1. Anthony "Tony" Ortega is an American journalist and editor who is best known for his coverage of the Church of Scientology and his blog The Underground Bunker.
22 Facts About Tony Ortega
1. 2.
Tony Ortega was executive editor of Raw Story from 2013 until 2015.
3.
Tony Ortega is author of the non-fiction book The Unbreakable Miss Lovely: How the Church of Scientology tried to destroy Paulette Cooper, about journalist Paulette Cooper and the Church of Scientology's attempts to silence her after her own book was published.
4.
In 1996, Tony Ortega reported on alleged corruption in the office of Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, writing a series of stories concerning "misuse of state funds, poor morale inside the department, the high cost of the sheriff's posses and evidence of abuse of jail inmates," for which he was nominated for the Arizona Press Club's Virg Hill Award in 1997.
5.
Tony Ortega later wrote an article about his research in the Village Voice.
6.
Tony's father, named Tony Ortega, was a musician, guitarist, and songwriter, starting in the late 1950s and throughout his life.
7.
Tony Ortega had a career in the steel industry, joining at the entry level and rising through the ranks to become a general manager.
8.
Tony Ortega spent nearly seventeen years working for various alternative weekly newspapers in the Voice Media Group.
9.
Tony Ortega has worked at the Phoenix New Times, the New Times LA and The Pitch.
10.
In 2001, Ortega spent time with and profiled detective and conspiracy theorist William Dear for the New Times LA newspaper after Dear spent several years constructing a case around Jason Simpson in the O J Simpson murder case.
11.
Tony Ortega was highly critical of his methods, in particular spending two weeks impersonating a doctor in an attempt to access Jason Simpson's medical records.
12.
Tony Ortega became the editor-in-chief at the Broward-Palm Beach New Times in 2005 and then at The Village Voice in 2007.
13.
Tony Ortega was executive editor at online news website Raw Story from 2013 to 2015.
14.
Tony Ortega has been covering Scientology for over 20 years and, according to the Phoenix New Times, "has become one of the foremost reporters on the Scientology beat".
15.
Tony Ortega first reported on Scientology in 1995 while working at the Phoenix New Times.
16.
Tony Ortega continued covering the subject of Scientology throughout his career under various media outlets in the Voice Media Group.
17.
In September 2012, Tony Ortega publicly announced his resignation from The Village Voice in a post to the Voice's "Runnin' Scared" blog.
18.
Tony Ortega was featured in Alex Gibney's documentary Going Clear, discussing how Scientology smeared critics.
19.
In 2015, Tony Ortega was informed by the United States Attorney that his emails had been hacked by New York private investigator Eric Saldarriaga in the previous year.
20.
In September 2018, Tony Ortega started publishing short video clips of issues in Scientology that had been previously covered by his website.
21.
In May 2015, Tony Ortega released a book about Scientology critic Paulette Cooper and her conflict with the organization, entitled The Unbreakable Miss Lovely, which was published by Silvertail Books, an imprint of London-based literary agent and independent publisher Humfrey Hunter.
22.
Tony Ortega is the co-host, along with James Underdown and Jerry Minor, of The Cult Awareness Podcast that discusses Scientology, Jehovah's Witnesses, and other subjects.