 "Photo:")
On Oct. 15 Richard Heene, a father of two, called the Colorado police and reported that one of his kids, out of fear of being punished for some random incident in the house, hid inside a meteorological balloon that had just been released into the air. The response of the local police, the media, and even the National Guard, was tremendous. News coverage was everywhere.
Later it was found that there was nothing inside the balloon, and that the child had been hiding in the attic all along. It took only hours to determine it was a hoax. Heene had been looking for media attention because he presumably intended to promote his own reality show. It turned out that he'd previously been featured on the reality show Wife Swap.
After being called "oddball," "liar" and "bad parent" by the same media that gave him the attention he wanted, Heene is now in trouble with the law, charged with conspiracy, false reporting to the authorities and several other infractions. He now faces up to six years in jail, and his wife Mayumi, a Japanese citizen, could be deported.
Media outlets apparently displayed a strong sense of commitment to their audience when they decided to interrupt their daily programming to air news of an incident that showed a boy in danger. They also appeared to show a sense of morality when they attacked Heene after learning his true intentions. But for the most part the media proved again that they were not as devoted to ethics as they were to ratings.
Right after Heene called the police a little after noon, media from across the country focused their attention on the balloon, which supposedly contained little Falcon, Heene's son. It was the perfect story--sensational, exciting and cheap to cover. The response of the American people was immediate.
Even though there was no proof that Falcon was inside the balloon, the media insisted it was, showing news headlines like "BOY FLOATS AWAY IN BALLOON" (CNN) and "THE DEVICE THE BOY IS INSIDE CAN RISE 10,000 FEET UP" (Fox).
The report that Falcon was inside the balloon was not feasible, but still the media grasped this fantastic remote possibility to attract their audience. New York Times columnist Frank Rich wrote: "While the incident unfolded, most TV anchors hyped rather than questioned the aeronautical viability of a vehicle resembling the flying saucers in Ed Wood's camp 1950s sci-fi potboiler Plan 9 From Outer Space."
Even after the hoax was revealed, the media didn't want to end the profitable hype and began airing endless follow-up stories with interviews focused primarily on finding out whether the case was a hoax. While the Heene family was being interviewed by Today show host Meredith Vieira, who was pitching questions to Heene about the veracity of the balloon incident, Falcon suddenly began vomiting in front of the camera. While Heene was trying to keep a straight face, Vieira completely ignored what was going on; she just continued with her questions.
Since audience means earnings, broadcasters, like anyone else in the media business, try to reach the largest audience possible. And this story allowed them to do that.
How many people knew that as the balloon incident was unfolding, President Obama was holding a town hall session in New Orleans about the current status of federal help for the Katrina victims? Exemplifying TV's "If it bleeds, it leads" mantra, most major TV networks dropped live broadcasts of Obama's talk in favor of balloon boy coverage.
But not all the media has treated Heene as a living punching bag. Some media somehow tried to restore his image by justifying his actions and portraying him more as a victim of a society that demands more reality TV.
"You guys said that we did this for the show" was Falcon's answer to his dad's question about the reason why he hid in the attic. The problem is that all of the media are now doing it for the show.
Be the first to comment on this article!