1st April 2022
I tweeted something knowingly untrue this morning.
I said that, contrary to my long-standing absolute and principled objection to the gods-awful and professionally divisive QC system, I had the honour of accepting appointment as a QC.
Given the aside in yesterday’s in yesterday’s post, I thought it may amuse somebody out there.
I think it amused one or two.
But it convinced many more.
And so I got hearty sincere congratulations for something I would never do, and indeed I would rather boil my head than do.
Many readily believed I would brazenly be such a hypocrite.
A prominent Tory politician did something similar – and got this earnest tut-tut response from a Guardian journalist:
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And then it struck me.
What a dated thing to do.
April Fool’s Day is now itself as dated as the black-and-white Panorama film footage of spaghetti-bearing trees.
April Fool’s Day in part presupposes a core trusted media, where one can be playfully topsy-turvey with the actualité.
A twelfth night of inversions – but with the media.
An annual exception to the mundane lot of straight(-ish) reportage.
Yet with social media, fake news and hyper-partisanship, such inversions are a commonplace.
The norm even, and not an exception.
Perhaps we can instead have a day each year where everyone – including all on social media – has to be strict with the truth.
And if we did, one suspects that would not last past midday either.
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