Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
It’s to be expected, I suppose, given that Halloween is almost here. But the news media continue to waste their time — and that of their readers/listeners/viewers — on stories about “hauntings” and the paranormal. It’s something I’ve blogged on many times already, and there doesn’t seem to be any end to this pathetic journalistic trope. The latest example is one I saw tonight on WTNH-TV out of New Haven, CT, reporting on the putative “haunting” of the Sterling Opera House in Derby, CT (WebCite cached article):
News 8 is with two paranormal investigators checking out one spot in Connecticut some say is haunted, the Sterling Opera House.
Dan Rivera and John Silveira run “Above the Realm Paranormal” which checks out reports of Unexplained noises or shadows or other things you can’t explain yourself.
The Sterling Opera House was built in 1889. It’s undergoing a renovation.
The “meat” of the report is in the video, which is right here:
The problem is that none of this so-called “evidence” proves anything. Gobs of light on photographs? Lens flares. Supposed children’s voices saying “Help me”? Some guy off-camera holding something over his mouth, saying it in falsetto.
Please, spare me the protestations of how “genuine” and/or “sincere” these “paranormal investigators” claim to be. They may be genuine, in which case they’re deluded. They also may not be, which makes them frauds. Either way, not good.
And the good folks at Channel 8 News were taken in by it. For shame. We don’t need any more “haunting journalism.”
Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons.
