Además de historias listas para vender, los medios también pueden producir guiones para formas más agresivas de control estatal.
Anti-Cult
Más allá del líder. 1. Culpa por asociación y estigma.
Cuando líderes de minorías religiosas son acusados de delitos sexuales, las narrativas mediáticas pueden marcar rápidamente a todo el colectivo como cómplices o víctimas.
Beyond the Leader. 4. The Human Cost of Guilt by Association
Campaigns targeting “cults” for their leaders’ real or alleged wrongdoings cause massive unnecessary and innocent suffering.
Beyond the Leader. 3. Power, Hierarchy, and Guilt by Association
Power and legitimacy determine how much influence an accusation holds. Groups labeled as “cults” are seldom given fair treatment.
Beyond the Leader. 2. The Legal Effects of Guilt by Association
In addition to ready-made stories for sale, the media can also produce scripts for more aggressive forms of state control.
Beyond the Leader. 1. Guilt by Association and Stigma.
When leaders of religious minorities are accused of sexual crimes, media narratives can quickly mark the entire collective as either accomplices or victims.
France TV’s “Scientology, the Empire of Secrecy” (2026). 2. Mocking Belief and Silencing Believers
The public French broadcaster treated theology as a subject of ridicule and excluded Scientologists and independent experts from its show.
France TV’s “Scientology, the Empire of Secrecy” (2026). 1. Apostates and Media Rituals
A study of a one-sided documentary that gave voice only to angry ex-members and anti-cultists—a trend that repeats itself when the media deals with “cults.”
Scientology Behind the Climb? Anti-Cult Narratives, and the Nardi Case
An Italian mountaineer who was a Scientologist died in 2019 in the Himalayas. Apostate ex-members and the media manipulated the incident to blame the “cult.”
Not-So-Strange Bedfellows: The Southern Poverty Law Center and the Anti-Cult Movement
Is the SPLC federal indictment a reckoning for the anti-cult “experts” network?