That's what three formerly reputable investigative journalists are saying here, in Howard Kurtz's WaPo column, when they rationalize taking money from the Church of Scientology for a "study" on a Florida paper's in-depth examination of the famously prickly and secretive self-help organization. From Kurtz, this you have to read to believe:
Steve Weinberg, the former IRE [Investigative Reporters and Editors] executive, who has taught at the University of Missouri's journalism school for a quarter-century, says he was paid $5,000 to edit the study and "tried to make sure it's 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."
Oh, gag me with an Audit. In August, after the hard-hitting special report on the Church of Scientology first appeared, CJR said this:
The St. Petersburg Times's coverage of Scientology, though, is a ...
