The Atlantic magazine’s website has pulled a sponsored post touting the Church of Scientology’s accomplishments in 2012 after journalists and media critics blasted the magazine’s decision to publish it, Poynter reported early Tuesday.
The link now redirects to a statement from The Atlantic (see a cached version here): “We have temporarily suspended this advertising campaign pending a review of our policies that govern sponsor content and subsequent comment threads.”
Other popular websites — including BuzzFeed and The Awl — run sponsored content, published material that is paid for by advertisers but packaged to resemble a traditional editorial post.
As The Hollywood Reporter pointed out, the sponsored Scientology post comes in advance of the publication of Lawrence Wright’s new book on the religion.
