The Joke's On Us!

Let me begin by saying I can't stand April Fool's Day.

To me, it's amateur hour, where people who think they're funny decide to show the world just how un-funny they are.

I would never claim to be funny (witty maybe), so I usually pass on the prank-playing tradition of the day.

But, a former colleague of mine always participates ... and today, something real interesting happened.

Every year, this former colleague writes an outrageous story on his blog ... something so "out of left field" it can't possibly be true. It usually does not end in "April Fool's" ... or any acknowledgement that the story is a joke.

Now, this blog post isn't to criticize him, it's to point out something that's happened that could easily spin these "jokes" out of control.

You see, in the year since he wrote his last "joke post", newsrooms have turned to social media to help slow their decline.

Facebook pages, blogs, and Twitter feeds have all become part of the "official" news distribution system.

Which is where the dangers of jokes like today's lies.

You see, when the blog was my colleague's personal addition to the the day's news, the joke was fine.

But today, after he wrote the post, he directed people to it with a salacious "tease" on both his Twitter and Facebook pages.

I'm ok with that ... to a certain extent. After all, those feeds are his personal feeds.

But, this is where the line blurs.

You see, those social media sites are ALSO "official" ways to distribute the news. In fact, my friend uses both to solicit both story ideas, and to "tease" folks to that evening's newscasts.

Today, some of his Facebook "friends" have already posted responses that indicate they believe his joke is a REAL story that my former colleague is breaking.

This is really, really dangerous to me.

To top it off, his station's "official" Twitter feed also picked up his blog post, and blasted it out for all to see, with no indication that it's a joke.

This is where the joke goes over the edge.

Look, I like a good laugh as much as the next person. But, the evening news is not "morning zoo" radio with zany sound effects, and prank phone calls.

It's a place people turn for credibility, and today's "blog prank" damages that credibility a bit ... when it's being disseminated using "official" means.

To top it off, the same station gave me four lines on a story that I'm interested in, a pizza shop employee opening fire and killing a robber.

And, within the four lines, is at least one error.

I'd rather have folks concentrating on the news ... and not trying to make me laugh.

So, what do you think? Should I lighten up?

Or from a true journalism standpoint, does the convergence of newsrooms into social media make "jokes" not so funny anymore?

EDIT: My former colleague explained his blog post here. He says part of it is to not "always believe what you read/hear." Do you buy the explanation?