The Media And The Paranormal: Why You Should Keep An Open Mind

How far do you think your beliefs about the paranormal can affect people? You may debate certain elements, such as the existence of aliens for example, with friends or on a blog. As a result, you may have an impact on the views of others. However, it is highly unlikely that you will affect anywhere near the number of people that a newspaper or TV news show would. The media is in a position of power because it has the ability to influence millions of people, especially give its reach since the advent of the Internet, but just how far does the media affect our views of the paranormal?

The media can seriously affect the way in which people view the paranormal. The nature of the stories that appear in newspapers and on TV can easily sway the elements of the general public that do not ask questions and thus simply believe what they are told.

For example, it is very difficult to measure public opinion about belief in UFOs, aliens, ghosts and similar entities because you would have to ask the entire population what they believe to get a true reading. However, if you asked a cross section of the population in a city on any given day then most people would say that they do not believe in the paranormal. Ask why and you will be referred to a news item that aired or was written and affected the individual. The news item may not be the whole truth though.

The media has a duty to report the news but it also has the conflicting purpose of seeking and explaining the truth. Unfortunately, that can make it somewhat biased and encourage journalists to sensationalize stories in order to sell newspapers or attract viewers. For example, there has been scientific research to prove that “sprites” can explain lights in the sky. However, not all lights can be explained by these sprites because they only ever happen during thunderstorms.

The media do not always get their paranormal stories wrong but cannot always offer a rational explanation and these are often the stories that are buried. For example, if you see a ghost but cannot offer proof then they have no tangible evidence that makes it worth their time publishing it. However, if someone tries to formulate a hoax, such as finding the dead body of Big Foot, and gets found out then it will provide huge revenues for them. There is proof of the hoax and this goes some way to make people even more sceptical about the paranormal.

One story of note that the media has covered and offers proof that the paranormal does exist is from the West Midlands in the UK. A boy took a photo of a ghost in his house on a mobile phone. This was covered because it was sensational and there was no rational explanation for it at all. This is just one example of a paranormal event that proves exactly why you should keep an open mind. For every hoax or event that can be explained, there is another paranormal event that cannot. Keep your mind and eyes open and you may begin to see why some people staunchly believe in the paranormal despite outside influence from the media.