SCIONS DESPERATELY TRY AND BUY SOME GOOD PRESS AND GET CALLED OUT BIG TIME

SCIENTOLOGY

JAN 14, 2013 9:22 PM11,227 60

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The Atlantic Is Now Publishing Bizarre, Blatant Scientology Propaganda as ‘Sponsored Content’

 Taylor Berman

The Atlantic – the one time publisher of Mark Twain, Nathaniel Hawthorne and Edith Wharton – is now publishing blatant Scientology propaganda. The "sponsored content," which went up Monday around noon, features all sorts of breathless praise for Scientology and its alleged growth last year.

The post is basically one long tribute to David Miscavige, the "ecclesiastical leader of the Scientology religion":

Mr. Miscavige is unrelenting in his work for millions of parishioners and the cities served by Scientology Churches. He has led a renaissance for the religion itself, while driving worldwide programs to serve communities through Church-sponsored social and humanitarian initiatives.

And focuses on Miscavige's plans to expand the religion's already existing churches:

David Miscavige spearheaded a program to build every Church of Scientology into what Scientology Founder L. Ron Hubbard termed "Ideal Organizations" (Ideal Orgs). This new breed of Church is ideal in location, design, quality of religious services and social betterment programs. Each is uniquely configured to accommodate the full array of Scientology services for both parishioners and the surrounding community. Ideal Orgs further house extensive public information multimedia displays that introduce every facet of Dianetics and Scientology, along with libraries, course and seminar rooms for an introduction to and study of Scientology Scripture. Chapels serve to host Sunday Services and other congregational gatherings. 

It is from these Ideal Churches that Scientologists extend their humanitarian programs to mitigate intolerance, illiteracy, immorality and drug abuse.

The post then lists the "unprecedented 12 Ideal Scientology Churches" built around the world last year, including locations in Germany, California, Italy and Israel, with accompanying pictures of each opening's celebration.

And let's not forget the comments. Of the 17 comments posted as of this writing, 11 are so pro-Scientology they read as though they're an extension of the original post. A bold, proud day forThe Atlantic and its fine history of journalistic excellence.

For their part, Atlantic staffers seem to be distancing themselves from the post by tweeting about Lawrence Wright's forthcoming Scientology exposé, Going Clear:

Jeffrey Goldberg

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@JeffreyGoldberg

There's no time like the present to tout my friend Larry Wright's great new investigation of the Church of Scientology: theatlantic.com/national/archi…

15 Jan 13

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James Fallows@JamesFallows

MT @JeffreyGoldberg: No time like the present to tout my friend Larry Wright's great new investigation of Scientology: bit.ly/Um0Gwx

15 Jan 13

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Alexis C. Madrigal@alexismadrigal

A wonderful new book about Scientology, highlighted by our @JeffreyGoldberg. bit.ly/UM9j1O

15 Jan 13

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[The Atlantic]

The Atlantic’s Church of Scientology advertorial

A "sponsored content" paean to David Miscavige reads like North Korean propaganda

BY ANDREW LEONARD

 
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TOPICS: SCIENTOLOGY, CHURCH OF SCIENTOLOGY, DAVID MISCAVIGE, THE ATLANTIC, TECHNOLOGY NEWS, NEWS

The Church of Scientology's David Miscavige (Credit: Wikipedia)

Early Monday evening, Twitter exploded in astonishment at a link to “sponsored content” on the The Atlantic’s website lauding the accomplishments of the leader of the Church of Scientology, David Miscavige. (The news first entered my Twitter stream via a retweet of a tweet by Jared Keller, director of social media for Bloomberg and a former @TheAtlantic staffer.)

It’s tough to make a buck in online journalism, and I’ll bet there isn’t a news operation on the Web that hasn’t run ads or “advertorials” sure to make its editorial staffers squirm. But running cult-of-personality propaganda that sounds like its straight out of the North Korean government? For the Church of Scientology? That’s stooping pretty low for a dollar.

Here’s a sample of “David Miscavige Leads Scientology to Milestone Year”:

2012 was a milestone year for Scientology, with the religion expanding to more than 10,000 Churches, Missions and affiliated groups, spanning 167 nations–figures that represent a growth rate 20 times that of a decade ago.

