For what it's worth, Balloon Boy admitted that the whole thing was a publicity stunt. I hope ABC at least delivers a Disney gift basket to the other networks for helping to promote Wife Swap.
There's a larger, more important point here, of course, and it's illustrated by this conversation between Chris Matthews, Joe Klein and CNN's Gloria Borger:
Matthews: The bloggers don’t fact check.
Klein: No body fact checks. We still do, the print magazine and Time Magazine still has elaborate fact checkers….
Borger: We fact check.
Yes, they're all such pros aren't they? And CNN fact checks, says Gloria -- they fact check SNL -- yet they miss the fact that White Hands Castellanos is a paid shill for the health insurance cartel. But bloggers don't fact check, the filthy swine. Just the very serious corporate news people do, which is why they wasted an entire day reporting a hoax, rather than waiting for an opportunity to, you know, fact check it.