CSIOP "Snuffed Candle Award"

[CLD]

CSICOP "Snuffed Candle Award"

Can anyone tell me if the CSICOP "Snuffed Candle Award" has been discontinued? I know Art Bell got it in the 90's, and Larry King got it three or four years ago. My emails to the CSCIOP media watch comittee go unanswered, and I can't find anything on the web regarding who the 2005 or 2006 recipients were. I would like to discuss nomination of a certain paranormal organization and TV series for this award.

 

[Amapola]

I never heard of this group, it is in Canada: CSIOP. This is how they describe themselves:

The Canadian Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology is an official section of the Canadian Psychological Association (CPA). Members consist of faculty from both Psychology departments and Business schools, consultants from various organizations, and students from numerous universities.

The Canadian Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology (CSIOP) is an organization whose mission is to further the welfare of people by: (a) helping organizations effectively manage their human resources, (b) scientifically investigating human behaviour and cognition at work, and (c) helping individuals realize their work goals, including helping them to maximize job satisfaction and minimize work stress.

CSIOP prints a quarterly newsletter and is an active participant at the annual conference of the Canadian Psychological Association. At the conference, CSIOP hosts workshops featuring leaders in the field of I/O Psychology and human resource management, and has a rich slate of symposia, paper and poster sessions, and round-table discussions.

I don't see any mention of the prize you are talking about, but you may be able to contact them through this link.

 

[CLD]

(red face) Sorry! I misspelled CSICOP as CSIOP!

 

[Amapola]

(red face) Sorry! I misspelled CSICOP as CSIOP!

OH! OK, that's different.

I subscribe to the magazine (Skeptical Enquirer) and have not seen this award mentioned for the 2 years I have been subscribing. They did run Randi's "Pigasus" awards, but I can't recall the one you speak of. Since I am such a new subscriber, maybe someone else can help out more. Have you tried emailing them?

As I read their publisher's box, it says that inquiries from the public about the work of the Committee should be made to Paul Kurtz, Chairman, CSICOP, PO Box 703, Amherst, NY 14226-0703. Maybe you should contact them and inquire...... perhaps they simply have had no worthy recipients!

 

[CLD]

Info from 6 years ago:

To promote media responsibility-particularly within the entertainment industry-and to publicize irresponsibility-the Council established two awards:

* The "Candle in the Dark Award" is given to television programs that have made a major contribution to advancing the public's understanding of science and scientific principles. The 1997 and 1998 awards went to two PBS programs: Bill Nye-The Science Guy and Scientific American Frontiers.

* The "Snuffed Candle Award" is given to television programs that impede public understanding of the methods of scientific inquiry. The 1997 and 1998 winners were Dan Akroyd, for promoting the paranormal on the show Psi-Factor, and Art Bell, whose radio talk-show promoted belief in UFOs and alien abductions.

In its efforts to debunk pseudoscience, the Council also urges TV producers to label documentary-type shows depicting the paranormal as either entertainment or fiction, provides the media with the names of expert spokespersons, asks U.S. newspapers to print disclaimers with horoscope columns, and uses "media watchdogs" to monitor programs and encourage responsibility on the part of television producers.

Finally, various skeptics groups and renowned skeptic James Randi have long-standing offers of large sums of money to anyone who can prove a paranormal claim. Randi and members of his "2000 Club" are offering more than a million dollars. So far, no one has met the challenge.

http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/seind00/access/c8/c8s5.htm