Former publisher of Quality System Update and Quality Digest contributing editor Paul Scicchitano‘s claims of having been “nominated for a Pulitzer” appear to be unfounded, according to research done by Oxebridge.
Quality System Update was published in the 1990’s and 2000’s by Mr. Scicchitano for years, and covered news related to ISO 9001, certification bodies and accreditors such as ANAB. Mr. Scicchitano was, for years, a voting representative of the US Technical Advisory Group to ISO TC 176, despite not having any direct experience with ISO 9001 itself. During a 2005 meeting attended by Oxebridge founder Christopher Paris, then-US TAG Chair Jack West admitted openly that granting the seat to Mr. Scicchitano was in exchange for his coverage of the TAG in the pages of QSU.
Nevertheless, Mr. Scicchitano went on to claim expertise in ISO 9001, giving speeches on the subject. He was co-author of at least one book on ISO 9001. His own publishing organization was never ISO 9001 certified.
Mr. Scicchitano left QSU and the quality field in general after taking on a new career as a conservative political reporter for far-right wing outlets such as Newsmax.
Numerous online profiles and biographies for Mr. Scicchitano allege that he was “nominated for a Pulitzer” Prize, the highest possible award in journalism. Specifically, Mr. Scicchitano alleges the nomination was for “Editorial Excellence.”
A review of public Pulitzer records, however, reveals that Mr. Scicchitano’s name does not appear anywhere as a nominee, and the records are comprehensive going back as far as 1922. Because one can nominate one’s self, the Pulitzer organization does not consider “nominee” a valid term, and only lists those nominees who have been vetted and voted on by the official Pulitzer Nominating Juries as “Nominated Finalists” and, of course, actual winners. According to the Pulitzer organization:
Since 1980, when we began to announce nominated finalists, we have used the term “nominee” for entrants who became finalists. We discourage someone saying he or she was “nominated” for a Pulitzer simply because an entry was sent to us.
Furthermore, the Pulitzer Prizes do not appear to have ever had a category for “Editorial Excellence” per Mr. Scicchitano’s claim.
Mr. Scicchitano did not reply to an Oxebridge request for clarification.
Christopher Paris is the founder and VP Operations of Oxebridge. He has over 35 years’ experience implementing ISO 9001 and AS9100 systems, and helps establish certification and accreditation bodies with the ISO 17000 series. He is a vocal advocate for the development and use of standards from the point of view of actual users. He is the writer and artist of THE AUDITOR comic strip, and is currently writing the DR. CUBA pulp novel series. Visit www.drcuba.world
