? Because no matter what the diary says, April Fools is still very much upon us. And it’s all the fault of the media.

Where should I begin? With the ‘admission’ that Facebook timeline was no more than a rather elaborate joke in dedication of the day which got out of hand? Or that Angry Birds, the game which is, in essence, nothing more than some birds, some green pigs and a slingshot, is to be made into a cartoon show, courtesy of Disney? Or, perhaps, the fact that Daniel Craig is to open the Olympics dressed as James Bond?

The reason I ask is because I still do not know where the jokes end and the truth begins. And although I am a self-confessed round-the-year fool in terms of being exceptionally gullible (I once believed that there was a mass murderer loose on the campsite I was inhabiting and only found out years later that this was a joke) it would seem that even those who are less believing are finding it hard to distinguish fantasy from reality, as the internet is currently overloaded with similar questions.

Call me old fashioned, but I believe that the media has a responsibility to tell the news. It doesn’t work if, for even one day out of 365, it removes itself from that role. Because two days on, and I’m still none the wiser as to whether I can breathe a sigh of relief that Facebook timeline has not yet attacked me (will it?).

As you can probably tell, I’m a nervous wreck at the moment. I’m questioning everything I see, constantly in doubt, suspicious and paranoid. And quite frankly, it’s not good for my health (who just laughed?).

The way I see it, there are two types of gullible people. Those who, like me, believe everything they hear, but subsequently question what is true, and those who are quite happy to indulge in the fantasy.

Speaking of which, is Samantha Brick just some other trick?

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… Is anybody there?
 

• 3 April 2012
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