Church of Scientology Hires Journalists To Investigate Journalists
Washington Post columnist Howard Kurtz is reporting on a disturbing probe being conducted and paid for by the Church of Scientology on the St. Petersburg Times newspaper. Kurtz writes, "three veteran journalists — a Pulitzer Prize winner, a former "60 Minutes" producer and the former executive director of Investigative Reporters and Editors — are taking the church's money to examine the paper's conduct."
A little background into this probe. The St. Petersburg Times has reported on the Church of Scientology for over three decades, including a Pulitzer Prize winning investigation into the group in 1980. In fact, the paper has won a total of 10 Pulitzers over the course of paper's history. Not bad for a paper covering the coastal towns of Tampa Bay, St.Petersburg and Clearwater, Florida.
Then again, the paper's close proximity to Clearwater, the home of Scientology's spiritual mecca, may be at the heart of their conflict. This past summer a scathing multi-part series was published in the SPTimes. That series featured several high-ranking officials who defected from Scientology, and accused the church's head, David Miscavige (best friend to actor Tom Cruise) of physical attacks on staff members. Those defectors admitted they too engaged in the corporal punishment of staff, but only after being directed to do so by Miscavige as part of his management style. You can check out their series here.
SPTimes Executive Editor, Neil Brown doesn't seem terribly worried about the probe and told Kurtz, "I ultimately couldn't take this request very seriously because it's a study bought and paid for by the Church of Scientology. Candidly, I was surprised and disappointed that journalists who I understand to have an extensive background in investigative reporting would think it's appropriate to ask me or our news organization to talk about that reporting while a) it's ongoing, and b) while they're being paid to ask these questions by the very subjects of our reporting."
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