| U.S. News

The parent company of the newspaper who published a major expose on Scientology sells magazine to West Coast Publisher tied to Scientology.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Catholic Online) – In June 2009 the St. Petersburg Times ran an in-depth three-part series documenting the problems and practices of Scientology that caused a renewed caution on the group established by L. Ron Hubbard at the mid-point of the twentieth century.

This month, the Times Publishing Company announced it was selling its Washington DC publication “Governing” to e.Republic a publishing and new media company with ties to Scientology.

In a public statement, Times Vice President Andrew Corty stated, "The Times Publishing Company takes great pride in ‘Governing,’ which we nurtured from its inception 22 years ago into the powerful brand it is today. As part of this combination, ‘Governing’ has a bright future educating and informing its senior-level readership across the nation."

The Times reports that the decision was a means of divesting in certain media holdings in order to strengthen other portions of the company located in Florida.

e.Republic Chief Operating Officer told the St. Petersburg Times "Our flagship ‘Government Technology’ magazine has published alongside ‘Governing’ for over 20 years. Combined, the two organizations create the largest media firm providing news, research and analysis of the $2.9 trillion state and local government market."

Don Pearson and fellow Scientologist, Dennis McKenna, currently operate e.Republic, which describes itself as the nation’s leading publishing, research, event and new media company focused on the state and local government and education markets.

The Sacramento News & Review described e.Republic as Scientology, Inc. in an August 2001 article. According to the article, “On your very first day as a new hire at e.Republic, you’re given a copy of ‘Speaking From Experience,’ a management training book written by the late L. Ron Hubbard.

“All new hires at e.Republic, a publishing company based in Folsom, California, are required to not only read the book, 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.’”

For the past quarter century, e.Republic has become a major publishing and media force in the area of government technology.

The Times assured inquirers that the decision is sell was purely a business decision.

"We went through a full auction, with two dozen bidders on the initial list, then half a dozen final companies participating,” Corty said. “We really never let religion enter the issue at all. We operated this separately from the newsroom."

The magazine will continue to operate from its offices on Connecticut Avenue in Washington with publisher Fred Kuhn. However, smaller operational functions will be combined with other e.Republic holdings.