VPAP’s April Fool Joke, Fundraiser

Various people got into the spirit of April Fool’s Day on Monday including VPAP — the Virginia Public Access Project. They advertised that they could make it possible for readers to have their own “echo chamber” where only news clips they agreed with would land in their inboxes:

Ever wish you could tune out noisy debate and surround yourself only with news you agree with?

VaNews now makes it possible! We’re proud to announce EchoChamber, a new service that uses algorithms to create a personalized feed of news and a perspective guaranteed to match your own.

Never again will you have to encounter contrary views!

To sign up, please email [email protected].

If it had been true they most likely would have had takers.

But it wasn’t true as they then clarified:

Of course you don’t want your own personal echo chamber. As a VaNews reader, you value  original news reporting that presents more than one perspective. You are curious — you are not threatened by commentary from those who you don’t always agree with.

The email from VPAP’s executive director David Poole then launched into a fundraising pitch. The he quipped at the end, “P.S. — For your own personal echo chamber, we suggest Facebook.”