The most valuable contribution journalists can make is to investigate and expose systematic abuse. Evidence-based reporting can inform public opinion, prompt demands for reform and help bring about accountability, including investigations and possible prosecution.
What survivors want from journalists
Journalism has an important role in exposing wrongdoing, holding powerful organisations accountable and preventing further harm. This means examining the systems that enable abuse, as well as the people responsible.
Too often, reporting on cults and high-control groups focuses on bizarre beliefs, shocking incidents or unusual leaders. These stories can attract attention while obscuring the underlying coercion and abuse. People’s lives become a spectacle, and audiences are left entertained rather than informed.
Anyone can find themselves in a controlling or abusive environment, with life-altering consequences. Coverage should help readers understand how this happens, without ridicule or blame.
We encourage journalists to:
- Investigate and expose systematic abuse. Look beyond individual incidents to examine organisational structures, leadership, repeated patterns of abuse and failures of accountability. Follow the evidence: who held power, who knew, who benefited and what prevented people from seeking help or justice? Bring wrongdoing to light and inform public debate about necessary reforms.
- Collaborate with journalists who understand these experiences. We strongly recommend including journalists who have lived experience of high-control groups or significant experience working with survivors. Their insight can deepen the investigation, strengthen the narrative and improve the accuracy, sensitivity and quality of the reporting.
- Represent survivors with dignity. Treat survivors as individuals with their own voices, experiences and achievements, not simply as victims or sources of shocking stories. Respect their privacy, autonomy and safety, including their decisions about whether and how to participate.
- Educate the public about coercive control. Explain how abusive organisations recruit, influence and control people, what warning signs to recognise, and how individuals and communities can protect themselves. Show how organisational practices can make it difficult to question authority, report abuse or leave.
The most valuable reporting does more than reveal what happened. It helps people understand how abuse became possible, why it was allowed to continue, and how it can be prevented.
Resources for journalists
These resources offer practical guidance on investigating organisational abuse, interviewing survivors and avoiding sensationalism.
- Global Investigative Journalism Network — The Business of Faith: How to Investigate Cults and Religious Groups: investigative approaches and examples of reporting on organisational structures, coercion and abuse.
- International Cultic Studies Association — Tips for Journalists: guidance on accuracy, respecting individual experiences and avoiding sensationalism.
- Global Center for Journalism & Trauma — Interviewing: resources on interviewing people affected by trauma.
- Cults and Media Stereotypes (Levey and Dubrow-Marshall, 2023): research exploring how media portrayals of current and former members may affect survivors’ recovery.
Featured ISAJO resources
HGERI World Map
Why ISAJO includes it: Explore ISAJO’s existing world map and country-level information.
Facts & Figures
Why ISAJO includes it: ISAJO’s existing overview of facts and figures related to systematic abuse.