John Godddard's piece entitled The Miracle Worker appeared on
page A-9 in the Sunday Star. Unfortunately for the readers,
who thought it was a news item, it really belongs with the
horoscopes. It is a work of PURE FICTION.
http://tinyurl.com/rgkwnGoddard has failed to establish the basic facts in the case
of Adam Dreamhealer. He failed to present any evidence that
what this teenage flim flam artist and his family have
actually accomplished cured anyone.
The fact that this reporter has attended two of Adam's
workshops and had a "treatment" from him and makes
unsubtantiated claims himself is a real eye opener.
There is zero evidence that any of his claims are true.
For the Star to allow this story to run without
corroboration is a serious violation of the Canadian
Association of Journalists' policies or standards.
This was not in the Life or entertainments section. It was
in the NEWS section of the paper.
Goddard repeated the same misinformation about
Dreamhealer's background that everyone else has done.
There is no new information here, not one world of
criticism, not one person interviewed who could shed some
light on this flim flam.
For the latest on Adam's attempts to scam the public might
I suggest visiting my web site and the links to many others
who have a different point of view. There have been a number
of challenges to Adam Dreamhealer by Canadian scientists,
such as Dr. Barry Beyerstein, and by James Randi.
All of them have been ignored. In other words when asked to
prove what he does is real, the family steadfastly refuses
to have Adam tested. This was never mentioned in the article
by Goddard, when there is an enormous amount of evidence
that is easily found on the internet.
I challenge the Toronto Star to allow a full rebuttal to
Goddard's piece and to have his article scrutinized by the
Canadian Association of Journalists. In my opinion he
has violated the CAJ's own Principles and Ethics Guidelines
and should be admonished by the publisher of The Star.
"Our reporting must be fair, accurate and comprehensive."
[Goddard's reporting was neither accurate or comprehensive]
"We will not allow our own biases to influence fair and
accurate reporting."
[It would appear to me that since Goddard had treatments
from Dreamhealer
and had attended two of his workshops that
he can not fairly or accurately report on the subject]
"We will identify sources of information, except when there
is a clear and pressing reason to protect anonymity."
[Goddard failed to identify Adam
Dreamhealer by name.
The public's right to know who is scamming them has
been violated here.]
"We will independently corroborate facts if we get them
from a source we do not name."
[Adam was never identified, which I feel is clearly
deceptive, and he Goddard has made no attempted to
obtain
independent corroboration for any of the facts
of the case. His facts were just his subjective opinion]
"Our primary duty is to seek and report the truth as
completely and independently as possible. We will make
every effort to ensure the accuracy of our reports."
[There was no independent or accurate reporting.]
Goddard makes the following absurd statement:
"I do not doubt Adam's integrity or that of his parents. Are they
self-deluded? If not, Adam might one day prove
his theories."
The whole bloody point is that neither Adam or his parents
have proven anything except the fact that they have been
able to pull the wool over the public's and the media's
eyes for years.
For every person who attends one of his workshops there
is a clear risk that they will discontinue their doctor's
advice, or refuse to be examined properly by their health
provider.
There are people out there who have spent thousands of
dollars to travel to one of his workshops who died
shortly afterwards.
These cases are not isolated, and none of them was ever
discussed by Goddard.
Shame on The Star for promoting this flim flam artist as a
Miracle Worker.
