5/26/23
By this point, every person with a TV has channel surfed pasted countless ghost hunters, bigfoot believers, and Loch Ness monster researchers. Yet, as an unknowing citizen on the topic and why we should even trust a person claiming to find a ghost, it’s hard to believe. With television, there are many jump cuts, editing shots, lighting (or lack thereof), and poor audio quality. It can’t be proven through mainstream TV time frames. Thinking of how many ghost-hunting shows there are in comparison to real ghost photos goes to show why people don’t believe and trust in their findings. In these scripted shows, people tend to act out of character to exaggerate their findings or create cheap, fast entertainment for gullible people. With that, the investigators themselves have to go through numerous credibility checks just so their evidence can be trusted. Once the public can trust the investigator, it shouldn’t matter if they have a TV show, a YouTube channel, or just a homemade documentary on the paranormal. In order to make the best paranormal investigator, one must go off script, level with their viewers, and interact with the people watching. In this day and age, how can we improve the credibility of paranormal field researchers?