Polygraph in the News - 7/3/2009

The following are article(s) in which Polygraph is playing an important role in the World. (Article descriptions are mine)

** Please note that many news sources archive/move their articles after a certain period of time. If a story link no longer works, this may be what happened.

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• Survivor contestant Benjamin 'Coach' Wade tells his side of the story and part of that story involves his polygraph test that was announced live on the final Survivor Episode as being conducted by John Grogan. Below is a quote from Coach Wade as printed by Reality TV Magazine. Full article link is below this excerpt and it is worth reading the entire section in that article under the sub-heading 'The Lie Detector Test'.
  

“My manager and a couple of my advisers were like, ‘Take your own lie detector test.’ So I did. Passed it three times. Took it three times, passed it with video and without. Two different days with a .01 deception. I felt real solid about it. I even asked the guy that gave it to me, ‘I’m going to take the CBS test.’ And he said, ‘No.’ And I was like, ‘What do you mean no?’ And he was like, ‘If the studio tells me to give a failed result I have to do it.’”
http://realitytvmagazine.sheknows.com/blog/2009/06/23/exclusive-survivor-coach-argues-his-case/

• Polygraph helps clear South African hotel employees of theft accusations by Egyptian soccer team.
  http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=15&art_id=vn20090630051938984C647430

• Ohio man confesses double homicide to Polygraph Examiner Bill Evans after failing exam. Video below is Mr. Mills' last statement before sentencing.
  http://www.wytv.com/content/news/local/story/Man-Admits-to-Double-Homicide/BEuC16dRn0mHUnVJeYo2Mg.cspx

• Arizona officer lies during application process at two departments about prior drug use. He was hired and only after submitting to a polygraph exam while employed does he confess his prior use. He has been placed on paid leave pending complete investigation.
  http://regulus2.azstarnet.com/blogs/policebeat/15403/pinal-county-sheriff-places-two-on-paid-leave

• Florida resident Jerry Cooper (pictured below with examiner Mike Alaiwat) passes polygraph test confirming beatings he received as a 'White House Boy' in 1960. (As a side note, there is an 8 minute video clip of the deposition of Troy Tidwell, one of the men accused of the beatings. It is an interesting study in body language. You'll find the video about halfway down the page in the article link) Photograph by Edmund D. Fountain - Times
  http://www.tampabay.com/features/humaninterest/article1015532.ece

Polygraph in the News - 5/19/2009

Survivor contestant 'Coach' Ben Wade hands Jeff Probst polygraph results of a lie detector test performed by John Grogan.

** Please note that many news sources archive/move their articles/videos after a certain period of time. If a story or video link no longer works, this may be what happened.

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Editor's Comments:
I was out of the office on Monday. I returned today to find my in-box filled with emails about the Polygraph Test Results on the final Survivor show. It appears that John Grogan performed a polygraph test on contestant Ben Wade. Ben presented the written results on the live television show as a surprise for Jeff Probst. Rather than give you the running list of polygraph articles this week, I've decided to highlight what I've found regarding the show.

In case you did not watch Survivor and want to see the part in question, I found the following clip on YouTube. You can forward to 3:05 into the clip...that is where they start the story on 'coach' Ben Wade.



I found many discussion groups and blogs discussing this story. The most extensive seems to be the actual CBS Survivor Forums. On the show, Probst said that he would be "calling him after the show" referring to John Grogan. I wonder if he will do that. By the way, this is not some obscure reality show that no one will watch or believe in, this is Primetime television and one of the most watched reality shows of all time. Anyone still feel like we don't need to be more involved in media relations and how polygraph is portrayed on tv? As you read the forum posts, take special note of all the blatantly incorrect impressions and information on polygraph.

http://www.cbs.com/forum/posts/list/51738.page

A discussion has begun in this regard on the polygraph place examiner's only private forum and I hope you'll join in the discussion. I would especially like to see discussion on what we as a profession can do to better represent real polygraph on television and to the media in general.

http://www.polygraphplace.com/cgi-bin/ubbcgi/Ultimate.cgi