Today's Bold Initiative at the Wisconsin State Journal

Remember back in 2004 when Ellen Foley became editor of the Wisconsin State Journal? Do you remember her saying that the WSJ would "continue to seek bold initiatives to deliver quality journalism"? Well Foley was true to her words. She sought a bold initiative and journo Nikki Katz delivered the quality with today's front page story on pet psychics, "Animal communicators say they teach owners to talk to pets". The article devotes most of its ink to a couple charlatans named Asia Voight and Robin Williamson:

Voight also taught Robin Williamson of Madison, who started her animal communication career in 2001. Williamson originally worked with humans as a psychic and intuitive reader, but switched her focus to animals because "they needed a voice." She now has about 400 pet owner clients.

Voight and Williamson said they do the majority of their readings over the phone, connecting telepathically with the animal and translating the messages for the pet owner on the line.

Voight and Williamson charge $75 and $45 for a 30-minute reading, respectively.

Apparently Williamson just couldn't hack doing cold readings on humans anymore. Must be easier to scam money from folks when you have to deal with a dog or a hamster instead of a human being.

Gee Ms. Foley, was it a slow newsday? I guess stories of Bush's ventures in Iraq and Afghanistan on the front page just don't sell papers. Heaven forbid the front page of our morning daily have something useful on it. Shame on you for putting a charlatan on the front page; and shame on Katz for not taking those hucksters to task. Is tomorrow's front page going to feature a story on someone claiming to be skilled in haruspicy or augury? I suppose that it may as long as the accompanying photo is all warm & fuzzy.

You'd think that Madison, a city with a fairly well educated population and a bunch of politicos running around could have a paper that actually puts stories on its front page that are relevant to the community at large, reject the bullshit claims of psychics, and be written at something a bit higher than a 4th grade level. But, thanks to Foley and her ilk, you'd be mistaken. There's something wrong with the WSJ when pet psychics are the lead story and, arguably, the Chicago Tribune has better coverage of happenings in our state.