Discussion Group Report

The question in the title of this article raises an intriguing question, one of several that were raised at a Council for Media Integrity conference in Los Angeles on November 14, 1998. Other questions raised there were: Is there empirical evidence that portrayals of the paranormal really do have an influence on what people believe? Do the media have a responsibility to maintain balanced reporting? Why do the media hype the unexplained while casting science in a negative light? Is there any hope that the situation will change?

Here are some opinions expressed by conference speakers:

STEVE ALLEN (author-entertainer): There has been a loss of cultural standards in the media. Television and radio have succumbed to vulgarity, the "Howard Stern-ization" of entertainment. The loss of standards encroaches on media treatment of science. "Why do so many bright people believe so many dumb things?" Part of the problem rests with Hollywood writers, who may want to produce intelligent stories using science but lack the basic knowledge.

JUSTIN GUNN (twenty-something Hollywood insider): Television producers don't aim to give science short shrift but are simply reacting to perceived viewer demand and response. The paranormal is treated uncritically because sensationalized presentations gain high ratings. The quest for ratings has blurred the line between hard news and entertainment. Tabloid journalism shows like Inside Edition and A Current Affair are examples of how producers fell in love with easily packaged story lines and programming that streamlined costs and reduced staff size. "With ratings controlling content and few qualified editors available to review reports, the need to generate controversy is paramount regardless of the actual events or facts of a story."

TREY STOKES (special effects artist and a skeptic with a comedic flair): After the airing of the Fox network show, Alien Autopsy: Fact or Fiction, Stokes set up a Web site to address the numerous flaws and inconsistencies in the footage. He polled the opinions of fellow effects artists on its authenticity and found none who supported the alien body as genuine. Similar alien autopsy videos have since popped up in Canada, Europe, and Argentina.

PETER BONERZ (TV director of Friends, Murphy Brown, and Home Improvement): His cynical take on the paranormal fads of Southern California was not always appreciated. There is a desire among producers to favor mystery over science.

SCIENTISTS:

JERE LIPPS (University of California at Berkeley) Passionately indicted the media for promoting scientific illiteracy and superstition. National Research Council statistics describe 98 percent of Americans as scientifically illiterate. The media are the major cause. "Television is allowed to run rampant over science." The media are central to reinvigorating interest in science. Film and television "ignore the beauty and excitement of science and scientists, turning a blind eye to a wealth of viable subjects" that are "creative, inspiring, thrilling, intriguing and fun." A drama with scientists as central characters similar to ABC's ER could be just as dynamic, successful, and entertaining, while inspiring generations of Americans. For an example of positive potential media images of science, visit the popular paleontology Web site at: http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu.

WILLIAM EVANS (Georgia State University): Television and film have frequently portrayed science and scientists as inhibiting progress, deranged, and villainous. Research suggests that positive portrayals of scientists are rare. Scientists are the occupational group in dramas most likely to kill or be killed. They are usually depicted as physically peculiar, socially incompetent, neglectful of family and friends, and unable to initiate or maintain romantic relationships. Science is portrayed not only as dangerous but as useless in solving problems. Scientists are stubborn, dogmatic, or idiotic, and only after they have been "removed" from the action can the paranormal danger be eliminated. These negative presentations of science appear to affect viewer opinions. One study found that habitual TV viewers are more likely than infrequent viewers to believe that scientists are dangerous, that they are odd and peculiar, and that a career in science is undesirable. Visit his Web site at http://www2.gsu.edu/~jouwee/evans.html.

GLENN SPARKS (Purdue): Presented empirical evidence that media portrayals of the paranormal can influence public belief. However, any type of disclaimer before a television program may trigger a more critical reception from audiences. For summaries of his research, look in the Summer 1994 and July/August 1998 issues of Skeptical Inquirer.

Suggestions made by these speakers to bring good science to television and the media are: to write letters of protest to publication editors and news producers about bad science or hype, to contact television reviewers or offer to write reviews ourselves, to issue statements about bad science, to provide science stories to television news and newspapers, to petition the Television Academy of Arts and Sciences to institute a "Best Science" category, to lecture and discuss the need for sound media presentations of science with teachers, to produce television drama that features the work and lives of scientists, to do a "strategic framing" of the science and media question into that of a consumer angle, and to conduct further research and publicity surrounding the link between media depictions and paranormal belief. Television dramas that feature the work and lives of scientists are in the works through efforts by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, with some money going to NYPD Blue, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Ongoing discussions with the entertainment industry are continuing. The Council for Media Integrity is proactively working for balanced presentations of science in the media. Their Web site is http://www.csicop.org/cmi. For a discussion of the vulnerability of children to media promotion of the paranormal and bad science, read the recently published book Mommy, I'm Scared by Joanne Cantor.