Why the Atlantic removed the Scientology advertorial

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) – The Atlantic apologized on Tuesday for posting a sponsored advertorial from the Church of Scientology, celebrating its leader David Miscavige.

The sponsored post, which went live Monday at 9:25 a.m. PT, touted 2012 as “milestone year” for the secretive church, which has been steeped in controversy throughout the years.

It was taken down about 8:30 p.m. and replaced by a message saying the magazine had “temporarily suspended this advertising campaign pending a review of our policies that govern sponsor content and subsequent comment threads.”

“We screwed up,” Natalie Raabe, an Atlantic spokeswoman told TheWrap after the firestorm of criticism and mockery the advertisement generated on the web. “It shouldn’t have taken a wave of constructive criticism – but it has – to alert us that we’ve made a mistake, possibly several mistakes.”

The Atlantic issued the following statement:

We screwed up. It shouldn’t have taken a wave of constructive criticism – but it has – to alert us that we’ve made a mistake, possibly several mistakes. We now realize that as we explored new forms of digital advertising, we failed to update the policies that must govern the decisions we make along the way. It’s safe to say that we are thinking a lot more about these policies after running this ad than we did beforehand. In the meantime, we have decided to withdraw the ad until we figure all of this out. We remain committed to and enthusiastic about innovation in digital advertising, but acknowledge – sheepishly – that we got ahead of ourselves. We are sorry, and we’re working very hard to put things right.

The timing of the ad was no surprise. New Yorker writer Lawrence Wright’s book-length exposé on Scientology – based on his 2011 profile of former Scientologist Paul Haggis – is due out Thursday.

Sponsored content, otherwise known as native ads or advertorials, have become a popular source of revenue for online publications, including Forbes and Business Insider.

But, normally, advertisers do not want comment threads under their paid-for content, and while this has never been a problem for previous Atlantic clients, the heated feelings surrounding Scientology erupted in the comment section below the article.

The Atlantic’s marketing team was moderating the comments – about 20 in all before the post was pulled – as they were posted, Raabe said.

“In this case, where a mistake was made, where we are taking a hard look at these things, is there were comments allowed on this post,” an Atlantic official with knowledge of the situation told TheWrap. “For a subject like this where people very strong feelings, we realized there’s not a clear policy in place for things like commenting.”

The Church of Scientology told TheWrap no one was available to speak on the controversy, and its media relations team did not immediately respond to an email requesting comment.

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The Bachelor Celebrates 25 Seasons

TV Watch

The Bachelor

By Monica Rizzo

01/15/2013 at 07:50 PM EST

Sean Lowe and past stars and contestants of The Bachelor

Warner Bros.

Happy anniversary!

The Bachelor's current star, Sean Lowe, was joined by past franchise favorites on Jan. 11 to celebrate 25 seasons of the hit ABC reality dating show.

The Texas hunk clinked glasses at the famed Agoura Hills, Calif., Bachelor mansion with series creator Mike Fleiss and past Bachelorettes Ali Fedotowsky, Trista Sutter, Jillian Harris, DeAnna Pappas and the show's most recent star, Emily Maynard.

Also on hand were former Bachelor Jason Mesnick and his wife, Molly, who is expecting the couple's first child in March, as well as former contestants Courtney Robertson, Michael and Stephen Stagliano, Erica Rose and Casey Shteamer.

Jake Pavelka was also there, though he didn't appear in a group photo (above).

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Risk to all ages: 100 kids die of flu each year

NEW YORK (AP) — How bad is this flu season, exactly? Look to the children.

Twenty flu-related deaths have been reported in kids so far this winter, one of the worst tolls this early in the year since the government started keeping track in 2004.

But while such a tally is tragic, that does not mean this year will turn out to be unusually bad. Roughly 100 children die in an average flu season, and it's not yet clear the nation will reach that total.

The deaths this year have included a 6-year-old girl in Maine, a 15-year Michigan student who loved robotics, and 6-foot-4 Texas high school senior Max Schwolert, who grew sick in Wisconsin while visiting his grandparents for the holidays.

"He was kind of a gentle giant" whose death has had a huge impact on his hometown of Flower Mound, said Phil Schwolert, the Texas boy's uncle.

