Exploiting the gullible.
Over the past twelve months we’ve found ourselves often discussing the state of the paranormal media in the United Kingdom these days.
Well, in hindsight, perhaps 'paranormal' is too strong a phrase to use....... it simply struck us how very little paranormal content these magazines actually contained.
Once you strip away the spiritual stuff and adverts, what are we left with?
In the main, just out of focus prints of dust, rain and the like, oh and people breathing heavy.
Has the paranormal really come down to this?
Likewise, you can draw a parallel with a lot of organised 'ghost tours' that we see these days - "pay your £85 and we'll guarantee pictures of dust and breath".
Apologies, what we meant to write here was orbs / the first stage of a spirit manifestation / ectoplasm.
Now whilst we applaud the ability of people to scrape a living from the paranormal, is it really acceptable that they should do so in such a manner?
Would it not be best to have properly researched articles in these magazines?
Would it not be best to run ghost tours with the caveat "we can't guarantee you a ghost, but we can give you a night in a location that most people will never have the chance to".
Surely this would be more honest.
The majority of people printing these magazines and running these tours are intelligent people (or outwardly appear to be so), so unfortunately, we suppose, we can only draw one conclusion from this.
Is this not a case of exploiting people's ignorance to make a quick buck?
We'd be interesting in hearing about other people’s thoughts on this. Are we the only ones with this view?
We think not.
L&M.
Your Views:
| I think the papers and magazines are just filling a void in the publishers market. They have started something that people are obviously happy to buy and read. Exploitation may be too strong a word, as people will only subscribe if they like what they are reading. Personally i think these papers have a short reader interest value and rely on new people picking it up and buying. Regular readers are probably quite set in there ways and beliefs and are quite happy to accept that dust is paranormal, or they then begin to look further into the subject and move on. I don’t think the paranormal press is any better or worse than any of the other dodgy publications (some newspapers included) that you see on sale in the newsagents. Dan – Essex, UK. 12th June 2008 |
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