Publicity hound bites public
Americans don't like being taken for a ride, and that's exactly what happened as millions were seduced into the "balloon boy" spectacle on national television last week.
The hoax seemed to bring out some of the country's worst socio-media depravities all at once.
The 24-hour news channels seized on the story with gusto, for several hours tracking the flying saucer-like balloon as it drifted over the plains of Colorado allegedly with a 6-year-old boy on board.
The public was easily drawn into the breathless "breaking news" coverage, but after the balloon landed, it soon became apparent that there was no boy in it, and with 20-20 hindsight, commentators rapidly concluded that the balloon wasn't large enough to carry even a tiny person as far as it traveled.
The aftermath was unbelievably sordid in all of its chapters. Thankfully, the boy turned up after supposedly hiding in the family home's attic. And the next day the boy and his parents, Richard and Mayumi Heene, appeared on the Larry King Show, not expecting their son to blurt out, "You guys said we did this for the show."
Colorado law enforcement promptly concluded that it was all a set-up, and launched an investigation that is expected to lead to criminal charges against the couple.
It turns out that the Heenes had attended a Hollywood acting school and were two-time veterans of the "Wife Swap" reality television series. The story only got sleazier from there.
One of the Heenes' acquaintances was paid to reveal on a Web site that Mr. Heene was "obsessed" with trying to land a TV show and become famous. The acquaintance had apparently worked with Heene on developing ideas for reality shows earlier this year.
"Heene believes the world is going to end in 2012," the acquaintance's attorney told The Associated Press. "Because of that, he wanted to make money quickly, become rich enough to build a bunker or something underground, where he can be safe from the sun exploding."
Unbelievable. What a messed-up sense of reality for someone who wanted to star in a "reality" show.
In the end, the publicity hounds who bit the public may have bit off more than they can chew. Colorado law enforcement chased the drifting balloon for hours in cars and helicopters at considerable expense. That alone is worth pursuing charges against the Heenes.
But what's even more disturbing about the case is the way the Heenes exploited their son and exposed him to some of the nastiest elements of pack journalism. There should be a charge for that.