David Bloomberg
August 14, 1998
Voice of the People
Chicago Tribune
435 N. Michigan Ave.
Chicago, IL 60611
To the Editor:
I applaud your coverage of the proceedings against Dr. Bennett Braun, the psychiatrist who may lose his license because of his use of repressed memory therapies and claims of huge satanic conspiracies (8/12/98).
However, I must also point out that the Tribune cannot lay the blame for the popularization of this scientifically unfounded "therapy" only on "books such as ‘Sybil,’ movie star confessionals…and…the daytime talk-show circuit." The Tribune itself ran an article on Braun on November 30, 1994, in the "Tempo" section. That article made no attempt to look into his wild claims of satanic conspiracies, ritual murder, etc. To this day, I find it incredible that an award-winning newspaper like the Tribune could have ignored a situation that cried out for investigative journalism and instead printed a piece that put forth Braun in a positive light.
I’m glad to see the Tribune is now giving Braun and his claims the proper attention, but I have to wonder if he could have been stopped sooner if you had promoted skepticism instead of his unscientific methods four years ago.
David Bloomberg, Chairman
Rational Examination
Association of Lincoln Land
