Swedish psychics fails

[Chateaubriand]

Translated this article published in Swedens largest tabloid:

"COMPLETE FAILURE - NO MURDERS SOLVED
Severe criticism of broadcasting spirit aided murder chases

Sensing fiasco
The clairvoyant psychics of Channel 5 haven't given the police a single valid clue in unsolved murder cases.
- The series should be terminated as soon as possible, says Jerzy Sarnecki, professor of criminology.

The ambition was high
Last spring, Channel 5 turned to five of Swedens most capable clairvoyant psychics to find new clues in ten unsolved disappearances and murders. By the end of september, a new season of Sensing Murder (Fornimmelse av mord) starts. But
Aftonbladet can reveal that the psychics contacts with the dead during the spring season was far from successful.

"Just nonsense"
It is evident after a survey among the superintendents in charge of the ten murder cases. The fact is that the information given
by the clairvoyant psychics have not resulted in a single clue leading to a break-through in any of the cases.
- It turned out exactly as we suspected from the beginning. This is just nonsense. It hasn't helped us in any way.
- The show only have an entertainment value - nothing else, says Goran Gunnarsson, superintendent of Orebro.
Stig Svensson, superintendent of Kalmar, agrees.
- We only hoped that the attention the broadcast brings, would make people with real knowledge of the cases, that has not come forward yet, contact us.
- But we haven't received any valid tips, he says.

"Cynical and unethical"
Jerzy Sarnecki, professor of criminology, totally rejects the methods of the show.
- It's cynical, deeply unethical and aimed only at making money. It could be compared to quacks exploiting cancer patients
unable to benefit from further care from health care, he says.

Relatives said yes
Johan Westman, program manager at Channel 5:
- The show is based on the relatives' total consent. Everybody knows what they're getting in to.
- I believe in the method in the sense that there are many real details regarding the crimes that the psychics could not have
known about beforehand, but wich they have revealed.

Dan Panas
Published: 2003-08-23
Aftonbladet (i.e. The Evening Post)


AFTONBLADET REVEALS - THE POLICE RECEIVED NO NEW CLUES

Inger Stark, 43
The case: Murdered 29th of November 1990 in Karlstad on her way home from a night out with coworkers.
Result after the show: no new clues.

Annelie Ojonen, 25
The case: Never turned up for work at Kalmar Airport on the 19th of September 1997. Her diary notes revealed she was
pregnant and happy. Her body has not been found.
Result after the show: no new clues.

Pernilla Hellgren, 31
The case: Murdered in Främby outside of Falun short after having said goodbye to her sister a summer night in 2000. She
was found stripped naked in a forest the following morning.
Result after the show: no new clues.

Olle Hogbom, 18
The case: Disappeared without a trace 7th of September 1983 in Sundsvall after a party.
Result after the show: no new clues.

Maria Andersson, 34
The case: Murdered in the laundry of her apartment house on the night of May the 4th, 1995. Stabbed to death with a sharp
object.
Result after the show: no new clues.

Rolf Valentin Larsson, 57
The case: Was the rock'n'roll king of Malmoe in the fifties. Found murdered in the Magistrate Park in Malmoe on the night
of October the 8th, 1994. His head had been subject to violence.
Result after the show: no new clues.

Torbjorn Andersson, 37
The case: Stabbed to death in front of his door in central Stockholm on the night of December 12th, 1999, after visiting a
nightclub.
Result after the show: no new clues.

Mikael Ek, 29
The case: Found murdered in a cave in Huddinge June 15th, 1991. He was naked and severely beaten.
Result after the show: no new clues.

Malin Olsson, 16
The case: Left her friends after an argument at midnight at a Shell gas-station by Ullevi in Gothenburg on the night of 24th of
July, 1994. She was later found dead on the Eastern Cemetery a couple of kilometres away.
Result after the show: no new clues.

Eva Soderstrom, 27
The case: Found murdered 150 metres from her home in Kramfors 1987.
Result after the show: no new clues.

Total percentage of crimes solved: 0"

-------------

I know you shouldn't believe everything you read in the papers, but still...

/C

[deBergerac]

What is interesting is of course how the first program of the following season was devoted to the success of the last year. You would have thought that that should have been a rather short show but they did manage to fill all their time. :)
It is hard to know what is the worst that the people responsible for the show really believes in this or that they do not believe and is only doing it for the money.

[Chateaubriand]

Yes, they are experts in making nothing look like a lot.

And I'm convinced that it's a money issue. One of the producers, Caroline Giertz, is now going into business with one of the psychics, Jorgen. They are going to offer psychic services to corporations.

