To the editors:
Best of Chicago voting is live now. Vote for your favorites »
According to the Associated Press standard code of journalistic ethics, an honest and vigorous effort must be made to include reasonable opposing views in matters of significant controversy. The code also specifies that safeguards to avoid error should include systematic verification of facts and corroboration of critical information. Mr. Futrelle never contacted Believe the Children to verify the “facts” as he presented them, nor did he make an effort to present opposing views in his article.
In reference to our newsletter article (“Ritual Child Abuse in Day Care: What Parents Should Know,” winter 1995), Futrelle stated that “many of the alleged symptoms are simply examples of normal childhood behavior . . . ” In his haste to vilify Believe the Children, he overlooked the fact that our article also cautioned parents against overreacting to childhood behaviors:
Futrelle apparently misinterpreted Dr. Faller’s joke about a microphone failure at our First National Conference in 1993. Dr. Faller jokingly attributed the microphone failure to a “ritual conspiracy.” Although Futrelle states that Dr. Faller “continues to support the most extreme allegations of abuse,” her joke about the microphone indicates otherwise. To my knowledge, Dr. Faller has never expressed a belief in “ritual conspiracy.” It is possible to believe children have been ritually abused without also believing in a worldwide satanic conspiracy. That is one fact Dr. Faller presented in her lecture–a fact Futrelle chose to ignore.
