ink-stained wretches

The New Yorker Sent Scientologists 971 Fact-Checking Questions

A team of five from The New Yorker’s famously fastidious fact-checking department were tasked with making sure Lawrence Wright’s article on why director Paul Haggis resigned from the Church of Scientology was accurate — sending 971 questions, followed by an eight-hour meeting with the church’s spokesman, his wife, and four lawyers. We hope at least one of those was, “What, exactly, was L. Ron Hubbard smoking?” Because he must have grabbed something from Xenu’s personal stash to find the chutzpah to transform a science fiction series into a religion. [NPR via Romenesko]

The New Yorker Sent Scientologists 971 Fact-Checking Questions