All your media are belong to us.
I've made it no secret that I'm a card-carrying member of The Media, a wholly owned subsidiary of The Man — i.e., that I work for a newspaper and news Web site. But I don't know if you realize just how much the rest of the Indrelunas (and Campbell) clan has been represented in the media lately.
For one, my brother's got his aforementioned weekly radio show on The Blaze 1330 AM.
Also this fall, some community newspapers ran briefs on my mom receiving an award from the American Diabetes Association. She also gave ABC 15 viewers a lesson on proper coughing technique after taking calls about the swine flu as a phone bank volunteer during KNXV's evening newscasts.
But then today, as a helium balloon took off from Fort Collins, Colo., and initial (as well as not-so-initial) reports indicated there might be a 6-year-old boy aboard, I took an immediate interest... mainly because one of our local television stations had decided to send out an e-mail alert about a decidedly non-local story.
But soon, after MSNBC had picked up live footage from KUSA-TV's helicopter, I glanced up at the TV and saw my aunt's name in the lower-third. (My aunt and uncle just so happen to be hot air balloonists who live in Fort Collins.)
"Hey. I think my aunt is talking on MSNBC right now," I announced to the newsroom. "Can we turn that up?"
As the #balloonboy drama unfolded, I kept seeing my aunt's name and hearing her voice as she talked to the MSNBC anchors, and I also caught my uncle talking to KUSA as I was previewing a story page on mydesert.com that included live video from 9News, which just so happens to be a Gannett TV station.
At one point this afternoon, my aunt and uncle were even preparing to go on NBC's Today show tomorrow to offer whatever expertise they could about a balloon that's not exactly like the one they fly.
That appearance has been scrapped, and I'm guessing we'll see the Heene family on one or more of the morning news shows tomorrow... but I just want to point out that the Indrelunas/Campbell/Quinn family has become quite the media savvy bunch.
Unlike the Heenes, we haven't broken into reality television — yet. (But I hear that a certain family member may or may not have tried out for "The Real World" last weekend.) Still, we've got news reporting, entertainment and all kinds of news sourcery covered.