We’re a cynical bunch in the Van offices. Over the past few days, we’ve been discussing the possibility that the disappearance and miraculous re-discovery of backpacker Jamie Neale might not be all it’s been cracked up to be. A quick rootle round the Internet tells us we’re not the only ones who find the situation a wee bit suspicious.
Musings have ranged from his lack of stubble after 12 days in the outback to the state of the teenager’s lips (apparently not dry and cracked enough for someone suffering from dehydration). People have questioned everything from his apparent failure to hear the rescue helicopters to his mother’s calm demeanour in interviews.
For us, it was the incredible and lengthy coverage the story’s been given. We were hard-pressed to find a news outlet that didn’t carry the story from some angle.
Of course, it’s wonderful that a young guy lost in the Australian bush was found safe and well. But, with explosions in Indonesian hotels and a row over Army funding, it wasn’t a whole week’s worth of news.
There are, of course, plenty of people out there who’d slap our wrists and tell us off for being so negative. But there’s something about the whole thing that makes us feel that if Neale doesn’t want people to think it’s a media stunt, then maybe it’d be just as well not to sign up a top Australian agent to handle media interest…
Jamie has kept schtum about his ordeal so far – we wouldn’t like to speculate that it’s because he’s signed up to an interview on Australia’s 60 Minutes show for $200,000. Or that, if he were a more altruistic chap who feels he wholeheartedly owes his life to the emergency services who found him, he’d feel compelled to donate rather more than “some” of the money he receives to those who rescued him.
It’s possible we’re being far too suspicious for our own good. Jamie and his family may well just be taking advantage of the situation in which they find themselves, and doing it in an exceptionally savvy way. But even if it’s not a hoax, his recovery has been conducted in such a way as to plant the seeds of doubt. Golden rule number one: never let the PR become the story. And definitely not when you’re having to convince people of the story’s veracity as it is.
