![[Wizard holding up a candle]](../../images/wizard.gif)
When is the proper time for the news media to take a skeptical look at the stories they carry? This question pops into my mind each year right after Halloween. It happened just last week when I read a long and very credulous story in the Northern Kentucky edition of one of our local newspapers. The story documented the latest in a series of "haunted bars" to get free publicity. A club in Wilder, Kentucky, can be counted on for an annual story about their latest apparition. Its cast of spirits has made the circuit of spooky tabloid TV shows and has a local access feature that haunts the local cable channels. The reporters sent out to gather "Halloween Features" can't be expected to ask embarrassing questions about evidence or corroboration, I suppose, because they do need something to print. Besides the talk shows are now the competition and we all know how well researched those shows are.
So I was thinking that there should be an appropriate time of year for skeptics to expect a little attention. A day for the media to reflect on the fine job of balanced reporting they do on the continuum from skeptic to believer. Could there be a more appropriate day than April First? But I need the cooperation of all skeptics out there who put up with stories about UFO's over Butler County, about the virtues of Homeopathic remedies, and the latest on crop circles in the local press. Cut the story out or jot down the broadcast station, the time and the details. You can give the stories to me at our meetings, or send them by E-mail or snail mail, or even over the phone. I will put all of your entries into an empty mayonnaise jar and next March I will present your best pick an award for the most gullible reporting.
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