Here is a copy of a letter sent to foxnews.com. I will be sure to post any reply received from Fox concerning this letter. Pretty disgusting overall.
For maximum impact, read the linked article completely first.
Dear FoxNews,
I am writing concerning the story, “Television Crosses Over” at http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,69794,00.html
I was very disappointed by the piece. It was far too uncritical to be a feature story, linked from the front page of a prestigious news site such as yours. Specifically, it was sloppy and arbitrary in its groupings (lumping fiction with ostensible non-fiction), it presented the claims of psychics without qualification, and it trivialized a scary trend in public thought as though it was discussing the inconsequential trends of fashion.
Lets look at the article line-by-line, article in bold. (Edited down for this board due to copyright issues, but you can compare to the original article to get the full impact)
NEW YORK — A psychic talks to pets in doggie and kitty heaven. A man wakes up from a 6-year coma with psychic powers. A dead funeral-home patriarch visits his family from the other side.
Psychics claim to speak with lost loved ones and pets, and sell this as factual with not a reason in the world to presume that these claims are true. The other two shows (The Dead Zone, and Six Feet Under) are clearly presented as fiction/fantasy.
…… “People are really trying to connect with the other side,” said Richard Fernandes, co-executive producer of Pet Psychic. "They’re looking to know that people are well, their pets are well.”
It is nice that people are looking to know that people or their pets are well. However, given the (serious) lack of evidence that any psychic has actually put people in touch with their lost loved ones, it seems prudent (at least) to avoid the appearance of ENDORSING these claims by presenting them without qualification.
Crossing Over With John Edward, which documents psychic readings by the medium, has garnered a cult following. Viewers have lapped up Pet Psychic, where Sonya Fitzpatrick communicates with pets, alive and dead. And The Dead Zone – …… – has taken off on cable.
Why the popularity of these shows is discussed in the same breath is beyond me. The Pet Psychic and the Dead Zone would be expected to have different audiences watching for completely different reasons. Again this article states, “Fitzpatrick communicates with [dead] pets” without qualification, giving the appearance of endorsing the claims as factual.
Those who have been in the paranormal business for years feel as though the newfangled attention justifies a craft often deemed hokey.
“I’m really happy to see what the TV shows are doing,” ………"It’s heightening people’s awareness that there is more to life than just what we see every day.”
I have to ask:
- What is this paranormal “business”?
- Why, exactly, would a “medium” have any credibility?
- Again, the statement of the medium is presented completely uncritically.
……“The Sixth Sense did help facilitate interest in the supernatural,” ………
Resurgence in fictional occult accounts would be strictly a preference in “entertainment”… It would be very sad if The Sixth Sense paved the way for a show like Crossing Over. A fictional account of the occult should not lend any credence to supernatural claims in reality. A journalistic piece should avoid giving the impression that THE SIXTH SENSE offers any kind of “evidence” that ghosts exist.
…….E! Networks is working on a special hosted by Mark Wahlberg called Hollywood and Beyond, set to air early next year. It features “tomorrow’s gossip today” with astrologers forecasting future Hollywood dish, plus segments where paranormal experts communicate with deceased stars like Marvin Gaye.…….
This idea is so bad, I don’t even know where to begin… A show combining the completely trivial with the completely worthless. I am sure it will sell very well. As pointed out repeatedly, the claims of speaking to the deceased are parroted without any qualification.
As an aside: I think it is remarkable, were such an ability to exist, with all of the possible deceased personalities one could learn from (Jesus, Buddha, Mohammed, Gandhi, Einstein, etc.) that they would choose a figure as trivial as Marvin Gaye. Weren’t Elvis or John Lennon available, at least?
………“It gives peace to people, it gives hope,” she said. "If people didn’t believe in something other than this, they wouldn’t pray. You’re talking to the other side – exactly the same thing that mediums do.”
Not the same at all. Mediums claim they are being directly and specifically answered on the spot. Of course, there is no evidence to support this claim at all, but plenty to contradict it. Not to mention they make money from it. Prayer is free.
She thinks the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks left many wanting to believe – and stay connected with the ones who were lost.
