With the date that's in it, everyone is inclined to give the news a second glance, and a portion more scrutiny than usual. But sometimes the suspicion of April Fools' leads to perfectly factual news being dismissed as a hoax, while some gold-standard falsehoods slip into the news cycle, disguised as nothing more than a bit of a truthful oddity.
Today on Newstalk.com we had both, with April Fools' stories fooling some, while two perfectly factual stories had readers screaming accusations of deception.
More gardai?
250 extra recruits to train at Templemore
True or false?
True, but it says something about recent years in Ireland that this story was greeted with a healthy dose of skepticism this morning.
Euromillions double up?
A couple in the UK has won the EuroMillions jackpot... for the second time.
True or false?
True, perhaps disgustingly so, depending on your desire for moments of outrageous good fortune to be evenly distributed among the masses. Perhaps unsurprisingly, this one was labelled a fake by plenty of readers today.
Henry the 48th?
Newstalk reporter reveals his claim to the UK throne
True or false?
False. To his eternal disappointment we're sure, Henry's grasp on power and status in the corridors of Buckingham Palace remains as tenuous as ever.
Could Eurovision be coming to Irish shores this year?
The European Broadcasting Union said the song contest could make a last minute switch to Dublin
True or false?
As divorced from reality as the singing contest it promises Dublin, this story describes a weekend when euro-pop and politics would collide in their biggest way yet. Alas, not for this year, nor this referendum.
