April Is the Foolest Month

NEW YORK: The suits at TIME's parent company could be forgiven a mild case of angina Tuesday when this story moved on the AP newswire: "PBS Announces Bid to Acquire Time Warner." Said the press release, "Current Time Warner executives Gerald M. Levin and R. E. (Ted) Turner will be encouraged to apply for positions in the new company." A quick scan of the story -- which professed to be "embargoed until 12:01 a.m., April 1" -- revealed its lighthearted intentions. But AP didn't see the funny side, and ran an "urgent" disclaimer advising readers to ignore the story. "Managers at PBS say it was an April Fools' joke," sniffed the AP editor.

In other worldwide tomfoolery: British newspapers went overboard, as usual, with tall stories of the sublime and the ridiculous. The buttoned-up Independent carried an "exclusive" leak on plans for Tony Blair's modernized House of Lords, in which their lordships will be chosen from the public by lottery. The tabloid Daily Mail went for something a bit fishier: "Red Herring Returns After 500 years."

Back in the U.S., it was more of a heyday for websites. Salon got some mileage out of "Microsoft Throws in the Towel", while the San Francisco Recorder really knew how to drive the clicks. "The Justice Department has uncovered love letters sent to (Microsoft 'Special Master') Lawrence Lessig by Monica Lewinsky," teased the legal weekly.

Finally, in the Stories That Should Have Been April Fools' Dept.: The Mir cosmonauts performed a flawless space walk, and made it out of the module five minutes ahead of schedule. Which is only fair -- those guys have had enough April Fools' Days already.