A Primetime Disgrace

I'm a little bit fired up this story which demonstrates just how far journalistic standards have fallen and how critical analysis and investigatory rigor have completely given way to the ratings game.

Thomas Jefferson believed that the diffusion of knowledge among the population was the only sure way to preserve a free and democratic society. In fact he feared that the United States and its present state of liberty would be "a short lived possession" unless the masses "were enlightened to a certain degree".

Unfortunately by that measure it would seem that we are doomed.

The story in question was aired by ABC Primetime on February 10th. It dealt with a Brazilian man known as "Joao de Deus" or "John of God" and you may recall seeing the previews if you did not actually see the show. This man operates a "healing center" in Brazil where people flock from all over the world to be healed by various means such as forceps inserted in their nose, random cutting of flesh, scraping of the eyeball, etc. As to be expected, a thriving local economy has grown out of this mythology.

Suffice it to say that ABC's report on "John of God" presented him in a non-critical light. They trotted out James Randi, a highly qualified professional debunker with an impressive list of credentials and publications (which they somehow failed to mention), to be the "token" skeptic. In the final edited production ABC gave Randi 19 seconds of air time, despite the fact that Randi had been taped and interviewed for over an hour. Randi even provided video taped proof of how certain tricks, such as inserting the forceps in the nose, were done, but all of that hard evidence was ignored. As Randi himself said:

I was allowed only a token appearance because what I'd provided them with was not in tune with the song they were singing. That 19-second flash was their way of showing the audience that they had tried to present a contrary point of view, in accordance with the "balanced treatment" requirement which they should observe. I was interviewed and videotaped for over an hour, I contributed pertinent observations for the use of the ABC-TV producers and editors, and everything I told them was ignored because it did not suit the needs of the network; they wanted a "gee-whiz-we-just-don't-know-folks" show, and that's what they turned out

Randi's take on the whole sordid affair is presented on his JREF (James Randi Educational Foundation) web site.

Also for "balance", ABC brought in Dr. Mehmet Oz, a Harvard educated MD, who just happens to believe in "therapeutic touch", guided imagery, reflexology, and "energy medicine," -- despite no scientific evidence or merit. This says something about the type of show ABC wanted to produce. Oz's (whose credentials were mentioned, hmm) beliefs are far off the mainstream of medical science, yet he was being presented as the "balance". He subsequently concocted fanciful theories to explain how "Jon of God"'s methods might be potentially plausible. This nonsense is undoubtedly lost on most viewers, who believe anything if it sounds scientific. But as Randi explains:

...the scientific approach is to establish that the phenomenon itself exists in humans before you offer theories on how it works. Otherwise, there would be researchers out there developing parallels and philosophies to account for the reality of The Tooth Fairy, for whom there is adequate anecdotal evidence of the same caliber as evidence for these [claims]....

The bottom line is that no actually healed patients were ever produced by ABC, yet viewers were led to believe by insinuation that they existed. Worse, no one was brought forth who had suffered actual damage by this scam artist even though anyone can easily find their stories on the Internet. If ABC had exerted even half of the investigatory zeal reserved for exposes on crooked car mechanics or grocery store meat dating practices, then "Jon of God" would be easily revealed for the charlatan that he is. But that is not what ABC wanted, they wanted ratings. Perhaps understandable (sadly) for a FOX style tabloid special, but for PrimeTime which claims to be a News program it was despicable.

The kicker is that the on-screen reporter, Jon Quinones, submitted himself to a healing treatment:

On-camera host John Quiñones told the audience that he had an inflamed rotator-cuff problem in his right shoulder and had submitted to treatment by John of God as a test of his powers. He was told by the ["Jon of God"] handlers to submit to "invisible surgery," which consisted of merely meditating for two days and following a set of simple instructions - no sex, no pork, no alcohol, and no pepper - and then waiting forty days to see the results. John reported no change in his condition at all, but excused that failure by revealing that he'd not followed the instructions! Why was it that this professional investigative reporter, actively at work on a major media shoot looking into the claims of this charlatan, chose not to follow the instructions he was given, thus providing a convenient excuse for the failure of the "magic"? And why, knowing that Quiñones had made his own test invalid by violating the rules, did the ABC-TV editors and producers still choose to include that event in the program?

What a joke!

Charlatans like "Jon of God" rob people of hundreds, sometimes thousands of dollars (many times this amount represents a life-savings) with their false promises. Worse, when the treatment fails, it is often the poor victim's who are left feeling at fault. In the case of "Jon of God", the treatment only worked if followed up by 40 days of fasting, sexual abstinence, etc. -- quite convenient. I once saw a couple racked with guilt because their son had died after faith healer Benny Hinn was unable to "save" their child. Of course, Hinn asserted that this poor couple's faith was not great enough. As a result they were now emotionally as well as financially devastated. The fact that ABC (in effect) condones this criminal behavior is very sad indeed.

I shouldn't surprised at this media incompetence following other such gaffes as CBS 60 Minutes rigging Audi vehicles to falsely demonstrate "unintended acceleration", NBC Dateline rigging trucks with incendiary devices to get them to blow up on side impacts, the New York Times Jason Blair debacle and most recently the infamous "Rather-gate" CBS scandal. The media is our most important tool for disseminating accurate and critically analyzed information. When mass media as an institution starts to fail, it should be very alarming to all.

As Thomas Jefferson warned, "If a nation expects to be ignorant and free in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be".

Note: I'm not saying that ABC shouldn't have produced this show or that one day seemingly improbable events couldn't have merit (though not in this case). A good skeptic is skeptical of his/her skepticism. The point here is that absolutely no journalistic skills, investigative reporting or critical analysis was brought to bear on this "fluff" story masquerading as a News report.