Toxic Journalism of Be Scofield

In a post to his website, John L. Baxter describes what he calls Be Scofield’s “toxic journalism.” Scofield, he asserts, has written articles under the guise of journalism that meet the technical definition of libel: “published, broadcast, or digitized, online defamation of character…[and] false or harmful statements that are communicated to someone other than the person being libeled.” At the same time, Baxter says, Scofield has exaggerated her claim to serve as a watchdog for “toxic spirituality” and used her position to publish misleading stories about spiritual leaders. Baxter describes Scofield’s modus operandi in detail and offers words of warning for readers of her online publication, Gurumag — but ultimately leaves it up to his readers to decide the legitimacy of Scofield’s work for themselves.