Post editor-in-chief Jim Ryan explains the decision not to publish “The Pest,” a satirical news insert, on April Fools’ Day.
Regular readers of The Post likely noticed that something was missing from Wednesday’s newspaper. “The Pest,”our satirical April Fools’ Day insert, was noticeably absent.
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Much to the chagrin of our staff, The Post’s top editors made the decision not to publish a “Pest” this year. Our reasoning:
- The annual insert is often confusing to readers.
- It’s not appropriate for our reporters to write parody accounts of topics they cover.
- Our jokes, more often than not, are funnier to us than our readers.
- The news pages occupied by “The Pest” can be better used for, well, the news.
Perhaps I’m curmudgeon, or maybe I take The Post too seriously. But I’m not a fan of “The Pest” and am glad our staff focused on reporting the news instead of offering a satirical take on it.
Others seem to agree that April 1 can be an inauspicious day for young journalists. Kevin Pang, a reporter from the Chicago Tribune, tweeted this public service announcement Tuesday: “Attention college newspaper editors: Your hilarious ideas on March 31 = Romenesko posts on April 1.” (Jimromenesko.com is a popular blog that covers the media.)
The Post’s top editors did have a bit of fun with our opinion content, penning a satirical editorial about bats and taking pictures of roads instead of people for the daily “Post Streetview” Q&A feature. I’ll admit that even those small slices of humor made me a bit uneasy. I’d rather keep people from laughing at The Post — even on April Fools’ Day.
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Since publishing a version of this column on thepostathens.com Tuesday, I have received a wide array of feedback about the decision not to publish “The Pest.”Some readers praised the decision — “your focus on real news is where you should be” — and others dismissed it as foolish. My personal favorite: “The Post's decision not to publish an April Fools’ Edition, in one succinct word, sucks.”
I’m curious what you think of our decision not to publish “The Pest” this year. Do you miss it? Glad it’s gone? Please feel free to send me an email to let me know.
And as always, thanks for reading.
Jim Ryan is a senior studying journalism and political science and editor-in-chief of The Post. Contact him at jr992810@ohio.edu or on Twitter at @Jimryan015.
