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Many recent surveys indicate that belief in paranormal events is widespread among Americans. While scientists and skeptics have frequently bemoaned the obvious role that the mass media play in misleading people to accept paranormal events uncritically, there has been remarkably little research evidence to substantiate media impact in this realm. In the experiment reported in this paper, viewers were exposed to one of two different news stories about UFOs. The two stories differed according to the extent to which the existence of UFOs was discredited by some scientific authority. Because the stories were naturally occurring segments from a network newscast, they also differed in terms of the topic of focus, the people featured, etc. The results revealed that subsequent UFO beliefs were affected by the story manipulation. The story that included discrediting information from a scientific authority discouraged UFO beliefs.
KEY CONCEPTS 1- versus 2-sided messages, TV news, UFO beliefs, paranormal content, media effects
A casual perusal of the mass media over the last few years reveals an overwhelming interest in content themes that are best described as dealing with the "paranormal." On television, this trend can be seen in the frequent cable advertisements for "psychics" who advertise their product by cautioning viewers to avoid the many "phony" psychics that are also peddling their wares. But the trend goes far beyond the infomercials. Entertainment programs like, "Unsolved Mysteries," "Beyond Reality," "In Search Of...," "The Other Side," "X-Files," "Sightings," "Encounters," "Psi-Factor: Chronicles of the Paranormal," among others, have surfaced in prime-time. Hollywood has also contributed to the surge in paranormal media content with movies such as, "Ghost," "Hocus Pocus," "Matilda," and the 1996 summer blockbuster, "Independence Day."
This outpouring of mass media with paranormal content has not gone unnoticed. Concern among scientific skeptics for the widespread acceptance of paranormal claims led to the formation of the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP). This organization publishes a journal, The Skeptical Inquirer, which regularly serves as a watchdog and debunker of paranormal claims. In a recent letter to its members and subscribers, CSICOP called attention to a variety of popular TV programs that routinely feature paranormal themes and, in their view, constitute, "a fast-growing TV genre that rivals the most irrepressible...