/C

[deBergerac]

Someone should start offering reason to companies, considering the business sense of some of their CEOs they are more in need of that. I wonder if there is a market here? :)
But I think the tide will turn. Lately I have had a feeling that the number of shows exposing scams is increasing back home in Sweden, not much but a positive trend. The problem is that we are talking about the media here then we should actually be talking about the schools there is too little science education (not physics, chemistry etc. although that is too little as well).

[Chateaubriand]

Who knows? Or should we just long for a documentary where Jorgen attends a board meeting suggesting marketing strategics in his usual manner - drooling, shaking and sobbing? That would be real entertainment!

And I don't know if I agree with you on that trend - I fear the opposite. We have Sensing Murder on Channel 5, Power of the Spirits on TV4 and teachers who believe their mission is not to teach students, but to fit them into a social context. So I don't know deBergerac, I don't know....

/C

[deBergerac]

Knowing is a tricky business so I agree I do not know either, perhaps it is only hope. There is no debunking show but I feel that articles like the one you posted are turning up more often. And TV3 had an investigation of people claiming to talk to animals some time back and it was a good one, believe it or not. For the teachers I have more concern though, social context...?!

[Chateaubriand]

Yeah, I saw it - it was great, especially when they sent hair from that stuffed horse at the Chamber of Armors to one of them and got a diagnosis for a horse that had been dead for centuries. We laughed our asses off!

Anyway, I got two boys in 5th and 6th grade and I wonder sometimes about the teachers. I get letters from them, misspelled and grammatical disasters - and they are teaching my kids!? But that's a matter of quality, I guess. It's worse when I actually visit the school and discover that the kids are free to run around in the classroom as they please, that it's more important that they learn social skills than to read and write. And so on... But it might be that I'm picky...

/C

[deBergerac]

Let us not forget that social skills are important but it is as my mother use to say (she is a teacher) that the teachers are babysitting the kids instead of teaching them these days. I have the feeling that if I have kids myself someday I will have to do most of the teaching since the schools do not provide it. And considering my social skills it might be just as well that they learn that in school.:)
It probably has to do with the fact that many (not all) become teachers in lack of something else to do.

[CFLarsen]

Chateaubriand,

Thanks for the research - I find it very revealing. However, I would also like to know who the psychics were. In WooWoo-Land, rumours have a way of spreading and growing, and I am quite frankly very tired to hear these stories cropping up.

"Oh, there have been many cases solved by psychics. I remember in Sweden...."

Repeated gossip becomes myth. Myth is viewed as fact, simply based on the number of references.

Therefore, we must also know who were doing this "research". Could you dig that up?

[Ed]

Looooocie and Steve, you got some 'splainin' to do.

[Chateaubriand]

CFLarsen,

The article can be found at:

http://www.aftonbladet.se/vss/noje/story/0,2789,350472,00.html

And I guess it's the journalist who's done the research.

The psychics in the show are Jörgen Gustavsson, Terry Evans, Jill Petersson and Lena Ranehag and in Sweden it's called "Förnimmelse av mord". I believe it's a Danish format called Sensing Murder originally.

I would appreciate any information you have regarding Denmark - rumours travels both ways, you know...

/C

[deBergerac]

Originally posted by CFLarsen
Chateaubriand,

Thanks for the research - I find it very revealing. However, I would also like to know who the psychics were. In WooWoo-Land, rumours have a way of spreading and growing, and I am quite frankly very tired to hear these stories cropping up.



This should be quite a lot of what you were asking for, the web page of the show. There is even a possibility for discussion though it seems to be in Swedish. But of course nothing about who wrote the critical article in Aftonbladet.

http://www.kanal5.se/templates/page.aspx?id=2683

[CFLarsen]

Originally posted by deBergerac
This should be quite a lot of what you were asking for, the web page of the show. There is even a possibility for discussion though it seems to be in Swedish. But of course nothing about who wrote the critical article in Aftonbladet.

http://www.kanal5.se/templates/page.aspx?id=2683

Mange tak :)

[hgc]

Last spring, Channel 5 turned to five of Swedens most capable clairvoyant psychics ... As determined by what method?

[Ove]

As determined by what method?

They said so themselves stupid..........:D

[Matabiri]

Originally posted by hgc
As determined by what method?

Most capable of making money?
Most capable of being recuited by the police?

