The Secrets of Scientology

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''The Secrets of Scientology'' is a documentary which was broadcast on 28 September 2010 as part of the

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's '' Panorama'' documentary strand. Presented by John Sweeney, it is a follow-up of his 2007 investigation into the Church of Scientology and features interviews with former high-ranking members of the organisation.

Production

Reporter John Sweeney presented the hour-long programme, which was a follow-up to his 2007 documentary ''

Scientology and Me ''Scientology and Me'' is a television documentary first broadcast on 14 May 2007 as part of the BBC's ''Panorama'' series. In it, reporter John Sweeney visited the United States to investigate whether the Church of Scientology was becoming mor ...

'' in which he travelled to

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to investigate

Scientology Scientology is a set of beliefs and practices invented by American author L. Ron Hubbard, and an associated movement. It has been variously defined as a cult, a Scientology as a business, business, or a new religious movement. The most recent ...

In ''The Secrets of Scientology'', Sweeney interviews several individuals connected with the organisation and investigates allegations by former Scientology followers that the church sought to divide their families, something the church denies. Among those interviewed include

Mike Rinder Michael John Rinder (; born 10 April 1955) is an Australian-American former senior executive of the Church of Scientology International (CSI) and the Sea Organization based in the United States. From 1982 to 2007, Rinder served on the board of ...

a former long-term member of the organisation and one of its officials who was assigned to "handle" Sweeney during his 2007 programme. Rinder, who left the Church soon after the previous documentary, confirms Sweeney's suspicions that he was followed by the organisation during the making of that programme. He tells the reporter; "You were being followed ..It would have come under my purview, no doubt whatsoever." Rinder, a member of the church since the age of six, talks about how he was subjected to " disconnection", a process by which his family cut him out of their lives. Another Church of Scientology official interviewed during the programme is Amy Scobee, who joined the Church at the age of 14 and was a member of its

Sea Org The Sea Organization (also known as the Sea Org) is a Scientology organization, which the Church of Scientology describes as a " fraternal religious order, comprising the religion’s most dedicated members". All Scientology management organizatio ...

which runs the organisation's day-to-day operations. Scobee tells Sweeney of how details of her sex life before she was married were leaked to a newspaper after she left Scientology in 2005 and criticised the Church. As with the 2007 documentary, Sweeney and his team were once again followed by people filming them during their visit to the United States, although on this occasion, their filming was much less covert. However, those filming refused to answer Sweeney's questions when he approached them and asked about their identity and purpose. On his return to the United Kingdom the BBC received photographs of Sweeney in a farewell embrace with Amy Scobee from

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, the Church's UK lawyers, something which Sweeney welcomed as proof that those following him were working on behalf of the Church.

Ratings

''The Secrets of Scientology'' was a ratings success for ''Panorama'' and the BBC in its initial broadcast; with ''MediaTel Newsline'' reporting, "The ''Panorama'' special, which saw reporter John Sweeney get an insider's view of the organisation, attracted more than five million peak viewers and a 20.3% average audience share during the all-important 9pm to 10pm slot." The documentary performed better than simultaneous programming for ''

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''. It was the most popular programme broadcast in the 9pm hour.

Anti-documentary activity by Scientology

As with John Sweeney's previous documentary, the Church of Scientology continued to enforce its 'fair game' policy of harassing and documenting anyone who may be critical of the organisation, although much less covertly than in Scientology And Me. When confronted by Sweeney about their tactics, agents hired by the Church refused to address him. Shortly after The Secrets of Scientology premiered, the Church created their own documentary regarding Sweeney and Mike Rinder's activities called 'Panorama: Desperate Lies', not only listing off further alleged violations of BBC and Ofcom Broadcast Codes in both of Sweeney's programs, but also making numerous allegations against Church detractors featured in the documentary.

Reception

In a review of ''The Secrets of Scientology'', ''

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'' commented, "Thankfully, there was exemplary investigative journalism on the show, with the BBC man unbowed by closed avenues of inquiry or alleged surveillance." '' JOE.ie'' highlighted the documentary as its "Pick of the night" in television. ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...

'' selected the film as its recommendation for "Pick of the day"; it was also recommended by ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

'', ''

Bristol Evening Post The ''Bristol Post'' is a city/regional five-day-a-week (formerly appearing six days per week) newspaper covering news in the city of Bristol, including stories from the whole of Greater Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire. It was ...

'', and ''

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''. David Chater of ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

'' called Mike Rinder a "

whistleblower A whistleblower (also written as whistle-blower or whistle blower) is a person, often an employee, who reveals information about activity within a private or public organization that is deemed illegal, immoral, illicit, unsafe or fraudulent. Whi ...

", commenting, "Mike Rinder, erstwhile spokesman for the Church of Scientology and the former head of its Office of Special Affairs, has turned whistleblower and describes the operation against Sweeney last time round." Fiona Mayhem of ''Watch With Mothers'' assessed the documentary as, "a bit of a disappointing effort which could have been made more entertaining ... or more informative, by exploring more what it is about the tenets of the cult that former members still hold so dear. Still, for those with no prior knowledge of the religion, this was a decent starter pack." Paddy Sherman of the ''

Liverpool Echo The ''Liverpool Echo'' is a newspaper published by Trinity Mirror North West & North Wales – a subsidiary company of Reach plc and is based in St Paul's Square, Liverpool, Merseyside, England. It is published Monday to Sunday, and is Liver ...

'' called the documentary an "in-depth look at the workings of the church". ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' referred to it as "a very disturbing video documentary

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for the BBC programme Panorama". In an analysis of the documentary for ''Catholic Online'', associate editor Randy Sly noted the programme's ratings success in the UK, and commented, "People in England seemingly can't get enough when it comes to revelations about Scientology."

References

External links

The Secrets of Scientology
at

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