The driving force behind this unparalleled era of growth is David Miscavige, ecclesiastical leader of the Scientology religion. Mr. Miscavige is unrelenting in his work for millions of parishioners and the cities served by Scientology Churches. …

A somewhat different take can be found elsewhere, such as the New Yorker’s epic feature on the Church by Lawrence Wright from February 2011. Suffice to say, the dozens of prominent Church of Scientology members who have left the Church in the past few years are not as complimentary of David Miscavige as The Atlantic’s “Sponsored Content.”

Here Are Some Facts About Scientology That Didn't Make It Into The Atlantic Advertorial

Henry Blodget | Jan. 14, 2013, 9:44 PM | 18,866 | 4

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The Atlantic just published an article about the Church of Scientology that was written by the Church of Scientology ("sponsor content.")

The article, not surprisingly, is quite flattering.

And the Atlantic's readership, not surprisingly, is aghast.

In the interest of contrast, we thought we would bring to your attention another article about the Church of Scientology.

This other article was written by Lawrence Wright of the New Yorker.

It might be described as a "devastating expose."

Wright's article centers around the story of one of Scientology's most famous defectors, a Hollywood screenwriter named Paul Haggis. It also draws a profile of Scientology's leader, David Miscavige, the beaming fellow in the Atlantic advertorial above.

The article describes how Scientology targets and uses celebrities like Tom Cruise to raise money, recruit adherents, and spread its "technology" (teachings). It also notes that David Miscavige's wife disappeared six years ago. 

The other story about Scientology >

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/some-facts-about-scientology-2013-1?op=1#ixzz2I1BzRA4e

UPDATE:

'The Atlantic' Pulls Scientology 'Sponsor Content' After Online Uproar

9:56 PM PST 1/14/2013 by Andy Lewis

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The paid advertorial touted the accomplishments of Scientology and Church leader David Miscavige but drew withering online criticism.

The Atlantic has removed from its website a paid "sponsor content" story touting Scientology after other news organizations and bloggers raised questions about the piece.

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In the paid advertorial posted Jan. 14 on theatlantic.com, the Church of Scientology promoted its accomplishments in 2012, including the opening of 12 flagship "Ideal" Scientology Churches around the globe. It also lavished praise on church leaderDavid Miscavige and was replete with photos of him and the new church buildings. The posting came in advance of the Jan. 17 publication of New Yorkerwriter Lawrence's Wright's new history of the religion, Going Clear.

BOOK EXCERPT: Scientology's Seduction of Tom Cruise, Role in Nicole Kidman Split Detailed

The advertorial piece retained the look of an Atlantic article but contained a highlighted "Sponsor Post" notification above the headline.

"The driving force behind this unparalleled era of growth is David Miscavige, ecclesiastical leader of the Scientology religion," the story read. "Mr. Miscavige is unrelenting in his work for millions of parishioners and the cities served by Scientology Churches. He has led a renaissance for the religion itself, while driving worldwide programs to serve communities through Church-sponsored social and humanitarian initiatives."

The "sponsor content" drew withering criticism online from Salon and Gawker, among others, and was removed the evening of Jan. 14.

"We have temporarily suspended this advertising campaign pending a review of our policies that govern sponsor content and subsequent comment threads," a message on the site read.  

STORY: Tom Cruise and Scientology's David Miscavige: 'Most Intense Bromance in History'

Gawker called the piece, "bizarre, blatant Scientology propaganda."

Several well-known Atlantic writers tweeted encouragement for Wright's book but avoided directly criticizing the publication for running the advertorial. 

Jeffrey Goldberg tweeted, "There's no time like the present to tout my friend Larry Wright's great new investigation of the Church of Scientology," pointing to a link to a blog post he wrote praising Going Clear. Writer James Fallows retweeted Goldberg.

Several media outlets recently have experimented with "sponsored" content as a way to boost revenue. The Associated Press recently began selling "sponsored tweets" to advertisers. 

Representatives to the Church of Scientology and The Atlantic did not immediately respond to requests for comment.