Scientology's Chilling Effect - 2015-02-24
Scientology's Chilling Effect February 24, 2015,
But the film doesn't really tackle the intimidation of journalists. One of the first journalists to take on Scientology, in the early 1970s, was a young freelance writer named Paulette Cooper. Scientology's retaliation was astounding. It framed her for supposedly sending bomb threats to the church. The documents it forged were so convincing that she was indicted in 1973 and was fully exonerated only when the F.B.I., acting on a tip, raided Scientology offices and discovered the plot against her in 1977.
Over the course of the next three decades-plus, there were a handful — though only a handful — of tough-minded articles like Behar's. "Everybody who wrote about Scientology knew they were taking a risk," Wright told me. You've heard of the "chilling effect?" Scientology offered a prime example of how it works.