In the latest manifestation of the decades-long feud between the St. Petersburg Times and the Church of Scientology, the Church is turning the hunter into the hunted.
The Washington Post‘s Howard Kurtz reports that the church has hired some well-credentialed reporters to investigate the newspaper, which has reported on the Church for years.
The Church has hired Steve Weinberg, former executive director of Investigative Reporters and Editors, Russell Carollo, who won a Pulitzer at Dayton’s Daily News, and Christopher Szechenyi, an Emmy-winning former television producer. Weinberg told Kurtz the church had paid him $5,000 to edit the piece.
According to a church spokesperson, the report will not necessarily be made public.
Last summer, the Times published a special report providing an inside look at the Church, with a particular focus on its leader, David Miscavige.