Health officials only started tracking pediatric flu deaths nine years ago, after media reports called attention to children's deaths. That was in 2003-04 when the primary flu germ was the same dangerous flu bug as the one dominating this year. It also was an earlier than normal flu season.

The government ultimately received reports of 153 flu-related deaths in children, from 40 states, and most of them had occurred by the beginning of January. But the reporting was scattershot. So in October 2004, the government started requiring all states to report flu-related deaths in kids.

Other things changed, most notably a broad expansion of who should get flu shots. During the terrible 2003-04 season, flu shots were only advised for children ages 6 months to 2 years.

That didn't help 4-year-old Amanda Kanowitz, who one day in late February 2004 came home from preschool with a cough and died less than three days later. Amanda was found dead in her bed that terrible Monday morning, by her mother.

"The worst day of our lives," said her father, Richard Kanowitz, a Manhattan attorney who went on to found a vaccine-promoting group called Families Fighting Flu.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention gradually expanded its flu shot guidance, and by 2008 all kids 6 months and older were urged to get the vaccine. As a result, the vaccination rate for kids grew from under 10 percent back then to around 40 percent today.

Flu vaccine is also much more plentiful. Roughly 130 million doses have been distributed this season, compared to 83 million back then. Public education seems to be better, too, Kanowitz observed.

The last unusually bad flu season for children, was 2009-10 — the year of the new swine flu, which hit young people especially hard. As of early January 2010, 236 flu-related deaths of kids had been reported since the previous August.

It's been difficult to compare the current flu season to those of other winters because this one started about a month earlier than usual.

Look at it this way: The nation is currently about five weeks into flu season, as measured by the first time flu case reports cross above a certain threshold. Two years ago, the nation wasn't five weeks into its flu season until early February, and at that point there were 30 pediatric flu deaths — or 10 more than have been reported at about the same point this year. That suggests that when the dust settles, this season may not be as bad as the one only two years ago.

But for some families, it will be remembered as the worst ever.

In Maine, 6-year-old Avery Lane — a first-grader in Benton who had recently received student-of-the-week honors — died in December following a case of the flu, according to press reports. She was Maine's first pediatric flu death in about two years, a Maine health official said.

In Michigan, 15-year-old Joshua Polehna died two weeks ago after suffering flu-like symptoms. The Lake Fenton High School student was the state's fourth pediatric flu death this year, according to published reports.

And in Texas, the town of Flower Mound mourned Schwolert, a healthy, lanky 17-year-old who loved to golf and taught Sunday school at the church where his father was a youth pastor.

Late last month, he and his family drove 16 hours to spend the holidays with his grandparents in Amery, Wis., a small town near the Minnesota state line. Max felt fluish on Christmas Eve, seemed better the next morning but grew worse that night. The family decided to postpone the drive home and took him to a local hospital. He was transferred to a medical center in St. Paul, Minn., where he died on Dec. 29.

He'd been accepted to Oklahoma State University before the Christmas trip. And an acceptance letter from the University of Minnesota arrived in Texas while Max was sick in Minnesota, his uncle said.

Nearly 1,400 people attended a memorial service for Max two weeks ago in Texas.

"He exuded care and love for other people," Phil Schwolert said.

"The bottom line is take care of your kids, be close to your kids," he said.

On average, an estimated 24,000 Americans die each flu season, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. People who are elderly and with certain chronic health conditions are generally at greatest risk from flu and its complications.

The current vaccine is about 60 percent effective, and is considered the best protection available. Max Schwolert had not been vaccinated, nor had the majority of the other pediatric deaths.

Even if kids are vaccinated, parents should be watchful for unusually severe symptoms, said Lyn Finelli of the CDC.

"If they have influenza-like illness and are lethargic, or not eating, or look punky — or if a parent's intuition is the kid doesn't look right and they're alarmed — they need to call the doctor and take them to the doctor," she advised.

___

CDC advice on kids: http://www.cdc.gov/flu/protect/children.htm

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Man kills wife, leave her body in casino, police allege

About L.A. Now

L.A. Now is the Los Angeles Times’ breaking news section for Southern California. It is produced by more than 80 reporters and editors in The Times’ Metro section, reporting from the paper’s downtown Los Angeles headquarters as well as bureaus in Costa Mesa, Long Beach, San Diego, San Francisco, Sacramento, Riverside, Ventura and West Los Angeles.

