Guru

Guru thoroughly enjoyed BBC Panorama's recent exposé on the Church of Scientology, as much for the clip of reporter John Sweeney losing it on camera as for any deep insights into the workings of this mysterious cult.

But just in case Sweeney hadn't fully discredited his own investigations by his unjournalistic rant, the Scientologists are putting the boot in with their claims of BBC bias.

Guru has received a letter from Freedom Television - a service from Freedom Magazine (published by the Church of Scientology International from its UK headquarters at Saint Hill Manor in East Grinstead) - with which editor Graeme Wilson enclosed a DVD documentary entitled Panorama Exposed. You can view it for yourself here - Panorama Exposed documentary.

The letter reads:

This documentary details 154 would-be violations of the BBC and OfCom guidelines in the making of a recently-produced Panorama story. The reporter claimed at the outset that he was interested in both the positives and negatives of the story, but when he couldn't find the negative information he staged scenarios to fit his story line, resorting to proven unreliable sources.

Guru has his own beef with the BBC - not least that they have failed to secure ongoing rights to broadcast Aussie soap Neighbours - the bedrock of daytime TV and career springboard of Kylie Minogue.

But he knows better than to get into a slanging match with the sinister sect of Scientiology, other than to say it's a shame the Scientologists don't hold themselves to the standards of fairness and accuracy with which they seem to hold any member of the press that questions their religious credentials.

And you thought the Labour Party were the masters of spin and digging dirt on their enemies!

PS. Note BBC News' main rivals in the documentary's credits: "ITN Archive/Reuters is thanked for their contribution of documentary footage."