Family Stages Missing Child

Mariel Graeber
#3
In this article from CNN a family staged a claim that their child was missing in a hot air balloon for fame. The family claims that the child was in the balloon when it took off, while a slip up by the 6 year old child shows it was a hoax. The child was found later to be safe.
The family wanted to be on a reality T.V. show. The media is a great source for people to become recognized and become famous. Reality T.V. now holds a main spot in the Television line up and instead of applying for a reality T.V. show the family tried to use the Media to get the spot. The family used widely know social norms to try to get a spot on t.v. by coping famous t.v. stars. The stars get in trouble, by lying, cheating, or breaking the laws and in return they get a reality T.V. show. The family was using this same tactic to use their 15 minutes of fame to get an entire season on MTV of fame. We copy what we see in the media to get what we want as opposed to doing the hard thing and actually using our talents.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/10/18/colorado.balloon.investigation/index.html