Have a story tip for L.A. Now?

Can I call someone with news?

Yes. The city desk number is (213) 237-7847.

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World Briefing | The Americas: Guatemala: Gunmen Kill Mayor

Gunmen killed the mayor of the eastern city of Jutiapa on Monday, city officials said. Mayor Carlos Castillo Medrano was shot to death at a barbershop, the officials said. The killing occurred on the same day that President Otto Pérez Molina said there had been “a historic decline” in Guatemala’s violence during the first year of his administration. In his state of the nation address, the president said that homicides had decreased about 10 percent over the past year.

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Smartphone data consumption tops tablets for the first time ever

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Today's Photos: Molly Sims Shows Off Her 'Little Bunny'

Sims's six-month-old gets an adorable earful in Los Angeles. Plus: David Arquette, Naomi & Sasha, Reese Witherspoon and more

Credit: Michael Simon/StarTraks

Published: Monday Jan 14, 2013 | 05:00 PM EST

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Nordstrom hostages made to strip naked; 1 sexually assaulted, police say

Los Angeles police confirmed Sunday evening the arrests of three suspected gang members in the takeover robbery at the Nordstrom Rack in Westchester last week.

The Times first reported two arrests, one on Friday and the second Saturday in Phoenix. Sources familiar with the investigation described the man arrested in Phoenix as a principal suspect but would give no further details.

In a press release Sunday, the LAPD said that a total of three suspects had been arrested but did not give additional details.

Police would not release the suspects’ identities, nor would they detail how the suspects were taken into custody or their alleged roles in the robbery and hostage situation.

Sources said they had strong evidence linking the men to the crime, including physical evidence and security camera video. Prosecutors will decide this week whether to file charges.

The incident began about 11 p.m. Thursday at the Promenade at Howard Hughes Center, near the 405 Freeway. The LAPD called a tactical alert and closed off the area around the shopping center.
When the Police Department's SWAT officers arrived, they surrounded the store. At one point, one suspect exited, saw the police and ran back inside.

A second suspect walked out with an unidentified woman, saw police and also headed back inside. The officers entered the store at 3:30 a.m. and freed the hostages.

At least three of the hostages were injured, including one woman who was sexually assaulted. Another woman was stabbed in the neck and sustained non-life-threatening injuries, and a third employee was pistol-whipped, police said.

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News Analysis: François Hollande Moves Away From His Image

Fred Dufour/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Protesters in Paris on Sunday denounced the government’s plans to legalize same-sex marriage.

PARIS — President François Hollande of France has regularly been criticized as indecisive, even complacent. But the events of the last few days will go some way toward changing his image, as Mr. Hollande has moved swiftly to use the French military in Mali and Somalia after pulling off an important compromise with domestic unions over job creation.

The sudden French military intervention in Mali, which took only half a day to set in motion, together with a bold, if failed, hostage rescue mission in Somalia, have displayed Mr. Hollande in a more somber, decisive light that could represent a turning point for his presidency. The French, like the Americans, judge presidents on their ability to make tough decisions, and there are few tougher ones than to send young soldiers into battle.

While the future of the Mali intervention is unclear, it has begun well, with French forces hitting two columns of Islamist rebels with jet fighters and attack helicopters and appearing to halt a rebel march south toward the capital, Bamako. Mr. Hollande’s actions have garnered widespread political support in France and abroad, from African countries, the United States and Britain, all of which have promised to move more quickly to help Mali recover a vast piece of land lost months ago to the rebels.

Even the failure of the raid in Somalia, in which two French commandos died and the hostage is believed to have been killed by his captors, does not seem to have hurt Mr. Hollande. Many of his countrymen do not expect warfare to be risk-free, and France is seized by both worries about the rise of radical Islam and the plight of several French hostages in North Africa believed to be held by religious extremists. “This is the first occasion Hollande had or seized upon to act decisively, without the sort of the waffling that had appeared to be his trademark,” said François Heisbourg, a defense expert at the Foundation for Strategic Research in Paris. “So in that sense, it changes his image instantaneously.”

