Journalists at the daily newspaper serving Norwich, the Eastern Daily Press (EDP), have red faces after being caught out by an April fool's joke.
Eight days on from 1 April, the paper published a business supplement page lead about a 50-metre banjo statue being built in the city to rival Gateshead's Angel of the North.
There were several details, such as the location and the involvement of Anthony Gormley and Anish Kapoor. But it was a spoof dreamed up by a business called The Great British Banjo Company.
Its managing director, Simon Middleton, is quoted by HoldTheFrontPage as saying he sent a press release which he thought was "so absurd" it would never be used.
It concluded: "We hope that this fabulous erection will be unveiled later this summer." Middleton said: "I thought that would have given it away."
But the quote that caught my eye came from the EDP's business editor, Shaun Lowthorpe, who said: "We were hoaxed by a normally reliable source."
By which he obviously means the company itself, which just happens to have been selected as one of the EDP's Future50 firms.
So a press release, without any reporting follow-up, is considered to be a reliable source, eh?
Source: HoldTheFrontPage
