Over the past month all we saw on television was this story on the Balloon Boy, but why did it get so much attention not being a major issue in our society. This is a perfect example of something being newsworthy. This story was all over every news channel because the news industry knew it would catch a lot of viewers attention. Many viewers were probably so interested in this story at first because they were so curious to find out if the boy was actually in the balloon and after they found out he wasn’t I believe they became curious to find out if it was a hoax or not. In addition, viewers were so interested in this story because they might have kids so they related with the family because they know how they would react and feel if it was their kid. I think this is the reason why people ignored how strange this family actually was.
Being in college it is hard to keep up with what is going on in society, but even I heard of this balloon boy story. When I saw the interview that took place with the family I saw that something was up because the way the mother was talking to the missing child. I think I was able to see that something was weird immediately because I wasn’t able to consume myself with the story being in college. This is the reason why people weren’t able to see how strange the Heene family was. People were just too deep into the story to see that story could have been a hoax. Furthermore, this is a big issue that goes on in our society. The news industry knows what will catch the viewers attention so they put it on and the viewer gets confused and tricked because the story is so appealing. As a result, the viewer is blind to the real issue that is going on in the story and are just able to see what the news chooses to focus on. This also shows how easily society is influenced by the news it sees on television.
I personally agree with what you are saying about this article. Even though the event of a six year old boy sailing in a helium balloon is fascinating it shouldn't be blown up all over the news. I also don't pay attention to too much news but I indeed heard about the situation. My mother would love this kind of news since she sits in front of the TV every night and curiously listens to the news. She always reports to me some kind of tragic event that happen and tells me I should always be careful with my life. News stations feed off these kind of events because it can relate to most families in the USA.
ReplyDeleteI understand why society would be so involved with this particular news story, it is indeed a unique development. I don't think that just because this story was discussed in such a high volume that it reflects negatively on society as a whole. I would be more concerned for the way society is going if we had NOT been so interested in a boy being trapped in a flying contraption and possibly being in the center of a family that take advantage of his age and naivety for personal gain. Further more I do understand that while this story is interesting and holds some importance, the well-being of any human being is in some degree important, with such controversies as the health care reform, a relatively new president and other issues plaguing our country, that nothing else could have been of more or of equal gravity.
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