Throughout his career in the Socialist Party, Mr. Hollande has been criticized and even ridiculed for being soft and compromising, likened in the early days to a wobbly custard dessert called “Flanby.” But he has always said that his critics underestimate him, and his victory last May over the energetic incumbent, Nicolas Sarkozy, surprised many.

Now Mr. Hollande has “demonstrated that he can decide on matters of war and peace, which in the French system, as in the U.S., is very important,” Mr. Heisbourg said.

“Until you prove that, you haven’t proved much,” he said, comparing the impact of Mr. Hollande’s actions with that of President Obama’s decision to approve the raid on Osama bin Laden.

A cartoon on Saturday in the centrist newspaper Le Parisien showed Mr. Hollande as commander in chief, with a bystander saying, “Must admit that sometimes he surprises.”

On Sunday, Bruno Jeudy, an editor at the newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche, wrote: “Finally president! Finished, the hesitant and nonchalant François Hollande of the first months of his mandate.” Like many, Mr. Jeudy noted that once begun, the operation in Mali — to help dismantle a safe haven for radicals linked to terrorist groups — will be long and difficult. (In the same newspaper, Dominique de Villepin, a former foreign minister, warned that the operation in Mali was likely to fail because it had too many ambitious goals.)

“Wars are rarely popular,” Mr. Jeudy said. “But by putting on the uniform of a war leader, he rose to the rank of his predecessors.” He also lowered the domestic pressure on him to back off his proposal to legalize same-sex marriage, turning the national conversation more toward foreign policy.

A week ago, all the talk in France was of the large demonstration called for Sunday against same-sex marriage. The proposed law has created significant opposition because it would allow married gay couples to adopt children. Religious leaders and many ordinary citizens are troubled by the proposal, and opposition parties have tried to make political capital out of opposition to the bill.

Up to 340,000 demonstrators came out in Paris on Sunday to protest the bill, according to the police, while organizers gave a turnout of 800,000.

Emmanuel Bogeat, 35, a lawyer, and his wife, Laetitia, 32, a teacher, came from Nice, upset about a move they believe would add instability to the troubled institution of the family. “This is once again hurting the family’s core,” Ms. Bogeat said.

Mr. Bogeat said he knew the law would pass, “but it’s my duty, since I’m against it, to be here.”

Arthur Touchot contributed reporting from Paris.

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Claire Danes, Eric Stonestreet, Julia Louis-Dreyfus Keep the Red Carpet Fun at Golden Globes

By Maggie Coughlan

01/13/2013 at 07:30 PM EST

Claire Danes and Julia-Louis Dreyfus

Jason Merritt/Getty; Paul Buck/EPA/Landov

Fashion wasn't the only hot topic on the red carpet at Sunday's Golden Globe Awards.

From Claire Danes talking about being a new mom to Julia Louis-Dreyfus to accepting a 52nd birthday present, nothing was off limits.

Danes – who welcomed son Cyrus with husband Hugh Dancy in December – looked flawless in a red Versace gown, but beamed most when speaking about her new addition (upstairs at the Beverly Hilton Hotel with his grandparents). "I've been in baby world," she told Ryan Seacrest. "I'm hoping I don't leak!"

Eric Stonestreet – who's nominated for a Globe for best supporting actor – was all laughs on the red carpet, revealing that host Tina Fey was his level two teacher at Chicago's Second City improv school. "Do you need help?" he asked her co-host Amy Poehler, joking and pretending to shake her as she made her way down the stairs. Then, he told Seacrest, who's been cautioning stars as they leave his platform, "I said, 'Are you going to be okay?' Well, what if I push you, will you still be okay?"

Zooey Deschanel doesn't mess around when it comes to her nails. The New Girl kept things lighthearted with a highly-anticipated gold and white film-themed manicure.

Louis-Dreyfus celebrated her birthday little help from E! News host Giuliana Rancic. "We know that you're specifically a huge dark chocolate fan," Rancic told the Veep star. "I love dark chocolate," Louis-Dreyfus responded. "So happy birthday from E! We got you some chocolate," Rancic said, gifting her with a box of treats.

And finally, it was a battle of the (lack of) bulge between Seacrest and Liev Schreiber when they commiserated about a mutual personal trainer who created some friendly competition between the two. When it comes to push-ups, Schreiber can churn out 426, while Seacrest can manage 430. It's one fit red carpet!

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