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| Monday March 8th, 2010 |
| by Andrea Tabor If you were searching the job boards of JournalismJobs.com last November--as many journalists were--you may have come across this ad:
Company: Freedom Magazine
Position: INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER NEEDED
Location: Clearwater, Florida
Job Status: Freelance
Salary: Negotiable The ad goes on to say that the Church of Scientology seeks experienced investigative reporters for assignments in the Tampa Bay area, just a stone's throw from the Pulitzer-winning St. Petersburg Times. Owned by the Poynter Institute, the Times is one of America's most respected papers, garnering awards for, among other things, hard-hitting investigative pieces slamming the Church of Scientology. They may win again this year for their most recent Scientology expose, which asserts that Scientology president David Miscavige beat his employees (a claim that also appears in a recent New York Times story) and had a direct hand in the care of Lisa McPherson, who died of dehydration during a stay at the Scientology headquarters in 1995.
In November, esteemed journalist Steve Weinberg of Investigative Reporters and Editors said in a comment on a blog post, "More than any other existing organization that comes to mind, the Scientologists have been so hostile to outside journalists that I cannot see crossing the line to accept employment there."
A new report out last week confirms that indeed the Scientologists, notorious for using scare tactics to silence negative press (termed "entheta"), have hired three very serious journalists to investigate the St. Petersburg Times. Among them, Pulitzer winner Russell Carrollo, Emmy winner Christopher Szechenyi, and the aforementioned Steve Weinberg. (The other two journalists said in a statement that Weinberg's involvement helped convince them to take the job.) The piece was paid for up front, and Weinberg received $5,000 for the job.
When asked about why he took the assignment, one reason Weinberg gave was, "I could certainly use the money these days."
Of course, it would be easy to come down hard on these three journalists and the Church of Scientology. But as Weinberg puts it, the Church has simply commissioned them to write "a good piece of journalism criticism, just like I've written a gazillion times....For me it's kind of like editing a Columbia Journalism Review piece."
As for the Scientologists, the strategy appears to be fight fire with fire. Who better to investigate one of the nation's finest newspapers than three of the nation's finest journalists? The Columbia Journalism Review pointed out that $5,000 is "chump change" for the wealthy Church of Scientology, and if the investigation yields nothing to help their case, they can choose never to let it see the light of day. If they do find something worthwhile, it will likely have much more of an impact than the poorly researched and written "exposes" they've run in their magazine Freedom in the past.
As a trained journalist--and, until recently, an unemployed one--the story really hits home. What would I do? Well, these three men will likely have unprecedented access to one of America's most mysterious religions, an opportunity that most religion reporters would kill for. But when they come out on the other side, writing about what they've learned will be near impossible.
The question is--will they ever work in this town again?
As other journalists turn up their noses at the Scientology gig, maybe these three reporters are using it as a chance to expand beyond the traditional news organization. Journalists' skills are valuable in so many different settings, and people are willing to pay much higher fees for their skills outside of the newsroom. Nonprofits and corporations alike routinely post on journalism-focused job boards to draw in such talent.
Still, is there something uniquely icky about working for the Scientologists? Does it really amount to selling out? Or just doing what it takes to stay afloat?
Andrea Tabor graduated from USC Annenberg in December 2008 with an M.A. in Broadcast Journalism. She continues to write for Trans/Missions and works full-time as a content manager for Internet Brands, where she oversees the publication of thousands of online articles each month across multiple websites.
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| More Scoop |
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| Posted by 3Cat on Friday March 12th, 2010
It does seem as though the reporters are selling out to stay afloat, which certainly wouldn't be a first . Whether these hired guns will find anything truthful and serious to pin on the Times is doubtful, but the paper's integrity, like that of Scientology, is obviously fair game.
Since the reporters' employer not only has a horse in this race, but also an axe to grind, any negative findings toward the paper would face a steep handicap on an objectivity litmus test. So even if their investigation is factual, the journalistic bounty hunters are taking a risk that might destroy their credibility and reputations. It's sad that they must stoop to that.
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