Who doesn’t want to believe in a very comforting idea? I find it very disturbing that these self proclaimed seers are so willing to make a buck by exploiting the very people hurt by this tragedy. Does FoxNews endorse the bilking of 9/11 victims?
"It was a wake-up call for a lot of people spiritually," she said. "Heaven is a very real existence. If you can connect with someone from the other side, it gives people peace knowing their loved ones are OK.
“Their love hasn’t died,” she added. "They’re just not in visual contact. It’s almost like they’ve moved.”
Really? John Edwards, Sylvia Brown, James Von Prague, etc have been often caught cheating and lying. There is not a single thing they do in their shows that nearly anyone couldn’t be trained to do just as well without any paranormal talent at all. Given the intelligence gathering and general spying that goes on before a taping of Crossing Over, it’s a wonder that his show needs editing “for content” at all.
People have a strong desire to believe. It is very comforting. When a person is told something he wants to believe, it is often accepted without thought or examination. People want to believe that someone can talk to their dead relatives. Not a shred of evidence has been offered that would support the claim except the “psychic’s” own blustering. These people are making money (a lot of money) by deceiving/defrauding the gullible. They do this by knowing what these people (who have often suffered a rather tragic loss) want to hear, want to believe. They make up something that will satisfy the audience, often using subterfuge to obtain “unknowable” confirming evidence. Then the “psychic” feeds this lie to them and they accept it. And the cash register goes "cha-ching”.
If I sell a necklace as pure sterling silver, when in fact it is silver plated brass, is it still fraud if the buyer never finds out about the deception? If the buyer goes to his grave without ever knowing that he didn’t get what he paid for, was he cheated? I would say that he clearly was. These people are being sold information with the stipulation that it is the truth. Many of the people attending these “psychic” shows will never realize they were defrauded, at least not in this lifetime. It doesn’t mean that it is not fraud just the same.
Children are disabused of the fable that Santa and the Tooth Fairy are real for obvious reasons before they reach adulthood, regardless of how comforting the notion may be that they exist. I will not argue that people have the right to hold any belief they care to, even if it is demonstrably false. However, there is a big difference between letting these people do what they want, and the major media networks not only allowing, but enabling, hucksters to prey upon these people.
Fox isn’t as guilty as the networks running these “shows” by publishing a piece of journalism as uncritical as this. But, every article like this is just another little piece of evidence that these psychics are legit for the people who want to believe.
I have discussed these shows with a number of people who watch and believe. You would not believe how often the phrase, “They couldn’t show it on TV like this if it wasn’t true” comes up. This article does nothing but reinforce this message, especially as it appears in a news outlet.
Finally, with the resources available to Fox, it would be pretty trivial to send some people to attend some of the tapings and reveal them for the crap that they are in a national venue. Let’s look at how Crossing Over is produced to see how effective a simple plan could be.
- The audience arrives hours before the taping.
- They are kept where they can be listened to and chatted up by people working for the show. (Of course, everyone is going to be discussing what they hope to hear about in their reading, if they get one)
- All the audience members are required to fill out a family tree questionnaire while they are waiting. (Could there be any chance that this information falls into John’s hands?)
It would be pretty trivial to plant a couple to discuss while waiting a completely fictional sob story. If done a few times, a psychic reading would likely occur in short order regarding this fictional tragedy. This would reveal pretty conclusively that information from the anteroom was being passed to the “psychic”. Also, if any kind of recording device can be smuggled in, it would be very revealing to compare the unedited readings to the edited versions that actually make the air. The practice of editing responses from one question to appear to answer other questions has been well documented.
Why would Fox want to do this? I can think of a couple of reasons:
- You would be making a positive contribution to a more critical and thinking American public.
- You just might shut down a prolific scam artist.
- If viewers weren’t watching pure crap on one of the other channels, surely some of them would be picked up as viewers by Fox in those time slots.
- The other networks appear to prefer the advertising revenue to delivering anything like a balanced account of what is happening (because a balanced account wouldn’t fool anyone and no one would watch), nobody but another network can really do anything about it except through legislation (and that probably won’t be happening anytime soon).
Do the world a favor and expose this stuff for the fraud that it is. I look forward to any response.
scotth