[Chateaubriand]

Actually, the one called Jörgen is pretty good at sobbing at will... And one of the girls too... The shaking could be inspired by James Brown or just a result of practicing with a tambourine or shaker... Apparently, the production company had "tested" 30 psychics initially but the aim was not to prove psychic abilities, just find out who would be best for the show...

/C

[deBergerac]

Of course you need to test the psychics before doing the show. Who would want to put in a lot of time and money just to get a medium that does not earn you more money? I can certainly understand why the production company tested several different mediums they were acting rationally. The thing is they really do not care about acting rationally then it comes to what the mediums actually can do or not.

[Chateaubriand]

Or simply: who or what looks good on television...

/C

[deBergerac]

Not surprisingly on the WebPages of the show they had no links to those critical of what they were doing. Although I fear it will amount to nothing I sent them this letter:


Hej!

Jag har varit in på hemsidan för ert program "Förnimmelse av mord" och på sidan med länkar för den intresserade "Vill du veta mer?" hittar jag bara länkar till de som hävdar att det medierna gör fungerar och till organisationer som brottsofferjourenas riksförbund.
Som jag förstår det är det kanalens uppfattning att frågan är öppen när det gäller mediernas trovärdighet. Om det verkligen är fallet skulle det vara passande med några länkar till de som är kritiska till fenomenet. Några förslag är:
http://www.physto.se/~vetfolk/index.html
http://www.randi.org/
http://www.csicop.org/
Om det verkligen är en öppen fråga är båda sidor av debatten värda att få höras. Om kanal 5 har en önskan att ses som en seriös kanal förutsätter jag att några nya länkar snart kommer att läggas ut.

Mvh

translation for you who do not read Swedish


Hi,

I have visited the WebPages of your show "Förnimmelse av mord" and on the page with links for the interested "Vill du veta mer?" I only found links to those who claim that what the mediums do really work and to organisations like 'brottsofferjourenas riksförbund' (support organisation for crime victims).
My impression is that the stations opinion is that it is an open question if the mediums are trustworthy or not. If this really is the case it would be appropriate with some links to those critical of the phenomenon. Some suggestions are:
http://www.physto.se/~vetfolk/index.html
http://www.randi.org/
http://www.csicop.org/
If it really is an open question both sides deserve to be heard. If kanal 5 have a wish to be considered a serious station I assume that some new links will be added.

Sincerely

[Chateaubriand]

Nice one - like it! Let us know if you get any respons!

/C

[Groo]

I wouldn't count on a reply...

Since the makers of the program want to make "good TV" we must take the editing into account too... and we all know what that means...

I also noticed that 3 out of 4 of the "mediums" for this seasons program are having this as a profession so of course they are interested in the publicity.

/Groo

PS
For all swedes out there: www.plusminus.se
(Just another company selling cr.. Oups, I meant innovations...)
DS

[Mr Manifesto]

Originally posted by Groo
I wouldn't count on a reply...

Since the makers of the program want to make "good TV" we must take the editing into account too... and we all know what that means...

I also noticed that 3 out of 4 of the "mediums" for this seasons program are having this as a profession so of course they are interested in the publicity.

/Groo

PS
For all swedes out there: www.plusminus.se
(Just another company selling cr.. Oups, I meant innovations...)
DS

There's a thread waiting for you in "JREF Community", Groo.

[deBergerac]

Originally posted by Chateaubriand
Nice one - like it! Let us know if you get any respons!

/C

So far I have only got the “thanks for your interest we have forwarded your mail to the people responsible for the show”.

[deBergerac]

Originally posted by Groo
I wouldn't count on a reply...

Since the makers of the program want to make "good TV" we must take the editing into account too... and we all know what that means...



Actually if they think about it they would profit from adding the links. They are not out to find the truth but to make a “good” show, a good show is a show people care about (at least in some sense of the word) and a controversial show is a show that will get publicity i.e. viewers i.e. money. So encouraging controversy is in their best interest. They will not do something to change the show but might very well add the links I requested.

At least I hope they will reason that way.

/deBergerac

P.S. Do not use D.S. in a P.S. since the ones speaking English do not know what it means.
D.S.

[Groo]

More funny news from the program. In the last episode one of the mediums was taken to the place where the last traces of the victim was found. After some minutes he lost track and had nothing to say.

So... what happens...?

Well, the people from the program TELLS him that the last thing they knew about the events was that someone (the victim or someone else) used the ATM to take out some money with the victims card.

Why not just give him the complete file at once... Yeeesh!

If my memory serves me correct the medium suddenly started to talk about a "conflict" about money... Who would have guessed that?

(No information of any value came from any of the two mediums during the program, surprise surprise...)