Has the time flown by since April Fool's Day?

April Fool's Prank: Still Alive and Kicking in Danish Media

While some media have dropped the April Fool's prank, others continue to uphold the tradition.

Berlingske's April Fool's prank today involved the claim that Greenland had bought Donald Trump. (DR Graphic: Nathalie Nystad Photo: Wikimedia Commons/Davis Museum at Wellesley College, Wellesley, MA) 27 minutes ago

Some may remember how TV Avisen on April 1, 1983 broadcast the story of an Aarhus chocolate manufacturer who packed Easter eggs with live chicks inside.

This caused uproar. Angry and outraged viewers stormed DR.

It was all a prank. A well-executed one of its kind.

Here 42 years later, DR News no longer brings an April Fool's prank. The same goes for a number of media. ( https://journalisten.dk/aprilsnarren-er-ved-at-uddoe-i-de-danske-medier/ )

So is the time over?

If one were to ask the responsible chief editor of Berlingske, Tom Jensen, the answer would be far from the case.

- As long as people continue to shout that the April Fool's prank is a problem and should die out, I will simply continue to insist on making it, he says.

See DR's April Fool's prank from 1983 here:

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Greenland: We have bought Donald Trump

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Greenland has bought Donald Trump.

Such was the headline in today's edition of Berlingske ( https://www.berlingske.dk/indland/groenland-vi-har-koebt-donald-trump?gaa_at=eafs&gaa_n=AerBZYNQ6OzkLec7I96q1k0ElstnuUyKIv3staEAZq_cCOXu2cDsWpUxajl2RAipaw%3D%3D&gaa_ts=67ebeda2&gaa_sig=Oe0683WYdCWWUsm35XV9eqUYJA4ZIy_Wnb8JE5tKFUbJjR3zHVuTvw8tDU6altd5DcqOiza3bLvatiXcDQNjLQ%3D%3D ), which was Berlingske's April Fool's prank for this year.

And they continue to do so, because it is also "a fine little tradition," says Tom Jensen.

- There is undoubtedly a fixed date, where one has permission to play jokes on each other.

- Everyone knows the date, everyone is aware that it is today, one can stumble upon an April Fool's prank, he says.

Even though it is a time when it may be difficult to distinguish an AI-generated image from a real one or even find the head and tail in what is reported from the White House, the April Fool's prank, according to Tom Jensen, does not break media credibility.

- I think that most media consumers can accommodate the fact that there is one day a year when some media play April Fool's pranks, and they do not do it the rest of the year. I think that's certainly the case, our credibility can hold up.

According to Tom Jensen, the media can afford to be a bit self-righteous when they are afraid that people can see through an April Fool's prank or not. The responsible chief editor believes that it will be a bigger problem for the trust between media and consumers in the long run if the media do not trust that the reader can see through it.

See also DR's absurd April Fool's prank from 1995, when a shark was released in the Kattegat:

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No joking around at JFM

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Several media have chosen to stop the April Fool's pranks.

This includes Jysk Fynske Medier.

Here they have chosen not to bring an April Fool's prank in any of their newspapers or news sites.

And it is not because they are "humorless" that they have chosen to drop it, but to protect credibility, says responsible chief editor for Jysk Fynske Medier, Peter Orry.

- I know that the April Fool's prank is innocent and easily recognizable for most readers, but we do not want anyone to come into doubt and perhaps go around believing a story that in reality is an April Fool's prank.

Here Peter Orry points to the fact that the credibility of traditional media is challenged in these times.

- There are all kinds of people out there who are eager to claim that the media are not credible, and that is exactly why we set an honor in standing up for what we write. Even on April Fool's Day.

See also DR's absurd April Fool's prank from 1993 here:

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