Documentary about the BBC Panorama Program Part 3/3

Produced and (c) 2007 by Freedom Magazine TV (that's us): BBC: The Sinking of a Flagship

When Panorama Editor Sandy Smith commissioned his favourite reporter to do a programme on the Church of Scientology, he made a grave error.

John Sweeney, his pit-bull of choice, lacks the dignity and tact required for a story that would, at least on its surface, address the activities and practices of a religion. As Sweeney himself explains, his tactics have nothing to do with intelligent reporting: "There are three rules in journalism. First, find a crocodile. Two, poke it in the eye with a stick. Three, stand back and report what happens next."

Sweeney teamed up with his aptly named producer, Sarah Mole, who had previously done Sweeney's bidding as an undercover "mole" in a religious organisation for an earlier "Sweeney Investigates" programme. Together, they set about putting together a programme that follows the classic pattern of lazy journalists. Part 1/3

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