Psychic Debra contacts the dead (From Darlington and Stockton Times)

It's shameful that an otherwise respectable paper would publish an uncritical account of someone who is either deluded or a charlatan. There have been countless properly conducted tests of claimed psychic ability, none of which have produced evidence in favour of it. There is no good reason at all to believe that psychic phenomena exist, so the only honest approach is to provisionally conclude that they don't. If properly conducted experiments suddenly start generating evidence, then we can change our minds but until then it is irresponsible for news agencies to promote these fictional services.

This article is nothing more than an advertisement for someone who cannot do what she says she can do (and if she disagrees, she can try to prove it by, for example, being tested by the James Randi Educational Foundation. If she demonstrates psychic ability she'll win $1m!) Worse, many of the people she sells her 'services' to are vulnerable, being recently bereaved. Don't you think you ought to be careful about what services you tout to such vulnerable people?

This industry exploits vulnerable people and it can harm them. False hope is no hope at all. False hope prevents people from moving on with their lives after tragic events. And false hope is all this person has to offer.

I hope you remove the article and stop promoting harmful nonsense. Perhaps instead you could have said that she only *claims* to be psychic and leave it up to people to decide what they wanted to believe. Perhaps you could have done some actual journalism and researched the subject, then reported what you found in an honest and open way. But you didn't do any of those things: you reported on claimed psychic abilities as fact.

Lets be real here, this lady has been watching "psychic sally" and realises there is millions to be made by lying to people and giving them false hope, shame on her, stick to nursing its a job of saints.

latsot wrote:
It's shameful that an otherwise respectable paper would publish an uncritical account of someone who is either deluded or a charlatan. There have been countless properly conducted tests of claimed psychic ability, none of which have produced evidence in favour of it. There is no good reason at all to believe that psychic phenomena exist, so the only honest approach is to provisionally conclude that they don't. If properly conducted experiments suddenly start generating evidence, then we can change our minds but until then it is irresponsible for news agencies to promote these fictional services.

This article is nothing more than an advertisement for someone who cannot do what she says she can do (and if she disagrees, she can try to prove it by, for example, being tested by the James Randi Educational Foundation. If she demonstrates psychic ability she'll win $1m!) Worse, many of the people she sells her 'services' to are vulnerable, being recently bereaved. Don't you think you ought to be careful about what services you tout to such vulnerable people?

This industry exploits vulnerable people and it can harm them. False hope is no hope at all. False hope prevents people from moving on with their lives after tragic events. And false hope is all this person has to offer.

I hope you remove the article and stop promoting harmful nonsense. Perhaps instead you could have said that she only *claims* to be psychic and leave it up to people to decide what they wanted to believe. Perhaps you could have done some actual journalism and researched the subject, then reported what you found in an honest and open way. But you didn't do any of those things: you reported on claimed psychic abilities as fact.

Latsot could not agree more perfectly put

The following week 'the bearded lady' is coming to Darlington and after that a freak show... Northern Echo will you start to be 'what you claim to be on the tin'? Namely, - a newspaper - with sound critical analysis

Further up the page, there's coverage of Catholicism, too.

I have to agree with the above posters. This is an appalling excuse for journalism.

"Debra Chalmers, 36, of Spennymoor realised she had a special gift after seeing the ghosts of dead patients while working on a cancer ward"

Is that a verified fact, Northern Echo, or could it perhaps be make-believe?

Normally the Echo warns its readers about con artists operating in their area. On this occasion they've chosen to give them free promotion.