Tracey McManus heading to Dallas after stellar Scientology reporting in Florida

Tracey McManus is heading to the Dallas Morning News.

She let us know yesterday, and we told her we’re thrilled for her career, but sad for the people of Clearwater and its environs in Florida, where she has done such first-rate work for the Tampa Bay Times covering the Church of Scientology and its controversies.

Tracey’s stunning 2019 project demonstrating that Scientology had more than doubled its stranglehold on Clearwater properties in a secret buying spree was Pulitzer-level stuff, and she paid for it by being smeared constantly by Scientology’s social media propaganda.

We asked Mike Rinder for his thoughts about Tracey’s big move.

Tracey stepped into the giant shoes vacated by legendary Tampa Bay Times Scientology reporters Joe Childs and Tom Tobin and has done them proud.

She has proven over and over a dedication to digging up the truth, verifying every aspect of her stories and reporting in a thorough, detailed and accurate way. Her groundbreaking coverage of the downtown Clearwater land grab by Scientology and its proxies has been Pulitzer Prize-worthy. I have never found a single inaccurate sentence in any of her stories, a rarity among those who set foot into the world of covering Scientology. And throughout her years of reporting, she has been subjected to the well-known Scientology Fair Game intimidation and smear campaigns and has never backed down or shied away from covering anything newsworthy with respect to Scientology no matter how much they hated her exposes.

Tracey will be missed by those who want to see Scientology held accountable for their abuses and relentless efforts to make Clearwater the “first Scientology city.”

I wish her nothing but success in her new job. She will be a huge asset to the Dallas Morning News — they are lucky to have her.

Earlier this year, Tracey was honored by being named the winner of the 2024 Lucy Morgan Award for Open Government Reporting, which is awarded by the First Amendment Foundation in Florida. The foundation said this about Tracey…

A 2010 graduate of the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications, Tracey began her career with The Augusta Chronicle, where she covered K-12 schools, higher education, features, and investigations. Since joining the Tampa Bay Times in 2015, she has focused on Clearwater and Pinellas County, investigating vast real estate purchases in downtown Clearwater by entities tied to the Church of Scientology. Her reporting revealed how companies tied to the church have bought more than 200 parcels using $221 million, almost all in cash, but have kept most of that property vacant around its international spiritual headquarters.

Tracey McManus’s award-winning work includes investigations into Belleair’s substandard drinking water, exposing delays in arresting a Pinellas politician’s son, revealing Scientology’s interference in a Clearwater housing project, and examining human trafficking allegations within Scientology. Her courageous reporting sheds light on critical issues and holds powerful institutions accountable.

It’s been such a pleasure reading Tracey’s work and knowing that Scientology was being watched as closely as it deserves to be.

The Dallas Morning News is getting a great addition, and we hope the Tampa Bay Times can find another bulldog to keep a close eye on David Miscavige and his cabal.

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