The St. Petersburg Times in Florida has been running lots of hard-hitting stories about Scientology lately.
So guess what? They are in the midst of selling a magazine they own in Washington, D.C., called Governing, to e. Republic, a Scientology publisher located in Folsom, Calif. E.Republic has four publications including one called Government Technology.
And there’s more: On the website page for the story about the sale in today’s St. Petersburg Times there’s a video ad for… Scientology! A source familiar with the paper and its workings says Scientology paid $1 million for the ads on the paper’s website.
A 2001 Sacramento News & Review story from 2001 about e.Republic explains more about its history.
The story, by Jim Evans, recounts the history of e.Republic and its connections to Scientology. Evans writes: “All new hires at e.Republic, a publishing company based in Folsom, California, are required to not only read [a basic Scientology manual], but also take a course based on its contents, which — notwithstanding the grandiose description above — reads much like the same kind of hokey training materials that millions of workers try to avoid daily, except Hubbard’s methods have the higher goal of ‘improving conditions in your business, your life and on Earth in general.’”
What the heck is going on here? Are publishers so hard up for cash that they’ll take money from the subjects of their exposes? Calls to Andrew Corty of the St. Petersburg Times and Christopher Swope of Governing were not returned. But the strangeness of the situation cannot be overlooked. The Times has run several exposes about abuses in Scientology just this year. They can be found here.
More to come…
November 20th, 2009 at 10:38 am
The St. Pete Times is one of the best papers in the nation, still independent and connected with the well-regarded Poynter center. Several of their reporters are pulitzer-prize-winning icons in the industry, particularly in the area of narrative journalism (you can read several of the paper’s stellar reports archived on their site, sptimes.com).
I know nothing about this governing mag, but the Times also own Florida Trend, a blatant shill for the Florida Chamber and the state’s “development” agencies (workforce, business, etc.). The company also receives money from the state to publish a workforce magazine geared to high school students (both the print title and online iteration have that cheesy “we’re-tyring-to-be-hip-so-the-kids-will-listen” attitude.
Anyway, Why not ask about this stuff when/if they call you back? Maybe it’s a good sign–that they’re marshaling resources in order to concentrate on what they do best…
November 20th, 2009 at 11:11 am
Optimist…. or maybe it is a sign that this Scientology cash has done its job. silenced a loud detractor. just like they silenced the IRS.
sorry…just don’t buy what your saying. which i could IP trace your posting… maybe your a scientologist?
November 20th, 2009 at 1:51 pm
I’m with you, Roger. What the heck is going on here?
Also, $1M in advertising in the SPT alone? Is this true?
November 20th, 2009 at 4:37 pm
Dear Mr Ebert,
On monday the Australian Senate will vote on Senator Xenophon’s call for an inquiry into the tax status of Scientology in Australia.
Scientology is likely trying to prevent a similar call from the United States Senate, by preemptively aqcuiring a magazine with some repute – with some credibility – in order to have use it to preserve their US tax status.
Having no credibility of their own, the seek to acquire a magazine on capitol hill that does – and then use it for their own purposes, while hoping that no one notices
Regards
Arnie Lerma
November 21st, 2009 at 1:55 am
The ads on the SP Times website mean nothing. They’re all over the Internet, anywhere Scientology is mentioned.
November 22nd, 2009 at 9:08 pm
[...] PRESENCE EXPANDS: St. Petersburg Times Sells Magazine to Scientology Publisher From the email: “The St. Petersburg Times in Florida has been running lots of hard-hitting [...]
November 23rd, 2009 at 4:08 am
[...] New York Times’s Tim Arango must have liked our story from Friday morning about Scientology buying “Governing” [...]
November 23rd, 2009 at 4:33 pm
Does your [religion/cult/whatever] suck, or would you like to spend $1 million on advertising in our paper?
Paraphrased from Dogbert.
November 24th, 2009 at 2:46 pm
Oh yea earthlings… when will we get rid of this newspaper print and rely upon our ESP delivery method… After years of training, what has Tom taught you?
Now, back in your shells yea thetans there are minds to wash..err.. I mean cleanse.
December 13th, 2009 at 2:05 am
Today, 13th of december, glancing over a month of time and the sea (from Europe), this looks strange to me: After 12 nov, all calm from St. Petersburg Times. Then on trying to follow up googling, this report from 20 nov and the “more to come” promis in the end not fulfilled. What will come on googling further? Showbiz 411 bought by the marcabians?