Don't be a fool
It's really time to give up April Foolishness. The following message to area news media offers one reason why:
"We need your help to allay some fears created by a local radio station.
"This morning, WKRR-Rock 92 played an April Fool's Day joke on its listeners that created a great deal of concern among some of High Point's water customers. The joke involved a bogus report of statewide water contamination. Listeners were advised not to bathe in - much less drink - the water today.
"As preposterous as that sounds, some people were very upset and 10 of them called our customer service phone center. Others called the water treatment plant, asking if the report is true. It is not.
"In this time of heightened sensitivity to potential terrorism, the joke was irresponsible. Please help us tell people that High Point's water is not contaminated and is safe to drink."
From:
Alice Smith Moore
Public Information Director
City of High Point, N. C.
www.high-point.net
I'm sorry anyone would take such nonsense seriously, but I guess some listeners expect credible broadcasting when they turn on the radio - no matter what day it is. This sort of gag isn't funny.
Let's just agree to quit the April Fool's malarkey. We can find better ways to have fun.
Comments (6)
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Follow-up:
In a private email, a responder suggests that the radio prank isn't much different than the phony bomb threats.
He has a point. Only the kid might go to prison; the radio guys can laugh it off as a joke.
What do you think?
Posted on April 1, 2005 12:38 PM
I've got a story about an April Fool's Day prank gone awry.
In my first job, I worked at a small newspaper in Camden, South Carolina. A few years before I started, our editor decided to run an April Fool's story about an active volcano being discovered in Camden. He and a buddy even rigged a photo by building a bonfire in his back yard.
Well, the next day, the newspaper was flooded with calls. Some were angry that the paper had presented this as a legitimate story. Others actually thought the story was true. No one, it seemed, thought it was funny.
One elderly man, who was well-known around the office, defended the story when his family and neighbors told him the volcano article was a hoax. "I know (editor's name)," he said. "He wouldn't print it if it wasn't true."
I can only imagine how lousy that gentleman felt when he learned the truth.
To his credit, the editor learned his lesson and vowed he would never run an April Fool's story again.
Posted on April 1, 2005 3:04 PM
Thanks, Bruce. Great story.
There's a Greensboro lawyer who long ago worked for a small North Carolina newspaper and concocted some real whoppers. As I recall, one was about a 30-foot catfish being caught in a local swamp, complete with a doctored photo. A couple were even wilder - although maybe nothing as crazy as a volcano story. The funny thing was that the elderly editor of the paper didn't catch on.
Anyway, if this lawyer sees this, I invite him to 'fess up here.
Posted on April 1, 2005 3:24 PM
Doug, I would invite you to lighten up a little...loosen that tie, go up a size in your underwear, etc...Anyone that listens to Rock 92, 107.5 KZL, G105 or 100.3 The Buzzard should expect and be prepared for an April Fool's gag to be played out. Morning Shows have been doing this for years and hopefully will continue. People don't listen to these stations for hard news and info...they listen to be entertained with funny stories and gags. Now I realize that you being the intellectual, liberal that you are can only tolerate your daily dose of NPR for your morning radio and that is your right. But, don't make a mountain out of a mole hill about the April Fools jokes on morning radio shows. The people who fall for the jokes are the same folks who we wonder how they can get through a normal day without harming themselves...In other words Doug, go back to starching your white shirt and tie for Monday morning and leave this one alone.
Posted on April 2, 2005 10:57 AM
The funny thing about the story is that the radios (from what I heard about it - I did not hear the actual prank) claimed the water was contaminated with dihydrogen monoxide. I guess people need to pay more attention in basic chemistry.
Posted on April 2, 2005 12:18 PM
Ouch, Jim. You've nailed me.
Posted on April 3, 2005 12:36 PM