Onward State , an alternative student news website for Penn State University, has pulled an article about a student psychic for promoting “one of the most fraudulent, predatory practices around.”

The psychic has been given her own reality TV show on ABC Family (an oxymoron if ever there was one). The newspaper had reported the news of the show with, shall we say, something of a credulous eye. Per the item:

Penn State’s resident medium, Monica Ten-Kate, is set to take her abilities to TV. Ten-Kate will star in “Monica the Medium” on ABC Family, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. The unscripted reality series will follow Ten-Kate as she carries out her daily life as a communications major while juggling her side job as a spirit medium, someone who is able to communicate with those “who have crossed over.” “The best part of being a medium is the gift I get to give people that I read,” Ten-Kate said in an interview with Onward State last fall. “Just being able to see their face change from sadness to tears of joy from hearing from their loved ones is probably one of the best feelings I could ever have.” Much like “Long Island Medium” Theresa Caputo, Ten-Kate “uses her gifts to connect with your loved ones and deliver healing messages from them,” according to her website. Ten-Kate offers in-person readings as well as readings over Skype. However, in recent months, she has received so many reading requests that she has had to stop scheduling reading sessions entirely until further notice.

That was followed a day later by a pitch-perfect editorial from features editor Noel Purcell, which took a quick tour of charlatanism before inserting the knife:

As we reported yesterday, Monica Ten-Kate, the “Penn State Medium,” is indeed getting her own reality show on ABC Family — if nothing else, that much is true. Unfortunately, in trying to provide a relevant piece of news to the Penn State community, we inadvertently promoted one of the most fraudulent, predatory practices around: psychic readings. Our mission statement promises that Onward State will work to generate honest conversation in the hopes of enriching the Penn State community and experience. Yesterday’s article did not do that, and we hope to rectify that. We apologize for the oversight, and are issuing a full retraction of that piece. After we published the article, Ten-Kate and her publicists requested that we “correct” several parts, claiming there were errors. She was absolutely right. There were significant mistakes in our piece. Instead of reporting critically, we presented her implausible assertions at face value, and implied that Ten-Kate can actually speak to the dead. In reality, she most certainly can’t talk to the dead, because that’s quite simply impossible. Anyone who claims to have that power is a liar. We apologize for any confusion or ire this may have caused amongst our readership, and we appreciate your comments.

Purcell went on to add that:

It may seem relatively innocuous without context, but those of us who understand the deception at its core, but choose to play along with these “psychics” because it seems like harmless fun, are in fact enabling con artists. We are allowing chicanery to substitute for real, tangible help for those struggling to cope with the death of someone close to them. We are, in a sense, willful accomplices to scam, and we are doing more damage than we could ever know. Psychic mediums and their ilk are one of the most abhorrent cottage industries around. From the loathsome Long Island Medium, to Joel Osteen’s megachurch televangelism profiteering scheme, to John Edward’s cold readings, to Miss Cleo’s pay-per-call deception, the entire industry is built on the shameful idea of profiting off of those who most need solace. Taking advantage of the emotional state of another human being through explicitly deceitful means for your own personal betterment is a vile way to live, let alone make a living. And we’re hardly the first ones to point this out. … … James Randi, the retired magician who has made it his life’s work to challenge those who claim paranormal powers, has a one million dollar reward waiting for “any person who demonstrates any psychic, supernatural, or paranormal ability under satisfactory observation.” It has remained unclaimed since 1964, despite numerous attempts by high-profile frauds. But really, it’s just common sense: Nobody can talk to the dead, regardless of what they claim. However, I do have a sixth sense for bullshit, and right now it’s going off.

To which we say: Mr. Purcell — if you need a job after graduation, we might know some interested news organizations.

In addition to retracting the short article announcing Ten-Kate’s new show, Onward State has added an editor’s note to a previous profile of Ten-Kate that links to Purcell’s editorial, and alerts readers that the article contains “factual inaccuracies.”

Update 3:35 pm:

We heard from Purcell, who told us:

So the retraction was more or less tongue-in-cheek. The original piece ran because it was a local interest story about a student getting a TV show. We didn’t think about implications of promoting this morally bankrupt practice. After further discussion and reading some comments on the story that confirmed our thoughts, we thought it was best to clarify that we don’t actually believe in this garbage, and that it’s irresponsible to promote without scrutiny.

Purcell added that he hasn’t heard from Ten-Kate yet — or “her people” (by which, we assume, he means living ones).

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